Review: Hot Yoga Plus Nashville

Over the weekend I had the sweaty, red-faced honor to check out Hot Yoga Plus in Nashville.

This yoga spot has been open since 2009 and its Elliston Place location is conveniently located for you West-siders ;). It’s tucked in an office building, though — make sure to arrive early for your first class so that you can spend a few minutes figuring out how and where to enter the building!

Inside, the studio is welcoming, clean, and pretty simple. Love the inspirational quotes on the lobby wall!

There’s one large practice area. Mirrors line the walls, and the floors are covered in a wonderfully squishy padding.

Those floors are heated, too! Let’s just say that the studio is HOT, as its name suggests. Most of us were sweating before class even began. Kind of gross, kind of awesome.

Anthony and I attended the Sunday morning Power Flow Sculpt class. It’s a signature offering that I’d say is a mixup of Pilates, yoga, barre, and boot camp. A little bit of stretching, some weights, and cardio bursts — to a upbeat, poppy soundtrack like one you’d hear at Body Pump.

Our instructor, Nikki, started class right on time (love that!) with about 20 minutes of yoga. We did some pretty basic sequences but spiced them up with extra strength moves and longer holds. Lots of planking, lots of pushups!

The energy levels picked up a bit when we moved into some cardio circuits. Jumping, running in place, and even a bit of invisible jump rope. Love that Nikki paired each exercise to the beat of every song!

The second half of class focused more on weights. Nikki led us through small movements over and over until it burned — sort of like barre, but with a yoga twist. (Can you spot me in the mirror taking photos?! Ha.)

As you can see, the high-energy movements paired with the 90-degree temperature made for a sweat-drenched experience. Luckily Hot Yoga Plus offered towels for us to rent! And luckily I have no shame posting sweaty selfies to the Internet.

Unlike other yoga classes I’ve been to, this one didn’t leave me bored and didn’t feel uptight at all. We tried out new exercises almost every minute, and Nikki had us cheer and count down out loud for encouragement.

The Sculpt class definitely isn’t a relaxing/zen yoga class — more of a boot camp! So if loud and fast is your style, then this class is for you.

I would say I felt challenged during the workout and would not recommend it to total beginners. Though there were a handful of newbies in the class, it was clear that most people had some experience with yoga. That being said, I’m sure the instructor could modify movements for first-timers.

By the end of the class, I was a very hot yet happy mess. Thanks for the solid workout, Hot Yoga Plus!

I’d say this is the best yoga studio I’ve been to so far in Nashville (you can see all of my fitness studio reviews here). Here’s the final breakdown:

Hot Yoga Plus Nashville
Location Elliston Place
Class times 5 am – 7:30 pm
Class days 7 days a week
Locker rooms | showers Yes & yes
Price $7-$20 per class (see pricing)
Class duration 45-90 minutes
Music Yes (at least for the class I attended)
Vibe Upbeat, sweaty, welcoming
Class I tried Power Flow Sculpt
Difficulty 8
Calories burned 325 (during a 60-minute workout)
Cardio-focused 6
Weights-focused 7
Motivating 8
Fun 8

And the ultimate test: Was I sore the next day? Yep — a little bit in the shoulders and chest. Gotta work on those push ups Thanks for having me, Hot Yoga Plus!

Hot Yoga Plus Nashville: Website | Twitter | Facebook