Sitting in a 105-degree room for an hour and a half may scare some away, but the boosted recovery and health benefits yoga provides are perfect for those playing sports, male and female.

As a cardiovascular workout, it strengthens the muscles, builds core strength and increases flexibility greatly. Personally, I’ve found frequent hot yoga helpful in boosting my recovery, as well as increasing my flexibility and balance for wrestling.

“Hot yoga has been one of the most beneficial things for swimming,” junior Becca Galovich said. “It’s super good for recovery and overall just improves my mood.”

Another positive benefit of regular hot yoga has been advancing my breathing techniques. According to Dr. Mitch Lomax of the University of Portsmouth, “you can enhance your sports performance by up to 15 percent when you exercise proper breathing.” Which is one of the major points of emphasis in hot yoga.

The wrestling team, for example, attends hot yoga sessions at Tribalance Hot Yoga prior to many tournaments. Although Other individuals attend more frequently.

“I’ve been a huge advocate for hot yoga before our tournaments,” sophomore wrestler Jack Hartman said. “In my opinion, there really is no better way to lose a couple pounds and calm your mind down in the process.”

Personally, I’ve found my own experiences to be similar to those of Hartman’s. I attend a hot yoga class prior to almost every meet or tournament I attend, and it helps me calm my mind down; which can be extremely beneficial for athletes prior to big games.

Despite the obvious benefits hot yoga provides, I don’t believe it is for everybody. Hot yoga is a physically demanding activity in a very hot and humid room.

“Hot yoga is a grind,” senior Eddie Pelak said. “It’s most definitely not something anybody can do, which surprised me at first since you’d normally imagine it being a girl thing.”

According to Joe Demaria, a yoga instructor at Tribalance Yoga Studio, “we have a wide variety of athletes come in here, ranging from swimmers to fighters, and we think the workout you get here is really unparalleled.”