Hot yoga for men is a 90-minute class in a room held near 40°C, and it works the places most men are tight: hips, hamstrings, shoulders and lower back. The men who apply to train with us are mostly in their forties, already practise, and come for strength, mobility and a quieter head.
That last part surprises people. So this guide looks at hot yoga for men from an unusual angle. It uses what male applicants to our Bali teacher training wrote on their enrolment forms.
Then it sets those answers next to the research on heated yoga. If you are weighing up your first class, or your first teacher training, this is who you would stand next to.
Hot Yoga for Men: What the Class Actually Is
In our studios, hot yoga for men means the Original Hot 26&2 class. It runs for 90 minutes. You work through 26 postures and 2 breathing exercises in a fixed order. The teacher talks you through each one with a scripted dialogue. There is no music and no demonstration, so you listen and move rather than copy the person beside you.
At our studios in Seminyak and Canggu the room sits at about 40°C and 40% humidity. That heat is natural tropical heat, not electric heaters. It loosens muscles fast, but it also raises your heart rate before you have done much at all.
Here is what hot yoga for men asks of your body in a typical class:
- Standing series, about 60 minutes. Balances, squats and back bends that load the legs, glutes and trunk for long holds.
- Floor series, about 30 minutes. Spine work, forward folds and twists, with short rests lying on your back between postures.
- Two breathing exercises. One opens the class and one closes it, so the session starts and ends with control rather than effort.
Hot yoga for men looks gentle from outside, because you rarely move fast. Yet the numbers say otherwise. A University of Wisconsin team led by Porcari measured a 90-minute class in 2014 and found men burned an average of 460 kcal. In a follow-up, the same research group reported for the American Council on Exercise that men averaged about 80% of predicted maximum heart rate, against 72% for women.
What Our Male Applicants Tell Us
Everyone who applies to a YogaFX teacher training fills in an enrolment form. We coded those forms from 2019 to 2025 and published the full method in our report on how many men do yoga. A few of those numbers matter for anyone curious about hot yoga for men.
First, hot yoga for men is no longer a rarity in our room. In 2022 the male share of our applicants jumped to 28%, or 10 of 36 people. A year earlier it was 7%. It then held at 23% and 25% across 2023 and 2024. For context, the CDC’s 2022 survey data shows 10.3% of American men practised yoga in the past year, against 23.3% of women.
The typical man is 44, not 24
The median male applicant is 44 years old, and 68% are 40 or over. So the picture of hot yoga for men as a young athlete’s trend does not match our forms. Most of these men sit, drive or carry stress for a living, and they want a body that still works at 60.
Most already practise, and few rate their fitness highly
Some 83% of male applicants already practise the 26&2 sequence before they apply. Even so, only 41% call their own fitness good, against 55% of the women. That gap says a lot about hot yoga for men. The keenest men are often the ones least sure of their condition, and that is fine.
One in five mentions a health condition
About 19% of the men disclose a medical condition or medication on the form, most often high blood pressure. So a fair share of men come to the heat to look after their health, not to show it off. We return to safety further down, because it matters.
28%
Male share in 2022
10 of 36 applicants, up from 7% in 2021.
44
Median age of men
68% of male applicants are 40 or over.
83%
Already practise
Men who do the 26&2 before applying.
41%
Rate their fitness good
Against 55% of women applicants.
80%
Men’s average heart rate
Share of predicted max across a 90-minute class.
460 kcal
Burned by men per class
Average in a 90-minute heated session.
Why Men Say They Want to Go Deeper
Applicants write their reasons in their own words. When we sorted those answers by gender, a few contrasts stood out. They also explain why hot yoga for men tends to stick once it starts.
- To fix their own postures. 34% of men name this, against 20% of women. Men tend to arrive with a practice they want to improve, not one they want to start.
- Because of the teacher. 29% of men name Mr. Ian Terry as a reason, against 20% of women.
- For a new career. 10% of men mention a career change, twice the rate among women.
- Not for the short format. Only 5% of men cite the six-day schedule, while 24% of women do. Men care about what the course certifies, not how fast it is.
