THERE'S still four months of pre-season ahead, but the heat is already on at Wests Tigers.

In a bid to prevent soft tissue injuries such as calf strains and hamstring tears, coaching staff have embraced the Bikram yoga sessions more readily associated with trendy 20-somethings who populate Sydney's inner west.

Every Wednesday at noon, the entire Tigers squad spend an hour assuming various bodily contortions in a heated room set at 40 degrees.

But with the sweat and grunts of 38 players drenching the air, high performance coach Luke Portese estimated the actual temperature can approach 50 degrees, giving Aaron Woods and Tim Moltzen a rare excuse for wearing nothing more than budgie smugglers.

media_camera The Tigers have started doing Bikram yoga in Five Dock.

"We've had yoga instructors at the club before, but we wanted to try something different this year," Portese said.

"I'd actually never done it before; it was recommended by Robbie Farah and Adam Blair who had both done a few sessions and really found it beneficial.

"I did some research and found the increased range of motion with the heat really increases your overall flexibility, which means you'll have less chance of suffering a soft tissue injury because there's less tightness."

The price of this new age injury prevention measure is approximately one and half litres of water that the average player loses for each visit.

media_camera Aaron Woods performing a stretch during Bikram yoga.

"We are only doing it until Christmas, because there's a concern about overall dehydration and we have to be really careful to ensure the players take care of themselves," Portese said.

"They are all given hydration drinks immediately afterwards and we have a pool session to recover."

Injuries have hit the Tigers harder than any club over the past two years, with star players Chris Lawrence, Keith Galloway, Woods and Moltzen all sidelined for extended periods.

In response the club has beefed up its High Performance Unit (HPU), hiring sports scientist Naomi Wallace and an additional physiotherapist.

Apart from the Bikram yoga and an open sea paddle board race off Thirroul a few weeks ago, the Tigers are concentrating on the basics this summer.

"We're doing a lot more game related conditioning and getting away from the long distance stuff," Portese said.

"Every year since Wests Tigers has been founded we've done the Wanda sandhills, but we won't be doing them this year.

"We're trying to get away from the mundane stuff, change things up, and make it more interesting for the guys."

media_camera The Tigers have started doing Bikram yoga in Five Dock.

media_camera Tigers players working up a sweat during a Bikram yoga session.

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Originally published as Crouching Tigers' pre-season burn