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Sweat as an indivation of calories burned?

2

Replies

  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
    moe0303 wrote: »
    For the love of all that is good, could somebody please fix the typo in the title? It's making my Agent Orange act up.

    lol. It's making me nuts too!
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
    moe0303 wrote: »
    For the love of all that is good, could somebody please fix the typo in the title? It's making my Agent Orange act up.

    Are you sure it was a typo? Wouldn't indivation be some relation to indivisible?
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    nutmegoreo wrote: »
    moe0303 wrote: »
    For the love of all that is good, could somebody please fix the typo in the title? It's making my Agent Orange act up.

    Are you sure it was a typo? Wouldn't indivation be some relation to indivisible?

    I thought indivation was meant to say Indication. The C is next to the V on the keyboard :wink:
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
    edited May 2016
    nutmegoreo wrote: »
    moe0303 wrote: »
    For the love of all that is good, could somebody please fix the typo in the title? It's making my Agent Orange act up.

    Are you sure it was a typo? Wouldn't indivation be some relation to indivisible?

    I thought indivation was meant to say Indication. The C is next to the V on the keyboard :wink:

    I know, I was being a *babysloth* :bigsmile:
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member

    nutmegoreo wrote: »
    nutmegoreo wrote: »
    moe0303 wrote: »
    For the love of all that is good, could somebody please fix the typo in the title? It's making my Agent Orange act up.

    Are you sure it was a typo? Wouldn't indivation be some relation to indivisible?

    I thought indivation was meant to say Indication. The C is next to the V on the keyboard :wink:

    I know, I was being a *babysloth* :bigsmile:

    :lol:

    Babysloth? Is this a new mfp word?
  • VividVegan
    VividVegan Posts: 200 Member
    If there was a connection between sweat and calories burned, I wouldn't have lost around 70 pounds, despite not sweating during my exercises. I'll pant, breath hard, get my heart rate around up to 180, drink lots of water and still won't sweat. Additionally, I freeze in any grocery store and have to wear a jacket in any temperature under 85. Sweat does NOT determine calories burned.
  • derek1237654
    derek1237654 Posts: 234 Member
    FeedMeFish wrote: »
    If there was a connection between sweat and calories burned, I wouldn't have lost around 70 pounds, despite not sweating during my exercises. I'll pant, breath hard, get my heart rate around up to 180, drink lots of water and still won't sweat. Additionally, I freeze in any grocery store and have to wear a jacket in any temperature under 85. Sweat does NOT determine calories burned.

    Well i guess i mean sweat and calories burned only applies to me 9 out of 10 times.
  • DorkothyParker
    DorkothyParker Posts: 618 Member
    So sweat may or may not be an indication of effort put into a work out which may or may not be correlated with calories burned. Perfect. :)

    I did find that I was saltier than "average" at the end of sweaty work outs. That's how I realized I needed to up my salt intake!
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited May 2016
    I really don't care. I sweat like a man no matter what I do.

    But IMHO, sweat has nothing to do with calorie burning. Body temp, hydration, sleep quality, air temp, air quality etc.. all have to with the outcome of the sweat. I will burn roughly the same calories on two different days such as 50 degrees or 70 degrees temp outside. I will work harder on the 70 degree day because the humidity is exhausting, I will sweat more but the calorie burn will be about the same, roughly within 20 - 40 calories. I will burn off more water but that is it.

    Sweating is a sign of your body trying to cool itself. As we heat up during exercise or activity, that heat energy has to be let off somehow and that is where sweat comes in. So this is actually a physiological reaction to heat, working to cool the body down. Thermoregulation. When your muscles heat up the body works to cool you down. It is not connected to fat loss or calorie burning..
  • derek1237654
    derek1237654 Posts: 234 Member
    MissusMoon wrote: »
    OP, you should google how many calories shivering burns. It will blow your mind. I wonder what would happen if you swung kettlebells barely clothed in a blizzard?!?!?! :*

    Nice! Lol. I should try that
  • Spike_G
    Spike_G Posts: 149 Member

    I also have a friend who never sweats and she works out hard!

    Heck, I sweat in the middle of the winter -25c when I am walking outside. And then there is anxiety......

    And there are those of us who suffer from hyperhydrosis :/ (thankfully not as badly as some)
  • RosieRose7673
    RosieRose7673 Posts: 438 Member
    paulgads82 wrote: »
    I sweat in the sauna. My friend sweats doing just about anything.

