Table of contents:
- A lot of sweat is not a sign of success in burning more calories
- What affects how much sweat during exercise?
- The more you sweat, the more weight you lose?
- What should you do if you want to exercise in a hot temperature?
Many choose to exercise while hot in the sun so they can sweat a lot. The reason is, there is an assumption that the more sweat that comes out, the sign that the body is successfully burning large amounts of calories. Actually it's not always like that, you know! How much sweat you put out during exercise does not necessarily mean that your body has burned more calories.
A lot of sweat is not a sign of success in burning more calories
Sweating is a cooling process that is carried out by the body to help you maintain optimal body temperature. But sweating is not the ideal yardstick for determining how intense your exercise is.
Exercise can raise your body temperature, so you may sweat more. A small study conducted on 20 cyclist athletes found that exercising in hot temperatures can help increase sweat production so that the body's cooling process and increased blood flow to the skin is better. However, how little or how much sweat you produce is not the same as the number of calories you burn.
What affects how much sweat during exercise?
Each person produces sweat in different amounts. For example, women have more sweat glands than men, but male sweat glands tend to be more active. This means that men naturally sweat faster and more than women, even though the number of sweat glands that are activated is the same and the intensity of temperature and physical activity are also the same.
People who are fit, for example, can sweat faster during exercise because their body temperature is lower than people who are sedentary (less active). People who exercise infrequently or have never exercised before are more likely to sweat more during physical activity because their bodies heat up faster.
Overweight people also produce more sweat than normal weight individuals because fat acts as a heat conductor (insulator) which raises the body's core temperature. Young people sweat more than older people.
Additionally, how much you sweat depends on several other things outside of your body. Wearing synthetic clothing while exercising traps heat in your body, which will make you feel hot and sweaty more quickly.
The more you sweat, the more weight you lose?
Not necessarily. Once again it is emphasized that the amount of sweat is not a measure of how successfully the body burns calories. Losing weight gained immediately after exercising is only temporary, because it is caused by evaporating sweat. The weight comes back when you are hydrated, and that doesn't mean you've burned more calories.
On the other hand, don't assume that working out with a little sweat means that you aren't exercising hard enough or that you haven't burned a lot of calories. It could be that your sweat evaporates quickly because you are exercising in an air-conditioned room, near a fan, or outdoors with a cool atmosphere and lots of breezes.
What should you do if you want to exercise in a hot temperature?
Make sure you are well hydrated before exercising and also continue to drink throughout your workout sessions. Listen to your body and take breaks when you feel too tired so that you can adjust to the temperature and intensity properly.
If you exercise more than 60 minutes or exercise at high intensity, researchers suggest that you replace the lost fluids with drinks containing electrolytes. If you exercise or exercise with an intensity that is not too heavy or lasts less than 60 minutes, replacing the lost fluids with plain water is good enough for your body.
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