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Does Sweating Help You Lose Weight?
Growing up, I’ve always thought that sweating equals fitness (and weight loss). I mean, I’ve always been a big sweater so I assumed that my fast metabolism and high sweat volumes were associated with weight loss.
Sweat is a pretty good indicator of how hard you’re working so it only makes sense that the more you sweat the more weight you lose, right? Honestly, I sweat buckets when I work out and double that in hot weather but when I think about it, I sweat all the time during hot weather. Does that mean I’m losing weight even while I’m at the beach sweating under a hot sun?
Before we answer that question we need to understand how fat is burned.
Contrary to popular belief, we don’t sweat out fat. Nope, not a all. When we sweat, it is our bodies’ way of cooling us down. Think of sweating as our very own cooling system that helps brings our temperatures down to normal levels – Sort of what engine coolant does to engines. Like a vehicle, our bodies’ act in a very similar manner. When we run hot, sweat (our natural coolant) allows us to bring our bodies’ temperature back to normal levels so we don’t “over heat”.
You can only imagine what happens when our vehicles runs too hot without any engine coolant, it overheats and damage happens to the entire system. The same thing happens to our bodies without sweating (our coolant).
Ok, so how is fat burned?
This is a very simplified version of the fat burning process but without getting to technical (I’m not a very technical person!) this is the jist of what happens.
We burn fat when our bodies’ are forced to process more oxygen outside of what is considered normal breathing patterns. For example, when we go for a run we breathe harder than we normally do than if we are sitting on the couch watching Netflix. This pattern of breathing (from the run) is our bodies’ way of using oxygen to burn up fat to be used as energy. The longer and more intense our breathing becomes to more oxygen will help to metabolize fat into fuel – Hence burning body fat.
We breathe in oxygen and when we breathe out fat.
Pretty cool right? We don’t sweat out fat, we breathe out fat. You have to remember though, we have to allow our bodies enough time to draw in more oxygen than normal for this process to happen and it only happens after a few minutes of continuous movement (such as walking, biking or jogging).
Sweat is only a by-product of our bodies’ trying to process more oxygen which is forcing us to breathe more heavily and rapidly. So, the more efficient your body becomes at processing oxygen (better cardiovascular shape) the more fat you are going to burn (and hence the more weight you will lose).
Let me ask you a question?
Have you ever seen an over-weight long distance runner? Neither have I. Do you want to know why? It’s because they have conditioned their bodies’ ability to process oxygen at such high levels that whatever food they consume it gets burned up immediately!
Believe me, it’s not because they’re not eating enough (some of these runners consume upwards of 4000 - 5000 calories a day!) it’s because they’re bodies’ have become so efficient at processing oxygen.
Back in high school, I had a buddy. He was one of the best cross country runners I’ve ever seen. He was built like a body builder and had these huge, powerful legs. He was always in the top 5 in all the cross country competitions. He used to run like a Gazelle with these long powerful running strides.
The thing that I didn’t understand (at the time) was why he was in such great shape even though he ate so much! Every time I seen this guy he either had a sandwich in his hand, a piece of fruit or a gallon of milk. It’s like all he did was weight train, run and eat! If I had to guess, he was consuming around 5000 calories a day!
You know the weird thing? He never seemed to break a sweat. WTH?
You see, he didn’t sweat out fat. He was in such great shape that his body was a fat burning, oxygen processing machine. His muscles soaked up calories, protein and carbohydrates so in essence, his body was a fat burning (oxygen system) and muscle building machine (muscular system). This explains why he could run for miles and look like a body builder doing it!
I’m not going to get into how muscles are developed (where calories are burned) and will leave that for another discussion.
Does sweating help to lose weight?
The answer is yes….and no. Sweating itself does not contain any fat. However that doesn’t mean that sweating doesn’t play a role in losing weight. There are two indirect ways that sweating helps us to lose weight.
Firstly, when we sweat, we sweat out mostly water but it does contain the electrolytes, sodium and potassium.
