Sweat: truth v. myth

cynthiaj777
cynthiaj777 Posts: 787 Member
edited September 20 in Fitness and Exercise
My gym stays really cool; therefore, I'm having a hard time sweating while I work out. I do around 45 minutes on the elliptical. I KNOW I'm burning calories, but do I need to be sweating while doing it in order to loss fat?

I've always heard that you must sweat to loss weight, and if you aren't sweating, you aren't working hard enough to make an impact.

Is this true?

Replies

  • RedneckWmn
    RedneckWmn Posts: 3,202 Member
    When I wasn't sweating I wasn't losing. I haven't done any research to know the truth behind this. Curious to see the responses!

    P.S. When I did the elliptical I quit sweating too. I changed to doing the c25k program on the treadmil. Sweat my butt off now!
  • mrsyatesy
    mrsyatesy Posts: 173
    Ha ha - I love it - you should be glad, it's not a great look! Try a Heart Rate Monitor, that'll tell you how hard you are working - honestly some people sweat more, some sweat less, they all train as hard! The guy next to me in the spin class leaves a pool of sweat on the floor (ughhhhhhh heave!!!), and I am bright red and glowing / sweaty but nothing drippy!
    Happy monitoring!
  • robin52077
    robin52077 Posts: 4,383 Member


    I've always heard that you must sweat to loss weight, and if you aren't sweating, you aren't working hard enough to make an impact.

    Is this true?

    no, if you are burning more than you are eating, you WILL lose weight, it's calories in/calories out, simple math. That's like saying someone who can not exercise for physical or health reasons can NOT lose weight ever...that's just not true. It may take longer, but working out HARD is not MANDATORY. You can burn hundreds of calories by walking at a relaxed pace for a few hours, never out of breath or sweating, but you're still MOVING.
  • knittygirl52
    knittygirl52 Posts: 432 Member
    The heart-rate monitor is a GREAT idea! Sweat means you're hot. That COULD mean you're working really hard (okay, that's usually what it means), but if your gym is really cold, it might not. If you go jogging on a cold day, you don't sweat unless you dressed too warmly.
  • MissingMinnesota
    MissingMinnesota Posts: 7,486 Member
    I was talking to my trainer about sweating since I am a big head sweater and I have a friend that sweats from other areas. She said that it is an individual thing. One the the other trainers can be really working out and doesn't sweat at all. Also check your water intake if you are not taking in enough water you will have a harder time sweating.
  • jdelot
    jdelot Posts: 397 Member
    I know the lady that makes the Walk Away the Pounds videos says sweat does not equal burning calories. The body got hot, and sweat was produced to cool the body off...that's what she said. If you're doing 45 minutes on the elliptical, you're certainly burning calories. Think of it like this...if you took the elliptical outside on a 90 degree day and worked out for 15 minutes you would probably be sweating more than you do after 45 minutes in your cool gym. I'm sure you wouldn't have burned more calories in 15 minutes.
  • cynthiaj777
    cynthiaj777 Posts: 787 Member


    I've always heard that you must sweat to loss weight, and if you aren't sweating, you aren't working hard enough to make an impact.

    Is this true?

    no, if you are burning more than you are eating, you WILL lose weight, it's calories in/calories out, simple math. That's like saying someone who can not exercise for physical or health reasons can NOT lose weight ever...that's just not true. It may take longer, but working out HARD is not MANDATORY. You can burn hundreds of calories by walking at a relaxed pace for a few hours, never out of breath or sweating, but you're still MOVING.

    I realized how much of a work out walking around all day is 2 weeks ago. I live in DC, so I was out and about for 6 hours walking. When I logged it, it was 2000 calories I think.
  • aippolito1
    aippolito1 Posts: 4,894 Member
    I don't know if it will affect your loss but I can't imagine it'd be very healthy to NOT sweat when you work out. Try bumping up the intensity...lower the resistance and incline and work FASTER. Some days my gym is very cold too but I never have a problem working up a sweat.
  • cynthiaj777
    cynthiaj777 Posts: 787 Member
    The heart-rate monitor is a GREAT idea! Sweat means you're hot. That COULD mean you're working really hard (okay, that's usually what it means), but if your gym is really cold, it might not. If you go jogging on a cold day, you don't sweat unless you dressed too warmly.

    I think I'm going to try to work out outside from now on. The humdity makes me sweat my butt off.
  • iplayoutside19
    iplayoutside19 Posts: 2,304 Member
    My gym stays really cool; therefore, I'm having a hard time sweating while I work out. I do around 45 minutes on the elliptical. I KNOW I'm burning calories, but do I need to be sweating while doing it in order to loss fat?

    I've always heard that you must sweat to loss weight, and if you aren't sweating, you aren't working hard enough to make an impact.

    Is this true?

    No

    Well, there's a couple ways to look at it. If you sweat you WILL lose weight....you'll lose the water weight that was lost as sweat. However, that wieght will come back as soon as you drink or eat something.

    As far as weight that you care about...fat. No you don't have to be sweating. Sweat is what you're body uses to cool yourself off. There are so many factors that go into why, and how different people sweat it's not worth discussing. Just know that sweat is not a measure of energy consumption (calories), calorie deficit for that matter, which is the important number.
  • wannabe
    wannabe Posts: 29
    ya i was worried about this too! i stopped sweating so much on my elliptical workouts so i upped the resistance level and my heart rate is usually 180 so i suppose thats good enough
  • DanOhh
    DanOhh Posts: 1,806 Member
    Sweat is just water weight. Back in high school during wrestling practice it wasn't uncommon to loose over 5 to 10 lbs. in one day. But, as soon as you drink water it would sponge back into your body. As long as you're working out you burn cals. and that's what you want, cold or hot.
  • deanzr2
    deanzr2 Posts: 4 Member
    The more water I drink, the less I sweat. I guess the fluids cool my body internally, so I don't have to sweat to cool it. I used to sweat if I was eating ice cream,lol!
  • spicy618
    spicy618 Posts: 2,114 Member
    One of the Fitness Trainers that frequents the Forums here posted in a topic addressing this..

    She stated - the body diposes of losses(fat i guess) through urine and sweat. Made sense to me... how else will our bodies get rid of 15 lbs. of fat. :ohwell:

    I'm sure someone will post some research on it soon :laugh:
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