Does Sweating More Mean More Weight Loss?

You are at the gym, and as always, you follow your personal trainer’s instructions and complete 30 to 45 minutes of cardio, between treadmill, cycling, and cross-trainer. At the end of your workout, you find yourself drenched in sweat, and your immediate thought would be that your body has burnt a lot of fat, which will eventually translate into weight loss. But, is this really true? Does the amount of sweat on your body after your workout sessions translate into weight loss?

Sweating, basically, is how your body regulates its temperature naturally, by releasing salt and water, which then evaporates cooling down your body. In simple words, sweating is the cooling mechanism of your body. Therefore, it has little to do with signifying the effectiveness of your workouts. The cooling mechanism of every individual varies drastically; while some individuals start dripping in layers of sweat after just a walk, others don’t break a sweat even after an intense workout session. So, don’t always use sweating to measure workout effectiveness.

Sweating and Weight Loss

As mentioned, different people sweat differently. On average. adults are known to produce around 1.5 pounds of sweat on an average in a day. The exact amount differs on a variety of factors, such as age, genetics, climatic conditions in their region, the amount of water they intake, their fitness level, and weight. Of all these factors, the fitness level and weight of an individual are highly responsible for the amount of sweat they secrete during a workout. For instance, if you weigh more, your body automatically requires more energy to operate, and a result of which you will sweat more.

Have you tried weighing yourself after breaking a sweat? You would notice that you weigh a little less. This is because of water loss from your body and is referred to as temporary weight loss. And once you drink water or other liquids or eat, your body gets rehydrated, and you will regain any weight you just lost through sweat loss. 

Considering all these points, it is evident that excessive sweating doesn’t necessarily mean more weight loss, and neither is it going to help you lose weight in the long run. Proper weight loss happens only when the amount of fat in your body gets reduced by using up more calories than you actually consumed, and this is achieved by following a combination of proper exercise and nutrition or diet. Losing between half a pound and two pounds in a week is what is considered as safe weight loss.

Remember, even if working out or not you will continue to sweat. To prevent dehydration from this, remember to drink water not just during the training session, but also before after and even when you are not working out too!