Men’s Fitness Australia – June 2017

This page: Marilou Daube/Aquastudio

FUN FACTOR★★★★★| EMBARRASSMENT FACTOR★| FITNESS/CALORIE-BURNING PAYOFF★★★★★| CHANCE I’D EVER DO IT AGAIN72%

Drop it like it’s hot

NextupwasY7yoga,ayoga
studio that cranks its rooms

between30-35°,dimsthe
lights to near darkness, lights

candles to set the mood, and
blasts hip-hop. Thirty-five

degreesmightsoundlovely
when you’re at the beach, but

when you’re engaging in
vinyasayoga—aseamless

transition and flow, moving
from the relaxing downward

dogtomorechallenging,
ab-burning poses — the

sweat pours out in buckets.
Asacreakymarathon

runner,Idoyogaoutof
necessity. So I thought

Beyonce songs. But during

oursweat-soakedhour,

early Ludacris blasted

from the speakers between

A Tribe Called Quest and

Outkast. The deep cuts

were a pleasant surprise,

andeventhoughIwas

drenched and dehydrated

the class flew by.

Greg Chertok, a New

York-based sports

psychologist, told Men’s

Fitness that this kind of

stimulation — sweaty

raphitsthattakeyou

back to your prime —

can carry you through

HOT HIP-HOP YOGA

a workout you otherwise

might slack through.

Basically: It’s new and weird

andnextthingyouknowthe

killerhourisoverwith.

“Switching something

upkeepsitfresh.Especially

if you’re switching it up

with some bizarrely

unique experience,” Chertok

says, laughing.

“When you are

performing a new action,

your brain has to attend to

the technique of the action,

along with processing

information that the leader

of the class is dispensing.

“You have to be on, and

your focus has to be

sharpened — which always

makes an activity or task

s e em to go by fa ster. ”

I was hot shit waltzing into

theY7classsurroundedbya

bunch of thin, toned women

in their 20s. Then the teacher

shut the door.

Our instructor was overly

enthusiastic — a bit like a

weddingDJ—andtheclass

was super-athletic and more

focused on core than a

mellow meditation session.

Myabswereonfire.

And the music! Most

yoga classes are conducted

insilenceorwithsome

strange sitar Zen vibes. I

thought it would be a parade

of Top 40 hits and overplayed

74 MEN’S FITNESS JUNE 2017