could heat cause heart problems ?

Hi Vincent

You know, if you did anything that depleted your store of essential minerals, electrolytes, nutrients etc (and that includes not eating well enough) then it would be bad for your heart.

Sweating a great deal will lead to depletion of Magnesium, Potassium, Sodium, etc, etc and cause problems with muscle firing (skeletal and cardiac) if you don’t do anything to replenish your supplies.

So exercising in the heat can be dangerous. The person doing the exercising can pay attention to many things. Some of these are included here:
** how hot is the room. You can place yourself in danger if the room is too hot causing your core temperature to raise itself so high that the body can’t cool itself. Please check this out here: Lesley Funk’s article on exercising in the heat.
** don’t wipe your sweat. Reading the above article will help. It talks about how evaporating sweat helps you cool your body.
** nutrition and electrolyte supplementation if necessary
** noticing what is going on in the body: if your limbs are tingling or you feel faint or you continue to feel lethargic or lack energy then you may need to investigate (electrolytes? iron? nutrition? supplementation? water?)
** drink enough before and after class (and have water on hand)
** and so on … 😉

Do recognize that there is a lot of fear and ignorance around doing this hot yoga. The people with the strongest opinions are usually the ones who have NEVER even done it. It seems that this doctor may be one of these people.

A fantastic balanced resource to consult is Professor Lawrence Armstrong’s “Performing in Extreme Environments”. There is an excellent chapter on exercising in extreme heat. There is a clear acclimatization process that occurs within 2 weeks that starts with an improved cardiac output and increased stroke volume. It may be really valuable to read and pass this information on to your doctor acquaintance.

Remember it is up to you to look after yourself in the hot room and that includes choosing an environment that is not too stressful for your body. There are no prizes for exercising in the hottest room in town. All you want is enough heat and humidity (yes and while you are at it google ‘heat index’ for the combined effects of heat and moisture to affect your perception of heat) to get a ‘cleansing’ sweat and a warm enough body to get the benefits. If there are many people in the room and the humidity is high (65% and up) there is no reason to have temps of 105+. You will find it can be closer to 100F and you will get a really satisfying result plus be physiologically safe in the process.

As you can see there is a lot to this sensitive subject and I am sure I only really touched on it. But I do hope that this goes at least part way to answer your query. I really welcome others’ opinions

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi ktcristine

I am curious to know what prompted you to give up your practice.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi ktcristine

So to clarify: did you give up because you were having difficulty in the hot room after your diagnosis, or did you give up because you were told by teachers that it could cause you problems?

FYI: as I understand it, people with MS may have exacerbated problems due to the heat. That isn’t everyone. I have read it is not recommended. What experience have you?

If you have tried it and you have had a poor experience in the heat, then it may be worth trying it in moderate heat or an unheated room. Maybe see what it is like when you sweat a lot or sweat a little (this has to do with moisture – as dry heat you may sweat less).

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