Think sweating more during a workout means you’re burning more fat? Think again.
In a question and answer session on msnbc.com, exercise experts clarified and busted the myth that sweating a lot is a sign of a more productive workout.
Gerald Endress, an exercise physiologist and fitness director at Duke University, said getting a good workout has little to do with sweating and the temperature of the room you work out in.
“You don’t have to sweat to get a good workout,” Endress said. “And exercising in higher temperatures and humidity can be dangerous.”
Endress said sweating is simply the loss of body water, and that you must drink more water to hydrate your body which will just replace the sweat you lost in the workout.
What is the ideal temperature for a workout?
“I find for us that 70 degrees is a good temperature for all,” Endress said. “Those who sweat more or generate more heat can use fans that are aimed directly on their bodies.”
This information comes as surprising news to some students who felt like sweating was a fundamental part of working out.
Michael Roberts, a freshman in geology, said he has always based the effectiveness of his workout on how much sweat he produced.
“Normally when I get out of the gym, I can tell if I’ve had a hard workout because I’m tired, and my shirt is soaked,” Roberts said.
Roberts said he was also concerned the temperature at the gym he works out at is too high.
“I used to think that the heat at the Student Activity Center was good because it just made me sweat more,” Roberts said. “Now that I think about it, it is probably warmer than it should be in there sometimes.”
Some students already knew about the correlation between sweat loss and workout intensity. Daniel Walker, a sophomore in biomedical sciences, said he learned all about water weight as an athlete in high school.
“I wrestled for my high school team, and we always had to lose a few pounds before weigh-in to make weight,” Walker said. “Our coaches recommended we put on a sweat suit and just sweat off the water weight prior to the weigh-in. After the meet, you would be so dehydrated that you would drink a ton of water, and as soon as you got back on the scale, the two pounds you lost earlier is back on.”
Rehydrating after a workout is an important element of both losing weight and gaining muscle mass, because so much of the body is made up of water.
Lori Miller, a freshman in business, said she has incorporated drinking six glasses of water a day into her workout regimen.
“I read an article online that said it was really important and helpful in losing weight to drink lots of water,” Miller said.