Dan Bullock is best known for his Swim for Tri features on these pages but, like many triathletes, he's also discovered the benefits of yoga as a strength and flexibility regime. His chosen school is Bikram yoga which, unusually, can also help prepare athletes with heat acclimatisation for races in warmer parts of the world.

For triathletes, the number 26 is more likely to remind them of the number of miles in a marathon, not the number of positions they need to learn to practice Yoga successfully. However, with more and more sports people advocating Bikram Yoga, age-groupers are joining the ranks of celebrities and elite athletes signing up for classes in the 'Ironman of Yoga'.

The style, developed by Bikram Choudhury, runs through 26 poses from the classical Hatha Yoga Series. The heated room that the session takes place in helps ease muscles and joints and you leave feeling quite supple. The heat promotes sweating and detoxification and is designed to 'deliver total health through the balancing and strengthening of every system in the body in order to prevent illness, injury and limiting the effects of aging'. Bikram specifically tailored moves which would 'systematically move fresh oxygenated blood to 100% of the body - to every organ, bone, joint, muscle, ligament, tendon, tissue, fibre, blood vessel, nerve and gland'. With five years of experience behind me, I would have to agree with a lot of this.

Active recovery

The heated room and lengthy positions help make for a tough workout. At Swim for Tri we have been advocating the system to clients to provide them with an excellent 'active recovery' session. Some of the postures are perfectly suited to raising the heart rate while providing a wonderful stretch. If you are unable to get a sports massage this workout provides a chance to realign fibres and aid recuperation. And with the appalling weather conditions we have been experiencing recently, the 90-minute session can provide a low impact tough workout when you can’t face another turbo or treadmill.

Attending the evening session promotes a great night’s sleep. For the same reason the morning sessions can be quite dangerous!

Heat acclimatization

Back in 2002, along with my fellow East London Tri teammates, Dean Moy and Ben Rankilor, I qualified to race in Cancun as GB age groupers at the World Championships. Despite the late season scheduling a little research told me that it was going to be a little bit too close to the Equator for my liking and it would be hot; very hot. According to the results sheets it was a balmy 34°C at 7:45am. Rumour has it that the temperature reached 44°C at midday when we set off. At this point I was quietly confident due to my Bikram sessions!

In preparing for Cancun a friend had mentioned a style of Yoga taking place in a hot room. The sessions were said to promote good skin from the sweating and increased core strength from the Yoga. This sounded perfect for the race preparation. 90 minutes working out in a hot climate. How else would you get this style of training in London in October? Ben wanted to come along and set his Turbo up in the back of the room. I do not think he was joking.

After a shaky start (usually when on one leg) I gradually got the hang of it and started to enjoy it. With time I saw beyond the immediate warm weather acclimatisation benefits. The occurrence of injuries reduced and recovery time decreased. I had stumbled (especially when on one leg) on the ideal active recovery.

An altercation with a car six weeks before the race prevented me racing at my best but I did get a reasonable result and, unlike many other competitors, I avoided the First Aid tent and did not suffer in the heat.

Hydration

The movements in the heat also prove a useful reminder to hydrate, something essential to do throughout the session. 1.5 litres of water is not an unusual amount to intake during a session if the room is particularly warm. I can attest that attending a session two days after a stag weekend is not to be advised though. You can feel quite ill as the toxins pour out.

Swim mobility

As well as acclimatising to hot climates, the improved mobility and flexibility that Bikram provides have specific impact on our sporting performances. An example would be the swimming leg kick. Ideally, when you swim your legs will be predominantly straight with the toes pointed, a small movement, originating in the hip, making for a streamlined position. This helps balance and is an aid to rotation, not for generating power. It is an unusual position and during a long swim session can cause your body to cramp and fatigue.

There are several positions within the Bikram postures that will really help with ankle mobility and getting your body used to the ideal swim kick position:

SALABHASANA – the locust pose, where the legs are kept straight, toes pointed and lifted from the ground while you lie flat on your stomach. This provides good Glute strength and control.

SUPTA VAJRASNANA –the fixed firm pose, carefully sitting on your knees and leaning back opening up the ankle joint. This position will allow the body to get accustomed to swimming with the toes pointed, away from the body.

Poor mobility can cause poor kicking technique. Kicking vigorously from the knee with ankles flexed at 90 degrees will cause drag and suck energy from the body. With the legs in this extremely unhydrodynamic position a lot of force is needed to try and create some forwards movement. It really is worth working on all aspects to improve this position. Improve ankle mobility and you should be able to get a lot more streamlined.

The starting position of the Half Moon Pose (ARDHA CHANDRASANA) is a great reminder of an ideal streamlined swimming position. As you start out in the standing position, body tall, arms up straight, upper arms glued to your ears as you reach for the ceiling. Remember this position every time you push off from the wall and you’ll travel a lot further.

As I prepare for Ironman South Africa I am confident in the knowledge that my Bikram Yoga sessions have prepared me for the necessary heat acclimatisation and ensure I can recover quickly from hard training sessions. It is a great recovery session to add to you weekly training routine and it keeps you out of the pub on a Friday night: saving me money – and a hangover.

More information is available from the Bikram Yoga website: www.bikramyoga.co.uk