Electrolytes help our bodies function and keep our muscles contracting properly. Ever see a long distance runner at the end of a super long race seize up? It’s because they have depleted all of their electrolyte stores and their muscles are seizing up (not contracting properly).
When we sweat our large amounts of fluid we lose a large amount of sodium and potassium. The good news is that excess sodium levels contribute to weight gain. For a lot of overweight people, excess sodium is a problem that often leads to weight gain (among other problems associated with excess sodium levels such as high blood pressure and kidney disease).
It only makes sense that the more we sweat the more sodium we get rid of. The more stable your sodium levels are the more body weight you stand to lose. I’ll be very honest with you, once you get your sugars and sodium levels under control, you WILL lose weight (if your nutrition protocol is in place). I suggest using one of our Belly Be Gone weight loss meal plans at to help you lose weight and burn fat:
The second way that sweating helps you to lose weight is purely thermogenic. When you sweat chances are your bodies internal temperature rises. When it rises, your body has to expend energy (burn calories) to cool it back down. This is the thermogenic, calorie burning effect of sweating. Your body will need to expend calories (energy) to bring your body temperature down to normal levels.
The Belly Be Gone Verdict - Does sweating help to lose weight?
Sweating doesn’t contribute to direct weight loss, not in the way that we think since we don’t sweat out fat – we breathe it out. However, sweating does contribute to weight loss in certain “indirect” ways such as sweating out excess sodium (which contributes to weight gain) and the thermogenic effect of our bodies working to cool down our bodies.
Without a doubt, the best way to lose weight and burn fat is to get moving. To burn fat you need to start activating your cardiovascular system. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy or too intense; a 40 minute walk will do just fine. This will be enough to start improving how your body processes oxygen. As you improve your body will become more efficient at processing oxygen and hence, more body fat you will burn. Just remember, it needs to be consistent and on a daily basis otherwise.
If you combine your walk with some basic muscular activation exercises such as body weight squats and wall push ups you will not only burn more fat but you will burn more calories via muscular output. This is your one-two punch at losing weight and burning fat. Not only will you tone and strengthen your body but you will burn unwanted body fat!
Awesome!
If you don’t know where to start when it comes to losing weight, start simple (see this page here on how to start losing weight). Start with a 40 minute walk every day. That’s it. Don’t worry about your diet or anything like that. Just start walking every day. If you can keep that up for a week, start making minor adjustments to your diet. See the Belly Be Gone nutrition page here.
Once you start getting into a “groove” and feel good, try the belly be gone workouts. These workouts concentrate on the belly, abs, arms and low impact cardio movements.
The Belly Be Gone Challenge!
If you’re the type of person who likes a challenge, join the next Belly Be Gone Challenge! This is a great way to lose weight and get fit. This is a 30 day weight loss challenge that allows you to lose between 10 and 20 pounds while toning and shaping your body. Our participants have lost upwards of 24 pounds in 30 days using the Belly Be Gone Challenge program. It comes with the following:
· Meal plan
· Grocery list
· Home exercise plan
· Tracking charts
· 30 day supply of belly be gone fat burner capsules
· Access to the private Belly Be Gone Facebook group – Guidance and support
· Resources and guides
· Prizes for first, second and third best before and after results
You get everything you need to lose up to 20 pounds in 30 days for only $49.95 (plus shipping). If this sounds like something for you, click here.
So there you go everyone, now you know how sweating helps you to lose weight. I strongly suggest you read over these resources
3 foods that you MUST avoid if you want to lose weight
51 tips to burn belly fat and lose weight
Remember, stay safe and stay strong!
Blake
Over his 30 plus years of experience, Blake Bissaillion has worked with nationally ranked body builders, power lifters and fitness professionals. In this time he has picked up volumes of applied knowledge that he openly shares with his clients. Mr. Bissaillion’s objective is to help as many beginners to weight training and fitness to achieve their weight loss and fitness goals while getting into their best possible shape. Mr. Bissaillion owns and operates Belly Be Gone, a fitness company that offers fitness and nutritional guidance and products.