Does more sweat mean - more fat burn ?

The main purpose of sweat is to regulate your body temperature. More sweat is generally an indication of a higher body temperature.

When you get overheated, your sweat glands release water to the surface of the skin. The sweat evaporates, cooling your body down.

It’s happening ALL THE TIME. Sweat happens when you are nervous, anxious, sick, under pressure, eating spicy foods, and especially during exercise. Although sweat will likely drip during an intense workout, other factors need to be considered – for instance, the conditions in which you’re exercising.

THINK YOUR WORKOUT WAS EXTRA HARD BECAUSE YOU’RE DRENCHED IN SWEAT?

That’s not always the case. Sweating is actually a deeply individualised bodily experience, and its main function is to help cool our bodies.

To answer the hot question: Sweating does not burn calories. Nor does more sweat mean more fat burn, and it is also not a direct indication of exercise intensity.

You may think Cardio (running, biking, rowing etc) burns more calories because you sweat more. But you actually sweat more to maintain core temperature. Again, you can't measure how many calories or how much fat you're burning based on the puddle forming below you.

Sweating itself doesn’t burn a measurable amount of calories, but sweating out enough liquid will cause you to lose water weight. It’s only a temporary loss, though. Once you rehydrate by drinking water or eating, you’ll immediately regain any lost weight.

(If you are interested in finding what determines the intensity of a workout - watch out for our next blogpost where we will talk about the best way to gauge your workout)

Why do some people sweat more than others?

There are a lot of possible explanations.

Sweat levels are based on environmental factors, genetics, age, weight, fitness ability, overall health, and how much fluid you drink.

Even if you don’t think you sweat, you do. Everyone sweats because our bodies are covered in sweat glands.

Sweating is the ability to maintain core temperature so that you can be cool and continue to exercise,This means that the better shape you’re in, the more efficient you become at cooling your body.

The same goes for intentionally hot workouts (hot Pilates, saunas, and sauna blankets) These modalities all have benefits, sure, but the extra sweat doesn't mean extra cals zapped. Physiologically, the major perk of a hot workout is that your muscles warm up faster, Heating your body (which spurs on the sweating) increases range of motion, improves flexibility, ups your lung capacity, and reduces stress.

Do a movement that requires sweating, because that is often what makes us feel better, It’s not the sweat itself that's energising, but actually the endorphins and increased blood flow.

Excessive sweating can also lead to dehydration. To stay properly hydrated, the thumb rule is to drink a total of (30 X your total body weight in kgs) ml of water every day. So if you weigh 80 kgs, then you should drink (80*30) = 2400 ml of water everyday.