Gymming, workouts, and exercising put out a lot of sweat from the body. You might wonder, sweating heavily means that you are losing weight and you are doing a better workout. But the fact is it is just a misconception.
Losing a certain amount of water in the form of sweat is not an indicator of weight loss or fat. It just means that the body releases the sweat to cool down your body. To understand the sweating mechanism, read the full article.
What is Sweating?
Sweat or Perspiration is a salty clear liquid produced or released from the skin. Sweating is a natural process to regulate the body’s temperature. It makes your body relaxed. You may mainly feel the sweat under your armpits, feet, palms, and face.
The human body consists of millions of sweat glands on average. Eccrine (produce odorless sweat) and Apocrine ( release fat-laden, heavy sweat with odor) are two types of sweat glands.
Sweating is an autonomic function controlled by the nervous system. It performs on its own without any external control. According to researchers, sweat contains water, and 1% includes a combined form of salt and fat.
Several external and internal factors stimulate sweating such as
- Hot and Humid climate or temperature.
- Emotions like anger, embarrassment, anxiety, fear, etc.
- Spicy, highly-refined unhealthy food.
- Exercises and workouts.
- Fever and illness.
The maximum sweat rate of an adult person on an average is 2-5 liters per hour. Children do not sweat more unless they hit puberty stage.
Can Sweating Burn Fat Or Calories?
Well, the answer is NO. Sweating does not help you burn fat or lose calories. While doing High-Intensity Workout (HIIT) or fat-burning workout, it is customary to sweat. Sweating only helps to maintain body temperature.
It does not have any connection with weight loss or calorie burn. When the body temperature rises, the nervous system automatically signals the brain to release sweat and make the body cool.
During workouts and exercise, the body generates internal heat by performing those physical activities. Sweat plays a significant role in cooling down the temperature of the body.
When it comes to fat or calorie burning, the body needs a proper daily workout, exercise, sleep, healthy food, and liquids.
Many people believe that performing yoga and pilates cannot make you lose fat because they do not release an amount of sweat. But the truth is sweating depends on a person's weight, health, gender, emotion, and temperature. So some people may sweat more and less according to their bodies. And exercise does help in losing fat despite sweating less or more.
Sweating is not a parameter or a measurement tool to measure if the fat is burned or not. The water droplets on the body indicate that the body muscles are active and are producing enough heat to raise the temperature.
Is It Necessary To Sweat For Better Workout?
Every human being is different. A person can be fat or lean, and their sweating rates vary accordingly. So it is irrelevant if someone sweats or not while doing the workout because it does not equate to the number of calories burned.
Suppose there are two persons. One goes for hot yoga and the other on the treadmill for running. Both of them became sweaty, but the one who went for hot yoga was very sweaty. But when on the measurement scale, they found that the fat loss percentage was slightly different. In fact, the person who chooses hot yoga does not even burn fat. Hot yoga only increases muscle flexibility of the body.
Also, one of the research studies found that in a 90-minute Bikram yoga class, women burned only 330 calories, and men burned 460 calories on average. So, it is not necessary to sweat for a better workout. To shed your excess fat, just keep moving consistently. Follow your daily workout routine and forget about the sweat amount.
Some other Benefits Of Sweating
- It detoxifies the body. Release the amount of harmful and toxic chemicals of the body which are not in use.
- Protect the body from falling prey to diseases and health issues.
- It uplifts and changes your bad mood to a good one.
- Sweating also boosts heart health and immune health.
- Cleanse and purify skin and make it look glowing.
- Also, it is excellent for mental fitness.
Reasons Why People Sweat More Than Usual
Many factors affect the sweating rate in the human body. They include genetics or hereditary, gender, weight, age, environment, climatic condition, and fitness level.
During exercises, you are more likely to sweat very quickly. A person with a higher weight requires more energy to do physical work and activity. This shows that to cool down the person’s body mass, sweating depends on the weight of the person's body.
Sweating earlier means that your body can cool down faster and work out and exercise for a longer time with consistency.
Risk Of Sweating Excessively More Or Excessively less
When a body releases too much sweat from the sweat gland is called Excessive sweat or Hyperhidrosis, and the inability to sweat is typically called less sweating or anhidrosis. It can affect the entire human body. These symptoms are mainly inborn from birth and continue for adulthood.
Symptoms of Hyperhidrosis are:
- unaffected on any other temperature
- Excessive sweating without any physical work or activity
- fever
- Difficulty in doing regular stuff
Treatment of Hyperhidrosis
- Use antiperspirant to stop[ excess sweating. It comes in gel, cream, spray, or sticks.
- Iontophoresis is a treatment done through electricity to block the sweat glands from releasing excess sweat.
- Surgery to remove sweat glands.
- Taking in anticholinergic or botulinum medicine.
Symptoms of anhidrosis are:
- dizziness and faintness
- feeling hot every time
- body muscle pain
- less sweating or no perspiration
- dry skin
- confusion
Treatment of anhidrosis:
- Use of spray full of water to cool the body.
- Wear light and comfortable clothes.
- Try to be indoors during a hot and humid day.
Tips To Keep In Mind
- Avoid tight-fitting clothes and go for comfort and cotton robes.
- Drink a surplus amount of water every day to keep your body cool and hydrated.
- Try to consume a low-salt diet.
- Exercise and work out regularly.
- Use deodorants and antiperspirants.
- Intake sports drinks instead of regular water if you exercise or do a high-intensity workout(HIIT). Those drinks will help you maintain the requirement of electrolytes in the body.
Conclusion
Sweating means the loss of water weight from the body. It helps to regulate the temperature and cool down the body. The sweating rate of the person varies according to their weight, height, gender, environment, and fitness level.
If you are sweating more, it does not mean you are losing fat or burning calories. It is just the body’s heat that raises the temperature while doing any physical exercise. And to cool down the body temperature, sweat is released automatically. It is beyond the control of a human.
Don't forget to keep your body hydrated. Even sweating can be dangerous for your health. All in all, it is just a water droplet.
References
https://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/features/dont-sweat-it
https://www.livestrong.com/article/455285-will-i-burn-more-calories-if-i-exercise-with-a-sweater/
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/weight-loss/does-sweating-mean-more-fat-loss/articleshow/59879240.cms
https://www.bicycling.com/training/a28818687/does-sweating-burn-calories/