Does Sweating Burn Calories? A Deep Dive into the Facts
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Last updated: Apr 17, 2024Click to rate this article!
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By PharmEasy Medical Board +2 more
Medically reviewed by PharmEasy Medical Board
Last updated: Apr 17, 2024Table of Contents
Usually, people assume that when you sweat after a workout you must be burning more calories. In this article, we will try to discuss if this is fact or fiction. We will cover how sweating works, how it ties to calorie burning, the pros and cons of lots of sweating, and ways to burn more calories while exercising. We’ll also look at what impacts different people’s calorie burning rates. Lastly, we will answer frequently asked questions regarding this topic.
In this section, we will discuss how sweating stops our bodies from overheating and keeps us well. We will discuss below how to sweat and what impacts it.
Two types of glands in your skin make sweat which are the eccrine glands and apocrine glands.
Eccrine glands are sweat glands found all across the body. The highest numbers are on your forehead, palms, and soles. They release a light mix of water, salt, and other minerals. The aim of which is to cool you down when you overheat.
Apocrine glands live in the hair roots, mostly in the armpits and groin. Feeling stressed, nervous, or hormonal changes can turn them on. They make a thick, sticky liquid full of proteins and fatty acids.
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How much you sweat can change based on some factors. These include:
Genes have a big role in how many sweat glands you have. They also control how active the glands are when you sweat.
Fit people start sweating faster when they work out. Their bodies are better at maintaining the right temperature.
If you drink enough water, it can help you sweat. Good hydration lets your body keep the right body heat through sweating.
Hot and heavy weather can make you sweat more. Your body has to work harder to lose heat.
Heavy clothes can trap heat close to your body. Which causes you to sweat more.
It is important to understand that we should not mix up sweating with burning calories when we exercise.
The thermic effect is when energy usage increases during certain body processes. This includes keeping body heat steady. Sweating uses up some energy as your body works to keep its core temperature under control. Still, the calorie-burning part of sweating is low compared to exercise.
When you exercise, your metabolism speeds up. You then burn more calories than when resting. How hard the workout is and not how much sweat you produce that determines how many calories you burn.
Your metabolism turns what you eat and drink into energy. The higher your metabolism, the more calories you burn when moving about. This includes working out. So, even though sweating itself doesn’t raise calorie burn that much, you may boost your metabolism by doing workouts that make you sweat more.
High-intensity workouts usually make you sweat more and burn more calories than easier workouts. The link between sweating and burning calories is mainly due to your metabolism speeding up during exercise. It’s not directly linked to the act of sweating itself.
You may burn a few extra calories while exercising in the heat. Because your body has to work harder to cool down. But, you should know that this boost in calorie burn is miniscule next to the calories burned through moving your body.
Heat may cause a small rise in your basal metabolic rate (BMR). BMR is how many calories your body needs to maintain bodily functions like breathing and blood flow on normal days. An increase in BMR makes for a slightly higher calorie burn during sweaty exercise in hot conditions. But, don’t think heat alone can help much with weight loss. It’s too small and amount.
Working out in hot temperatures might make you sweat more and use up more energy while your body tries to cool down. But, heat can also reduce how hard you’re able to work out due to discomfort and risks like dehydration and heat stroke. So, how much heat affects calorie burning depends on the person and the situation.
Sweating itself doesn’t help with burning calories. Still, it does come with several potential health benefits which are as follows.
Sweating may help your body get rid of impurities like toxins and waste from your body’s activities , through your skin.
Sweating is also proposed to help your body steady its temperature. When you sweat, your body lets go of extra heat, cools down, and keeps things running just right.
Challenging workouts that cause a lot of sweating are said to boost blood flow around your body. This makes sure oxygen and nutrients get to all your body’s cells and tissues.
Sweating cleans your pores and helps kick out dirt, oils, and bacteria from the skin’s surface. This is said to contribute to healthy-looking skin.
