You’ve heard of Hot Yoga, but do you know what Hot Pilates is?
Doing Pilates in a room heated to 35 degrees Celsius is shaping up to be the fitness trend of the moment. Called Hot Pilates, this version is said to burn more calories than a traditional Pilates session, and has already won over TikTok.
What is Hot Pilates and why is the fitness trend going viral?
Everyone’s heard of Pilates. This gentle form of exercise combines muscle strengthening exercises and breathing work, and is renowned for improving strength, endurance and flexibility. It has become a must in the fitness world, helping to gently tone the figure. Over the years, numerous variations of Pilates have emerged, including Pilates Power and Stott Pilates.
But the most recent, and most viral, version of the moment is Hot Pilates. The idea is simple, involving doing regular Pilates exercises in a room heated to between 32 and 35 degrees Celsius, with a higher-than-normal level of humidity. It’s a tolerable heat, rest assured, which is said to help eliminate toxins from the body and burn calories more easily.
On TikTok, the “heated pilates” hashtag has racked up eight million views. In numerous videos, young women demonstrate their Pilates sessions in rooms equipped with infrared lamps, whose role is to diffuse heat. They testify to the virtues of this workout routine, assuring followers that it helps them to better sculpt and tone their bodies.
Hot Pilates isn’t exactly new. It was developed by a professional athlete by the name of Gabriella Walters in 2009, who founded the first studio dedicated to the practice in the USA. But since this summer, Hot Pilates has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity in the fitness world, particularly on social networks.
Is Hot Pilates more effective than regular Pilates?
“We’ve seen a rise in popularity for classes and workouts that people can’t easily replicate at home, and Hot Pilates definitely falls into this category,” the London-based Pilates teacher, Abigail McLachlan, told Marie Claire UK. “The heat offers something new to the more traditional mat Pilates classes and people are often attracted to new and challenging workout routines.”
In the opinion of teachers who practice and teach Hot Pilates, this version represents, as Abigail McLachlan puts it, “more of a challenge” than the traditional workout. “It’s more focused on building strength and endurance,” she says, stimulating concentration and mental strength in the process. “When you’re hot, you tend to focus more on how your body is feeling which is great for the mindful elements of the Pilates practice,” explains Eloise Skinner, a UK-based author and fitness instructor. For people who experience muscle pain on a daily basis, heat can help relax muscles and facilitate certain positions.
In fact, Hot Pilates is said to be more effective than a traditional Pilates session. Practicing in a heated room pushes the body to its limits. The body expends more energy in making this physical effort and in regulating its internal temperature, thus burning more calories. However, no scientific study has yet validated this assertion. “Some studies on hot yoga vs. thermo-neutral yoga have shown similar performance outcomes for both groups,” Dr. Elizabeth Barchi, MD, a sports medicine specialist at NYU Langone Sports Health, told Women’s Health.
To feel the effects of Hot Pilates, it is recommended to practice it one to three times a week, with sessions lasting around 20 minutes, depending on your availability and motivation. However, this kind of workout is not recommended for people with heart problems.
This story is published via AFP Relaxnews.
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