Put simply, hot yoga for men in our data is a long-term investment in the body, not a fad. That is why the next section deals with the worries they bring, rather than with sales points.
Hot Yoga for Guys: Common Worries vs What Happens
Most questions about hot yoga for men come down to five worries. This table sets each worry against what the evidence or our own data shows, and what to do about it.
| Worry | What the data shows | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| “I’m too stiff for yoga.” | 83% of our male applicants already practise. Range comes from practice, not before it. | Go to 80% of your range. The heat does the rest over weeks. |
| “It isn’t a real workout.” | Men averaged about 80% of max heart rate and 460 kcal per class (Porcari team, 2014 and 2015). | Treat it as a cardio session, not a rest day. |
| “I’ll be the only man there.” | Men were 28% of our applicants in 2022 and 25% in 2024. | Pick a spot near the back for your first few classes. |
| “I’m too old to start.” | The median male applicant is 44, and 68% are over 40. | Start with two classes a week and build slowly. |
| “The heat will be too much.” | Men’s core temperature peaked at an average of 103.2°F, against 102.0°F for women (Quandt and colleagues, 2015). | Hydrate well before class and lie down whenever you need to. |
That last row matters for hot yoga for men in particular. Men run hotter in the room, partly because of body size. So the first week often feels harder for bigger men, and pacing the opening postures matters more than pushing them.
Your First Hot Yoga Class as a Man
The first ten minutes of hot yoga for men often decide whether you come back. The breathing exercise, Pranayama, looks easy. Then Half Moon and Awkward pose load your shoulders and thighs while your heart rate climbs. By Eagle pose, or Garurasana, tight hips and shoulders announce themselves.
That is normal. Most men find the standing balances hardest, because they demand both strength and stillness. The back bends, such as Camel pose or Ustrasana, are where stiff chests and desk posture show up.
Here is the short hot yoga for men checklist we hand out before a first class:
- Drink through the day before. Gulping a litre at the door does not help much once you are in the heat.
- Eat light, two to three hours earlier. A full stomach and forward folds don’t mix.
- Wear fitted shorts. Loose shorts ride up in every squat, and cotton gets heavy with sweat.
- Bring a large towel and water. The towel covers your mat so your hands and feet grip.
- Tell the teacher it’s your first class. They will watch you more closely and tell you when to rest.
Ego is the biggest risk for men in a hot room. If you feel dizzy, sit or lie down and breathe. You won’t lose anything by resting, and the men who rest early usually last longer.
The Science Behind Hot Yoga for Men
The research on heated yoga is still small, and most trials include both sexes. Even so, a few findings help explain why hot yoga for men suits the profile in our forms.
- Strength. Tracy and Hart’s 2013 trial in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research reported about a 20% rise in posterior chain strength, along with better flexibility and body composition.
- Breadth of benefit. A 2025 systematic review by Willmott and colleagues pooled 43 studies and 942 participants, and found signs of benefit for flexibility, bone density and well-being.
- Heart load. The Porcari team’s work puts men at around 80% of predicted max heart rate for most of the class. That is real cardio work.
- Stress and anxiety. Hui and colleagues reported in 2022 that hot yoga reduced state anxiety in their sample.
Mood is where the strongest single trial sits. In an eight-week study at Massachusetts General Hospital, 59% of people in the heated yoga group saw their depression symptoms drop by half or more, against about 6% on the waitlist. The study team, led by Maren Nyer, ran classes in a room heated to 105°F.
Those results describe regular practice over weeks, not one class. They also don’t replace medical care, and hot yoga for men is no exception. If low mood, anxiety or blood pressure worries you, consult a healthcare professional before you start. Then keep them in the loop as you go.
Hot Yoga for Males Over 40: Safety First
Because so many of the men in our data are over 40, safety in hot yoga for men is not a footnote. Heat is a real load on the heart and on fluid balance. For most healthy adults that load is manageable, but it is worth respecting.
Speak to your doctor before your first heated class if any of these apply:
- You have a heart condition, or blood pressure that is not well controlled.
- You take medication that affects heart rate, hydration or sweating.
