Is It True That The More You Sweat, The Slimmer You Become?

It is a common myth that the more sweaty your training clothes become, the more kilos you lose. However, this is not true. The amount of calories you burn has to do with more than just how much you sweat. After all, if it were not true, people who do not sweat would not lose a single gram!

Here we answer the question: do you really get slimmer the more you sweat?

Sweating, weight loss and exercise

Let’s take a minute to look at what’s going on at the gym or fitness area. When you finish your class or workout routine, some people are drenched in sweat and need to use a towel and change their clothes. Others, on the other hand, are as dry as if they have not moved a finger.

Does the first person lose more weight than the second?

It is popular to believe this. But just because many people believe in it, does not make it true. To be able to determine if more sweat means more calories burned, let’s find out what happens in your body when you exercise.

Exercise and the body

To cool you down when your body temperature gets too high, your body has a mechanism that we call sweating . Basically, you excrete water through the sweat glands in your skin. This lowers the body temperature.

The amount of sweat glands you have is determined by your genes, and they do not work the same way in all people. Studies have shown that the more you sweat, the more sweat glands you have (the average is between 2 and 4 million all over your body).

Women usually have more than men, but men’s sweat glands are more active (up to 50% more). In addition, they have a different body composition: men have more water in their body and their sweat is more acidic. Hormonal differences are the reason for this.

Female athletes, for example, begin to sweat at higher temperatures and from deeper tissues. At the same effort and temperature, men sweat more. Women, on the other hand, have several mechanisms for cooling their bodies (especially circulatory mechanisms ).

This is why, if you look around the gym, you are likely to see men sweating and women with red skin (especially their face). This happens because the capillaries on the surface of their skin expand and give off heat.

How much you sweat also depends on:

• The weather (humidity and heat cause more sweat)
• The intensity of your training
• Whether you drink alcohol or coffee
• If you smoke
• What you have eaten (strong food increases your body temperature)
• Your weight or how much body fat you have

So, if you sweat, do you get slimmer?

It has been shown that overweight people sweat more than slimmer people. The excess body fat increases the body temperature because it acts as a “jacket”. When effort and movement are put in, your body sweats to give off heat.

This means that sweat does not burn calories.  Dieting is more closely related to other factors such as muscle mass and adipose tissue. It is true that when you sweat you lose weight, but these lost pounds consist of water and minerals that are lost through your sweat. In other words, you do not lose fat through your sweat glands.

What you lose when you exercise, you will get back as soon as you drink water or sports drinks. However, never stop hydrating yourself before, during and after exercise.

It is important to clarify that sweating does not increase calorie burning , so if you sweat a lot during exercise, you may have burned less fat than the person who did not sweat a single drop.

So why do you lose weight by exercising?

Exercise or aerobic activity has the ability to make you lose weight, but not because of how much you sweat when you exercise.

Where does weight loss come from, then?

From the intensity of the exercise you do. For example, running for 30 minutes will burn 300 calories, no matter how wet your shirt is from sweat. Do not forget that sweating is how your body keeps your body temperature stable. That’s its function, not to help you lose weight to look good in the bikini. If losing weight was as easy as sweating, it would be as simple as sitting in front of an oven, going to the sauna or lying in the sun in the middle of the day. But it does not work.

Which exercise will burn fat?

We have already shattered the myth that sweating is the equivalent of losing weight. We have also said that if you want to lose weight, you need to choose high or moderate intensity exercise. We are sure you want to know what kind of training this is!

You’re welcome:

• Aerobic exercise
• An easy ride
• Jogging
• To ski
• Swimming
• Cycling
• Dancing
• Boxing
• Martial arts

When you do any of these activities, your muscles get energy from your fat reserves, thus reducing them. Along with a good diet, they will help you get the results you are looking for.

Remember: it does not matter how much you sweat. What matters is how hard you work.