Celebrities Who Do Bikram Yoga, and Where to Try It in Bali

Celebrities who do Bikram yoga are mostly athletes. The best documented are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Andy Murray, Aaron Rodgers and Joe Johnson. This guide keeps only names with a public source. Then it shows how to build the same habit at our Seminyak and Canggu studios in Bali.

Mr. Ian Terry, E-RYT 500, hears one question from new students almost every week: who else trains like this? He has taught more than 12,000 hours. That means he has seen what the heat does to a beginner and to a pro. His answer is simple. Celebrities who do Bikram yoga and keep at it treat the class as training, not as a trend.

Celebrities Who Do Bikram Yoga: 7 Names With a Public Source

Every row below comes from an interview, a promoter profile or the person’s own site. We copied the practice label from the source itself. That matters, because Bikram yoga and hot yoga are not the same thing. Even among celebrities who do Bikram yoga, a famous name does not turn one into the other.

The seven names

How to read the table

These seven are a sample, not a ranking. For a longer, source-by-source run of names across more sports, see the wider celebrity list in our teacher training library. Here we stay with the ones whose words we could read ourselves, so it’s a short list on purpose.

Why We Left Famous Names Off the List

A good list of celebrities who do Bikram yoga should be checkable. So we set simple rules.

Many lists of celebrities who do Bikram yoga add actors and singers because of one photo or a rumour. We didn’t. If we could not find the person saying it, or a reputable outlet reporting it, the name stays out.

That rule makes the list shorter, but it makes the list honest. A reader can click each source, check the date and decide whether it counts.

• Own words first. A quote or a personal post beats a caption under a photo.
• Label as written. If the source says hot yoga, we say hot yoga, even when the person is better known for Bikram.
• No health claims from fame. A star feeling good after a class is a story, not evidence.

What Athletes Say They Use the Heat For

Most athletes who do hot yoga give one of three reasons. They want to protect their joints, steady their nerves or reset between seasons. NBA players hot yoga stories are the best known, but the same reasons show up in tennis, boxing and rugby. Here is what athletes do hot yoga for, in their own words.

Joints and a longer career

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar wrote that he practices Bikram yoga as well as several other styles. In his words, yoga is one of the reasons he could play professional basketball as long as he did, with as few injuries as he had. He wrote that in 2008, long after his playing days.

Joe Johnson told Andscape that he started hot yoga while managing knee tendonitis and Achilles problems. He described the class as 90 minutes in 105-degree heat. As a result, he keeps a hot yoga studio at his home in Little Rock, the 2021 article says.

Breath, nerves and mental load

Boxer Paul Smith told BoxingScene that it is good, mentally, to know that when it gets tough he can concentrate on his breathing. That is a practical benefit, because a fighter, a tennis player and a first-time visitor to Seminyak all hit the same wall around the middle of class. So breath is what gets you through it.

The Irish Times reported in January 2008 that Andy Murray had spent much of December in a sweltering room. His trainers were fans of Bikram yoga. His own line was that you can’t talk about how hard it is until you do it. Most students in our room would agree.

A reset between seasons

Aaron Rodgers told Sports Illustrated in August 2014 that he did a ton of yoga in the first three months of the off-season. He called it “hot yoga, very hot” and said it helped him. He added that he felt a lot better at the time.

Paul O’Connell told The42 in 2015 that his sessions ran 90 minutes and took a lot out of him. That is the quiet message behind most of these names: the class is hard, and they came back anyway.

Promoter profiles of Shawn Porter say he has practiced Bikram yoga since 2013, in 90-minute sessions in a room around 110 degrees. A habit that lasts that long is not a stunt.

Celebrities Who Do Bikram Yoga at a Glance

So what do the numbers show? The pattern is clear. Celebrities who do Bikram yoga and talk about it publicly describe a long, hard class and a hot room. They also give a reason to return. None of them calls it relaxing.

What the Research Says About Why It Works

Stories are not evidence, so here is what published studies measured. None of them tested celebrities who do Bikram yoga. Each result describes a group average, and individual bodies respond differently.

Anyone with a heart condition, high blood pressure or another health concern should consult a healthcare professional before starting a heated class.

Energy cost and heart rate

A 2014 University of Wisconsin study led by John Porcari measured a 90-minute Bikram class. Women burned about 333 calories and men about 460 calories, with heart rate near 80% of maximum. That is real cardio work without the pounding of running. For that reason it suits players who want to train hard between games.

Strength and flexibility

In 2013, Tracy and Hart reported that healthy young adults who trained in Bikram yoga improved their strength and flexibility. In 2025, a systematic review by Willmott and colleagues pooled 43 studies with 942 participants. It described gains that include flexibility and bone density. As a result, these findings fit what Abdul-Jabbar and Johnson say about joints, though one player’s account proves nothing alone.

Mood and focus

On the mental side, a 2023 trial came from Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital (Nyer and colleagues, in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry). About 59% of adults with moderate to severe depression cut their symptoms by half or more after eight weeks of heated yoga. Only about 6% of the waitlist group did.

The trial studied people with depression, not athletes. For that reason, treat it as context for the breathing and focus comments above, not as a promise.

Where to Try It in Bali: Seminyak and Canggu

What the class is like

You don’t need a pro contract or a fixed schedule to follow these athletes. Most of our students aren’t celebrities who do Bikram yoga, and they’re welcome all the same.

At YogaFX in Bali, the class is the Original Hot 26&2. It has 26 postures and 2 breathing exercises over 90 minutes, in about 40°C and 40% humidity. The heat is natural tropical heat, not electric heaters. The teacher speaks a scripted dialogue, so there is no demonstration and no music.