- You have fainted in the heat before, or had heat illness.
- You are coming back from surgery or a recent injury.
In class, stop and lie down if you feel dizzy, sick, confused or short of breath. Then leave the room if it doesn’t pass. Our teachers would rather see you rest ten times than push through once. This article is general information and not medical advice.
What Trainees Say After the Hot Room
Numbers only go so far when you are deciding on hot yoga for men. These are short extracts from reviews left by people who trained with us, quoted as written.
“Mr. Ian is a very talented and gifted teacher. Not only he teaches yoga postures, but he provides a lot of life coaching experiences.”
Ebtesam, Google review, 2022
“He is a very passionate teacher, a great friend, a great mentor. He is always ready to help all the students.”
Junich, Google review, 2020
“The program is rigorous and challenging, but also incredibly rewarding and transformative. I feel confident and well-prepared to teach yoga to a variety of students.”
Afdaly, Google review, 2023
Chris trained with us in September 2022, the year men reached 28% of our applicants. In his graduation speech he says he used to treat exercise almost like a religion. Then yoga turned it from a practice of exertion into a practice of balance. It is a familiar story in hot yoga for men who come from the gym.
From Student to Teacher: Hot Yoga for Men at YogaFX
If you already practise and want to go deeper, hot yoga for men can lead to teaching it. Many men take that step through teacher training.
Our Bikram Hot 26&2 Yoga Teacher Training MasterClass is a six-day hybrid course. You study online first, then join an intensive in Bali. It leads to a Yoga Alliance RYT 200-Hour certificate plus the Bikram Hot 26&2 200-Hour International Yoga Certification. So you leave with two credentials.
Mr. Ian Terry leads every course. He is an E-RYT 500 with more than 12,000 teaching hours. He trained for five years, from 2014 to 2019, with Bikram Choudhury, the founder of the method.
He is also a Master Trainer for the Republic of Indonesia Yogasana Sports Federation. Since 2017, more than 1,500 graduates from over 80 countries have trained with him. You can read more on Mr. Ian’s teacher profile.
The next batch checks in on Sunday 24 January 2027 at Soham Wellness Center in Seminyak. It finishes on Friday 29 January 2027. The Early Bird price is US$1,899, against the normal US$1,999, and interest-free payment plans start from US$250 a month.
To see how the online and Bali parts fit together, read our guide to the six-day hybrid format, then check the upcoming course dates.
If your question is less about training and more about what the practice does for your body, our deeper guide to the measured benefits male trainees notice covers strength, heart health and recovery study by study.
FAQ
Can men do hot yoga?
Yes. Hot yoga for men is common in every studio we know. Men also made up 28% of our teacher training applicants in 2022. Stiffness is not a barrier, since the heat and the fixed 26 postures help you gain range over time. Start with two classes a week and rest whenever you need to.
Is hot yoga harder for men?
It often feels harder at first. Men tend to be tighter in the hips and hamstrings. Research also found men averaged about 80% of max heart rate per class, against 72% for women. Their core temperature also ran higher. Pacing the first few postures makes the biggest difference for most beginners.
What to wear to hot yoga as a man?
Wear fitted, quick-drying shorts that stay in place when you squat or fold, and either a light tank or no top if the studio allows it. Avoid cotton and anything baggy, because it gets heavy with sweat. Bring a large towel to cover your mat and a full water bottle.
Will hot yoga build muscle?
Hot yoga builds strength and endurance, especially in the legs, glutes and back, and one 2013 trial reported about a 20% gain in posterior chain strength. It does not replace progressive weight training for size. Most men who lift use one or two hot classes a week alongside the gym.
Who should not do hot yoga?
Anyone with a heart condition, poorly controlled blood pressure, a history of heat illness or fainting, or medication that affects sweating should get medical advice first. The same applies after surgery or a recent injury. In class, lie down or leave the room if you feel dizzy, sick or short of breath.
Still have questions? Message Mr. Ian and the YogaFX team on WhatsApp and we will answer them personally. Tell us your age, your training week and any injuries, and we will tell you honestly whether hot yoga, or our teacher training, fits you.
