Does Sweating Make You Lose Weight?

In this article we give you the answer to the question of whether sweating makes you lose weight.

Some people still think that sweating makes you lose weight, but this is not entirely true. We tell you why.

We often believe that the more we have soaked our clothes in training, the more pounds we will have lost. But this is not the case. Calories burned go beyond sweating. Because otherwise, those who do not sweat would not lose a gram.

In this article we give you the answer to the question of whether sweating makes you lose weight.

Sweating, pounds and exercise

Let’s take a look at what happens in a gym or training room. At the end of the training some people are soaked in sweat to the point of having to use a towel or change to avoid getting sick. Others, on the other hand, are dry as if they hadn’t moved a finger.

The first will lose weight more than the second? This is popular belief, but what the majority think is not necessarily the truth. In order to be able to determine if with greater sweating we burn more calories, we will analyze what happens in our body when we exercise.

In order to be able to cool off when the temperature is too high, the body has a mechanism called sweating. It mainly secretes water by the sweat glands in the skin and thanks to this liquid it reduces the temperature.

The amount of these glands is determined by genetics, and not all humans work the same. Studies have shown that the more you sweat the more sweat glands you have (the average being between 2 and 4 million in the whole body).

Women often have more than men, but men are more active, up to 50% more. The body composition is different: they have more water in the body and in addition the perspiration is more acidic. If we are talking about hormonal differences, they are the ones that win the game.

Men sweat more than women

Athletic women, for example, begin to sweat at a higher temperature and from deeper tissues. At equal heat and load, men sweat more. Women, on the other hand, have more mechanisms that help dissipate heat, especially circulatory.

Therefore, in a gym it is more likely to see men sweating and women with reddened skin,  especially the face. This happens because the blood capillaries in the epidermis dilate. And in addition expel heat to the surroundings.

The amount of sweating can also be affected by:

• The climate. Moisture and heat cause more sweating.
• The intensity of the exercise.
• Drink alcohol or coffee.
• Tobacco.
• Food. Spicy foods and spices increase body temperature.
• The weight or amount of fat accumulated.

So sweating makes you lose weight?

It has been proven that overweight people sweat more than thin people. Excess body fat increases the core temperature because it acts as a “shelter”. Faced with a situation of effort or movement, the body sweats to lose heat.

This means that by sweating, you don’t burn calories. Losing weight is linked to other factors such as muscle mass and the fat accumulated in adipose tissue.

It is certain that by sweating we lose weight, but these grams are only composed of water and minerals eliminated through perspiration. That is to say that we do not lose fat through the glands. So sweating does not make you lose weight.

Everything that we lose when we finish training we recover it the moment we drink water or those drinks with mineral salts sold in stores. But that’s not why we should stop hydrating before, during and after exercise.

Intensity of exercise

So what is the cause of weight loss? To the intensity of the sport we practice. For example, running for 30 minutes helps burn 300 calories, regardless of how much sweat you put on.

Remember, sweating is the body’s way of keeping our body temperature stable. It is its function, and not that of helping us lose weight and that our swimsuits look great on us.

If sweating makes you lose weight, it would suffice to sit in front of a radiator, go to the sauna or expose yourself to the midday sun. Or wear a wool sweater in the height of summer. But this is not the case.

What exercises can you lose fat with?

We have just demystified the idea that sweating does not make you lose weight. We have also said that in order to lose weight we need to choose high or moderate intensity exercise. You definitely want to know which ones work the best! Pay attention:

• Aerobic exercises
• Walking lightly
• Trotting
• To ski
• Swim
• Ride a bike
• Dance
• Boxer
• Practice martial arts

During the practice of these exercises the muscles obtain energy from the fat reserves, however they help to reduce it.

With the right diet you can get the results you are looking for … and remember that the amount of perspiration does not matter, but the intensity of the exercises that does it all.