    I think I'm your friend Paul! :smiley:

    I sweat doing just about anything. When I run, I break out in a sweat after about 3 minutes. Even on my long runs, ~6.5-7 miles, my heart rate never gets above 145. I still look like I ran right into a lake.

    I recently cut my hair to be right above my shoulders because it's coming to be summer time here in Chicago, and my back sweat makes my hair stick to me and look like I went swimming!

    So no. It's more about keeping your body cool.

    I do agree that some exertion will make you sweat a bit more, but it's not really strongly tied with higher calorie burn.
  • moe0303
    moe0303 Posts: 934 Member
    Meh, I think I actually agree with the OP. If an individual goes into a situation where all personal and environmental factors are controlled, and works out on two different days under the same exact conditions for the same amount of time, generally speaking, that individual could use sweat production as an indication of energy expended (so long as sweat was present in at least one of the workouts). While sweat characteristics will vary greatly from person to person, they are unlikely to vary from day to day when all other factors, including personal factors are the same. It would only be a general indication though.
  • robininfl
    robininfl Posts: 1,137 Member
    No. If I run in the winter, I can't sweat. If I run the same distance in the summer, I can sweat freely. No effect on calories, except that in the winter it's more comfortable (I am in Florida) so I can do more, so I burn more.

    Swimming in very cold water burns marginally more calories than in warmer water, so the (small) effect goes in the other direction, bodies work more trying to keep you warm during exercise when it's cold.


    If you are just asking if more effort = more calories burned? Yeah probably, if you can sustain it for the same time. But it doesn't have anything to do with sweat, sweat will reduce your weight because it weighs something and it's leaving you, but that's water weight.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    I'm sure there's some correlation, probably weak, but why would you want to rely on it when so many other factors are going to fubar even the most basic guess you could make from how much you sweat?
  • moe0303
    moe0303 Posts: 934 Member
    robininfl wrote: »
    No. If I run in the winter, I can't sweat. If I run the same distance in the summer, I can sweat freely. No effect on calories, except that in the winter it's more comfortable (I am in Florida) so I can do more, so I burn more.

    Swimming in very cold water burns marginally more calories than in warmer water, so the (small) effect goes in the other direction, bodies work more trying to keep you warm during exercise when it's cold.


    If you are just asking if more effort = more calories burned? Yeah probably, if you can sustain it for the same time. But it doesn't have anything to do with sweat, sweat will reduce your weight because it weighs something and it's leaving you, but that's water weight.

    Yes. But he is saying if all conditions were kept the same. So he is not comparing running in the winter to running in the summer. He is saying, if all things were the same (for both the environment and the person), sweat would be an indication of effort and therefore calories burned.

    At least I think that is what he is saying. Feel free to jump in if you want, OP. Also feel free to ask the mods to fix the typo :).
  • moe0303
    moe0303 Posts: 934 Member
    I'm sure there's some correlation, probably weak, but why would you want to rely on it when so many other factors are going to fubar even the most basic guess you could make from how much you sweat?

    Meh, it's a good general check. If you generally sweat end up with a drenched shirt but this workout your shirt is barely wet, it's worth taking note of it and maybe investigating more. Of course if the difference is that drastic, you'd probably have a good idea as to the reason why. I would think.
  • moe0303
    moe0303 Posts: 934 Member
    edited May 2016
    Carlos_421 wrote: »
    It's useless as an indicator of calorie burn. Sometimes your body just runs hotter than other times.

    For instance, it is always 71 degrees F in my house. I sleep in shorts and a tshirt. Some nights I don't sweat at all. Others I wake up a sticky, sweaty mess.
    Did I sleep more vigorously the nights I sweated?

    Air conditioning doesn't always maintain the relative humidity of the area. Also, the state of your body in sleep is markedly different than that of exercise. Wouldn't you say?

    I don't think sweat would be an accurate measure at all, but it is useful for a general indivation of intensity.

    ETA: in a lot of cases. Prolly not much help for some power lifting workouts.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    I don't think so. I sweat buckets exercising outside in summer. Now that it's cold here I barely perspire doing the exact same exercise. My fitbit doesn't give me different readings, it is not however a HR monitor which could make a difference??

    it could easily make a difference in giving a false reading.

    HR tends to go up higher if body trying to cool than otherwise would be needed.

    And then if sweating tons and blood thickens - higher HR to pump that too.

    All heat-elevated HR readings.

    Shoot - do the exact same pace for 60 min noting the HR every 5 min - despite moving the same mass the same pace with likely the same form - HR will almost always progress up by the end of the workout - but you weren't working out any harder.