It is proposed that sweating is one way your body defeats harmful bugs and toxins. This may support your immune system and keep you feeling good.
Sweating is natural and normal. But, there are some risks tied to sweating too much as well which are described below.
If you sweat a lot and don’t replace it by drinking enough water, it can cause dehydration which can make you feel like fainting, throw up, and affect how well you think, move, and perform.
Some people tend to sweat a lot, and suffer from a condition called hyperhidrosis. This can be uncomfortable, upsetting, and might need medical help to deal with.
If you work out in hot places, too much sweat could lead to heat exhaustion or heat stroke. Both are in serious condition and need swift medical aid. Signs of heat exhaustion include feeling dizzy, weak with a fast pulse, and clammy, sweaty skin. Heat stroke is more severe and is signaled by a high body heat, racing heartbeat, and being confused.
Pushing yourself too hard, especially in the heat, could lead to overexertion. This raises your chance of injury and can harm how well you can exercise.
The following strategies may be tried to burn more calories when you exercise.
The hardness level of your workout is a big factor in how many calories you drop. Try to go for moderate- to high-intensity exercises. At the same time, make sure you enjoy your workouts and don’t overdo it.
Wearing a heart rate monitor may help you keep tabs on your workout intensity. It means you can make sure you’re in the sweet spot for burning the most calories.
A different way to check your workout level is using the Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE). RPE is a scale from 0–10 that lets you rate how hard your workout is. Use it to make sure you’re not overdoing it or taking it too easy.
An ideal workout plan has a combination of weight training, cardio, and flexibility/mobility workouts. This may help you burn more calories and maintain general fitness.
It may help you build muscle. More muscle means a faster metabolism. A faster metabolism means you may burn more calories in both rest and activity.
Cardio activities like running, biking, swimming, or high-intensity interval training (HIIT) may help boost calorie burning during your workout time.
Including flexibility and mobility workouts like yoga, pilates, or stretching may stop injuries and optimize your body’s ability to work out and burn calories.
Several things can affect how many calories you burn when exercising which are as follows.
Depending on your body build, you might burn more or fewer calories during exercise. As a rule, people with more muscle and less fat burn more calories when active.
As you get older, your metabolism tends to slow down. This can mean burning fewer calories during exercise.
Men usually burn more calories during exercise than women. as men usually have more muscle.
People with a faster metabolism burn more calories when active (and at rest) than others with a slower metabolism.
Even though sweating does use some energy, it’s minor compared to the calories burned during exercise. The key factor that decides the number of calories you burn during physical activity is the hardness level of the workout, and not how much sweat comes out. Note though that sweating has potential health benefits, such as detox, steady body heat, better blood flow, skin health, and a stronger immune system.
When you want to burn the most calories, aim for a balanced workout plan.
It should include weight training, cardio, and flexibility/mobility workouts. You could also track your workout level with heart rate monitoring or the rate of perceived exertion scale. Stay within your target zone for burning calories. Keep in mind, your body type, age, gender, and metabolism can change your personal calorie-burning rate when exercising.
Not really. Sweating is simply your body’s way of cooling down and keeping an optimal temperature. The actual effort level of the exercise, not how much sweat comes out, is what affects the calories burned during physical activity.
To stay safe when working out in hot weather, drink lots of water, wear light and airy clothes, check the weather first, and go slow if you’re not used to the heat. If you start to feel dizzy and weak, stop straight away and get some medical help.
Saunas and hot yoga may help in improving blood flow, make you feel calm, and help with flexibility. But don’t think they burn many calories. They are pretty small when compared to other forms of exercise.
Wearing sweats or heavy clothing can make you sweat more. But it won’t boost calorie burning. To do this, do exercises at a high enough level and keep to a balanced workout plan.
You can guess the number of calories burned during a workout with fitness trackers, phone apps, or online tools. Keep track of your heart rate or use the rate of perceived exertion scale to get an idea on your workout intensity. This can give you an idea about how many calories you’re burning.
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