Fitting Fitness: Corepower Yoga

By Jessie

In the spring of 2009, a girlfriend of mine convinced me to check out a yoga sculpt class at Corepower Yoga.  At the time, I was training for a marathon, and didn't do a ton of weight lifting, but I thought I was pretty fit. But I changed my mind halfway through the class, when I felt like I was going to die! Clearly, my strength was not what I thought it was, but the humbling experience made me want to incorporate this class more frequently into my life-

"CorePower Yoga Sculpt is a total body workout designed to tone and sculpt every major muscle group. Dumbbells, body bars and free weights serve as your own personal adjuster as you move through sun salutations and other yoga postures, enabling extra length and depth in each pose. This intense, but easy to follow program compliments your regular yoga practice while pushing your strength and flexibility to new heights."

I fell in love with the intensity of this class, and tried out all kinds of classes at Corepower during my free trial week. After the trial week, I became an "auto-pay" member, meaning I could take unlimited classes throughout the month. Throughout the marathon training season, I don't always make it to Corepower enough to make the "auto-pay" worthwhile (at least 3 times a week). So, at the moment, I am back to buying packages of drop-in classes (10 classes/$110). This also allows me to try out other studios in the area, and not be locked into one place, even though I do love Corepower yoga!

What I love about Corepower yoga is that they have TEN different studios in the area. No matter the time of day or day of the week, I can almost always find a class that suits my schedule. As LL mentions here , a big challenge for most of us is just "fitting fitness" into our lives. The prevalence and variety of classes at Corepower is a huge draw for me, and it makes it easier to "fit fitness" into my daily routine.

Today, I was able to squeeze in a "Hot Power Fusion" class at the downtown location. I don't always have the patience (or the time) for the full 90 minute hot yoga class. Hot Power Fusion is very similar, but it's only an hour long, and it mixes some traditional hot yoga poses with a bit of vinyasa.

Hot Power Fusion moves between Hot Yoga's static and systematic holds and CorePower's Vinyasa Flow. Students will receive the benefits of a Hot Yoga class with further hip opening, upper body and core strengthening benefits. The class, taught in a room heated to 98-100 degrees, will appeal to the traditional Hot Yoga student who is looking to deepen their yoga practice.

The teacher today was "Lynda". She was good, though I have to give a shout-out to my FAVORITE hot power fusion teacher, David K.

Also, considering that yoga is a non-cardio exercise, a heated class can still be a serious calorie burn!

According to this article, "a 90-minute Bikram yoga class burns at least 300-600 calories, with advanced and more active yoga practitioners that burn between 500-1000 calories per class. In contrast to the other types of yoga classes, the heat of hot yoga loosens muscles and increases the amount of calories burned during other types of yoga session of the same length. The heat in the Bikram yoga class also helps the entire body to relax, leading to a deeper stretch and helping to avoid injuries. Practitioners of hot yoga claim that regular practice will normalize weight, improve muscle tone, and help you enjoy vibrant good health and well-being."