TimesLeader.com

October 28, 2009

Scranton fitness club gives yoga a new twist

Laura Bonawits Times Leader Intern

Imagine working your body’s muscles, cardiovascular, immune and digestive systems all in one specialized 90-minute exercise routine. A workout being offered in Northeastern Pennsylvania makes it possible.Called “hot yoga,” the exercise features an intense workout of 27 yoga positions all performed in a room reaching temperatures of 105 degrees.

“Hot yoga affects you internally. It helps to physiologically make changes in the body,” said Lara Rubin, yoga instructor and director of Steamtown Hot Yoga, 1130 Moosic St., Scranton. The Scranton facility is one of the few in Pennsylvania offering the fitness classes

Rubin explained that hot yoga goes beyond traditional yoga, which is used to improve one’s strength and flexibility, by helping to improve “all your organs, all your glands, the way your body works,” as well as aiding the regulation of one’s metabolism and blood sugar.

Practicing yoga in an artificially heated room provides many benefits, she added.

For example, Rubin said heating the body allows one to get through the routine faster and safer. When the body is warmer, greater and safer stretching can be performed, she said.

“When you’re very cold and everything is contracted, there’s more possibility that things are going to tear,” Rubin said.

Though the room is kept at 105 degrees, Rubin said there is a continuous air flow in the room, so one never feels like they’re exercising in stagnant heat.

In addition to stretching, Rubin said hot yoga also provides faster results “as far as you feel and how you look” than yoga performed in a traditional room.

“Everybody likes instant results,” she said. “The rate of change increases in your body and people find good benefits right away.” To measure effectiveness, she said many students report reductions in their pants or dress sizes before they notice changes on the scale.

“It may take a while for the scale to actually change,” she said, explaining the exercise is designed to build muscle, and muscle weighs more than fat. “I always tell people not to worry about the scale, (rather it’s) how you feel and how your clothes fit.”

Terry Finn of Bear Creek has been a regular student at Steamtown Hot Yoga for the past three months and has noticed positive results from hot yoga. He reported a loss of 10 pounds during his first four weeks of the program. He added that he immediately became “addicted” to the fitness regimen and attends classes at least three times a week.

“Yoga benefits your entire life,” Finn said.

Marie Mencia, of Honesdale, a self-proclaimed yoga enthusiast, has been attending hot yoga classes for a year and a half and said it is her “absolute favorite” kind of yoga.

Mencia said the intense stretching is one of her favorite aspects.

“I’m 52, so you start to get a little tight in a lot of joints, and a lot of aches and pains and arthritis,” she said “This has completely helped that.”

Steamtown Hot Yoga offers 60- and 90-minute classes seven days each week. In a typical 90-minute session, the class goes through 27 postures, half are performed standing and the rest are floor exercises. Rubin said the variation of the poses sets hot yoga apart from other kinds of yoga also.

“We’ll go into something and we’ll hold it, then take a little rest,” she said, noting other classes go from one pose to the next without a break.

Even newcomers to the art of yoga will experience benefits from hot yoga.

Rubin said classes are designed for all levels from beginners to more advanced. Rubin noted at least half of her students have never participated in a yoga class.

She said hot yoga is an ideal form of exercise because it can be performed at one’s pace.

“The positions are designed to take you to your limit,” Finn added.

Hot yoga appeals people of all ages from athletes to people recovering from surgery or injuries, Rubin said. Her oldest student is 84 years old and the youngest is 10. The hot yoga program is not recommended for young children because of the intense temperatures, she said.

Rubin said hot yoga also offers preventative health maintenance benefits.

“It’s a great immune system booster,” she said. “People find the more they practice, the less prone they are to illness.”

With flu season approaching, Rubin said the facility features different forms of sanitation that go through heat system and air circulation, such as UV lights and filters that are government approved to eliminate germs and reduce chance of illness.

“We go to great lengths to ensure everything is sanitized,” she said. “We definitely take every precaution we know of to have it under control.

For reservations or more info, visit www.steamtownyoga.com or call Steamtown Hot Yoga at 570.941.9977.