Published: Wednesday, March 12, 2014, 9:00p.m. Updated 5 hours ago

Seth Gernot said he tried just about every type of yoga available in Pittsburgh over a period of more than 10 years, searching for one that fit him well. Then, about three years ago, he discovered Bikram Yoga, a popular form of hot yoga.

He quickly became hooked.

The heat really makes you focus on what you're doing, said Gernot, 35, of Edgewood, a student at Bikram Yoga Squirrel Hill. In other classes, you can kind of just tune out, go with the flow and just get through the class. This class really makes you focus, and that's what I like about it. It's not only the physical aspect, but the mental aspect.

Bikram Yoga, a trademarked series of 26 specific poses and two breathing exercises done in a 90-minute class, is part of a growing trend of hot yoga in Western Pennsylvania. Over the past few years, a number of studios offering either Bikram or a vinyasa flow alternative yoga have cropped up in Pittsburgh and its suburbs.

In hot yoga, rooms are heated to more than 90 degrees. Bikram Yoga turns up the heat even more, exceeding 100 degrees. Studios often alter the humidity in their rooms as well, in an effort to replicate the heat and humidity of India.

You sweat in places you didn't even know you could sweat, said Kelly Meeder, owner of Smokin' Hot Yoga, which operates in locations in Allison Park and Sarver. Your ears sweat, your shins sweat. You just sweat.

Smokin' Hot Yoga teaches the vinyasa flow type of yoga, which adds a calisthenic element that Meeder said makes it a full-body workout.

The health benefits of the different types of hot yoga are unclear.

A number of students reported feeling less pain and inflammation in their joints, including Gernot, who has had knee problems from years of running and bike riding; Jim Waite, 50, of Squirrel Hill, who suffers from lower-back pain; and Jasmine Hearn, 25, of Bloomfield, a professional dancer who said hot yoga helps her with inflammation in her knees and other joints.

More here:
Hot yoga catching fire in Western Pa.