    That's why HR-based calorie burn can be useful - but you have to know the caveats of false elevated-readings for calorie burn.
  • derek1237654
    derek1237654 Posts: 234 Member
    Yes you would sweat more if all conditions were exactly the same except the intensity of excercise (im referring to the same individual under the same conditions) because your body would be creating more heat and would have to cool itself more. Simple right?
  • derek1237654
    derek1237654 Posts: 234 Member
    Yes it is a pointless remark but i just thought because i noticed it maybe others would notice it for themselves
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    edited May 2016
    Yes you would sweat more if all conditions were exactly the same except the intensity of excercise (im referring to the same individual under the same conditions) because your body would be creating more heat and would have to cool itself more. Simple right?

    It's not always the case though. Like I mentioned earlier, the body can build up heat and sweat more profusely over time (at least in my case) so all things equal and during the exact same workout in constant conditions in a room with a treadmill I sweat more towards the end even though I taper my intensity down in the last 20 minutes of a long run. When I'm done and I stop (no intensity) I sweat even more. It's a very inaccurate measure since now two days have the exact same conditions. It's more of a thought experiment than something you could make use of practically.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    heybales wrote: »
    I don't think so. I sweat buckets exercising outside in summer. Now that it's cold here I barely perspire doing the exact same exercise. My fitbit doesn't give me different readings, it is not however a HR monitor which could make a difference??

    it could easily make a difference in giving a false reading.

    HR tends to go up higher if body trying to cool than otherwise would be needed.

    And then if sweating tons and blood thickens - higher HR to pump that too.

    All heat-elevated HR readings.

    Shoot - do the exact same pace for 60 min noting the HR every 5 min - despite moving the same mass the same pace with likely the same form - HR will almost always progress up by the end of the workout - but you weren't working out any harder.

    That's why HR-based calorie burn can be useful - but you have to know the caveats of false elevated-readings for calorie burn.

    To put some numbers on this....
    My HRM has been calibrated with my VO2 max and max HR settings and seems to be pretty accurate.
    In winter I train on an expensive power meter equipped cycle trainer - it accurately measures your actual power output and uses that for calorie estimates. Under perfect conditions the calorie burns shown (they are still estimates remember!) are almost identical (often +/- 1%).

    A fast one hour time trial at a constant high (for me) power output for the entire 60 minutes will see me at the half hour point at about 400 cals on both the power meter and HRM, HR is fairly constant with perhaps a little drift.
    And then I really overheat, HR climbs steadily, sweating heavily and working far harder despite keeping power output the same.
    By the hour mark the power meter shows 800 cals and my HRM shows 900'ish.

    There's a metabolic energy cost of my body having to pump extra blood to the skin surface for cooling (in addition to the working muscles), heart working harder, breathing harder. But it's highly unlikely to be 100 cals extra.
    So the energy output calorie estimate on the bike is probably giving me a slightly low calorie estimate and the HRM is probably giving me a very high reading.

  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    Yes you would sweat more if all conditions were exactly the same except the intensity of excercise (im referring to the same individual under the same conditions) because your body would be creating more heat and would have to cool itself more. Simple right?

    I like how you keep asking questions you think you know the answer to, then dismiss everything that conflicts with your beliefs.

    It's a gift

    I am surprised that this thread is still going on and OP still dismisses, and no matter how you slice and dice it up, all statements, comments, debate, fact or truths will not matter in the end.

    I think it is time to look for case studies and start posting.
  • Carlos_421
    Carlos_421 Posts: 5,132 Member
    Yes you would sweat more if all conditions were exactly the same except the intensity of excercise (im referring to the same individual under the same conditions) because your body would be creating more heat and would have to cool itself more. Simple right?

    Your body has to work to warm itself.
    As for cooling, sweating and breathing are your only mechanisms (neither of which can be considered a real calorie burner). You don't have an internal refrigeration unit, just a furnace.

    If you want temperature to work in favor of burning more calories, get cold so that you have to burn more to stay warm. Even then, it's negligible at best.
  • IceBaroque
    IceBaroque Posts: 10 Member
    I drink water like crazy but when I work out, no matter how hard, I barely break a sweat. Perhaps I'm broken? But I've lost 21 lbs so far and am gaining muscle, so I must be doing something right. I sweat when the sun is shining directly on me... But I hike 4 miles or do intensive cardio or weight lift - I don't have anything.
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