For scale, 40°C is about 104°F. That sits close to the 105°F Joe Johnson describes and a little under the 110°F in Shawn Porter’s profile. So the room you meet in Seminyak is in the same range as the rooms these athletes talk about.

Mr. Ian Terry leads the method at YogaFX. He trained for five years, from 2014 to 2019, with the founder of the Bikram Hot 26&2 method. He is also Master Trainer of the Republic of Indonesia Yogasana Sports Federation. His 1,500+ graduates come from 80+ countries, so a beginner is never the odd one out.

Both studios are open every day from 6am to 10pm. Because of that, it is easy to fit a class around a surf session, a gym day or a long work block. If you are choosing between areas, our hot yoga in Bali guide compares them.

Your first class is free

First-timers can claim a Free 1-Day Guest Pass for one Original Hot 26&2 class on us. Details are on the drop-in classes page, and our first-class guide explains what to bring.

Build the Habit Like They Did: A 4-Week Plan

The athletes above didn’t start with a daily class. Instead, they built up, and the celebrities who do Bikram yoga for years describe the same slow start. A simple month looks like this, and you can adjust it with the teacher at the front desk.

• Drink steadily. Hydrate before class and replace fluids after, but do not force down far more than you need.
• Rest without guilt. Sitting out a posture is normal, and staying in the room is the real goal.
• Tell the teacher. If anything feels wrong, say so before class, not halfway through.

If you train for a sport, our guide to hot yoga for athletes shows how to fit it into a training week.

What students say about the first weeks

Celebrities who do Bikram yoga talk about it in interviews. Students tell us about it in reviews, and that is where the first-month reality shows up.

Famous athletes are one kind of voice, and our own students are another. These three come from video reviews on our YouTube channel. Each is a close paraphrase of what the student said, and none is a verbatim quote.

• Atika, YouTube review, 2019: she was nervous about teaching, but once she stepped into it she enjoyed it and felt she had found her passion. Watch her review
• A trainee in our YouTube review, 2023: she realised in class that she had been holding back, and the teacher’s prompts to leave the worry behind helped her give more. Watch the graduation video
• A trainee in our YouTube review, 2023: he said he had never tried anything like it, that the people opened his heart, and that he thanked Mr. Ian and the whole team. Watch the review

Bikram, Hot or Heated: Reading the Labels

Not every one of the celebrities who do Bikram yoga practices the same class. Bikram yoga means the fixed class of 26 postures and 2 breathing exercises. It runs 90 minutes in a heated room. Hot yoga is a broader term for any yoga in a heated room, and the sequence can differ.

In Table 1, Johnson and Rodgers describe hot yoga. Abdul-Jabbar, Murray, Porter, O’Connell and Smith use or are described with the Bikram label. We kept those words as written. For example, if you want the original class, ask the studio whether the sequence is fixed. Ask whether the teacher is certified to teach it, too.

Our Bikram yoga vs hot yoga comparison goes into the differences in more detail.

Who Should Check With a Doctor First

Because celebrities who do Bikram yoga make it look easy, it is worth saying plainly that it is not for everyone.

The heat is a real physical load. The celebrities who do Bikram yoga in this guide had coaches, medical teams and years of conditioning behind them. You may not. Build up gradually, and respect the signals your body gives you.

• Heart or blood pressure concerns. Speak to a healthcare professional before your first heated class.
• Pregnancy. Get medical advice first, and tell the teacher before class.
• Illness, injury or new medication. Ask your doctor whether a hot room suits you right now.
• Feeling unwell in class. Sit down, drink water and tell the teacher right away.

None of this is meant to put you off. Instead, it is how the people in this guide made the habit last, and it is how Mr. Ian teaches new students at our Seminyak and Canggu studios.

FAQ

Why do athletes do hot yoga?

Athletes use hot yoga for flexibility, joint upkeep, breathing and mental focus. The people in this guide describe tendon trouble, hard training blocks and pressure moments. They say the class gave them a calm place to work on each. Research on group averages supports flexibility and heart rate effects, but it does not predict any one person.

Do I need to be fit to try a class in Bali?

No. Our studios welcome complete beginners, and the Free 1-Day Guest Pass lets you try one Original Hot 26&2 class before you decide. Go at your own pace, rest when you need to, and tell the teacher about any health concern first. Anyone with a medical condition should consult a healthcare professional beforehand.

How often should a beginner go?

Most beginners start with one or two classes in the first week, then build toward two or three a week over the first month. Rest days matter as much as classes. Drink before class, replace fluids afterwards, and stop if you feel dizzy. A teacher at the studio can help you adjust the plan.

Is the heat in your studios electric?

No. Our room runs on natural tropical heat, around 40°C with about 40% humidity, rather than electric heaters. The class lasts 90 minutes and follows a scripted dialogue with no demonstration and no music. Many students find the natural heat easier to settle into after a few visits.

What is the Free 1-Day Guest Pass?

It is one Original Hot 26&2 class on us for first-time visitors at our Seminyak and Canggu studios. You can claim it before paying anything. Message the team on WhatsApp or use the drop-in classes page to confirm a time. Bring water, a towel and light clothing, and arrive a little early.

Still have questions? Message Mr. Ian and the YogaFX team on WhatsApp and we will answer them personally. A Free 1-Day Guest Pass is waiting for your first class in Seminyak or Canggu, whether you are a first-timer or already follow celebrities who do Bikram yoga.

Keep reading

• The Ultimate Guide to Bikram Yoga in Bali