Just did my first Bikram class last night - 90 minutes in a sauna doing stretches and strength exercises. While I'd done a few yoga classes before and knew what I was in for physically, I'm a very bad yogi. I'm a decent runner, young with a 1:18 half-marathon pb, but weak and inflexible. Still, I thought I could at least make it through one class. I did a thorough job hydrating all day and sweated my ass off. I was able to remain in the room for the entire period, though I had to take multiple sitting breaks because I was so unfocused and unused to the heat. My vision became blurry with white spots and I thought once I was going to pass out.
The class was really hard and I found out how weak I really am - during some of the standing exercises I didn't have the strength and stamina to told my arms extended over my head. Just standing became a test, but once we made the sitting positions I was able to manage, probably because of my toned legs.
The hardest exercise of all is just sitting back on my knees and feet, like kneeling on both knees then sitting on your heels. My feet just don't bend straight back that way, and I thought they were going to break the whole time I was in the position.
My body is strangely sore but loose this morning. I've already noticed a difference when I put my backpack on over my jacket on the way to work - it was a very smooth motion when I usually have to scratch and struggle. I'm carrying my body with a certain looseness that feels really weird but in a good way. I'm going back tonight for my second class