Sweat facts : Humans are born with 2-4 million sweat glands
500,000 of those sweat glands are on or feet which explains those smelly gym shoes 🙂 .
Women usually have more sweat glands than men, but are naturally more efficient in their heat loss, so we sweat less.
Our ear lobes have no sweat glands
Pigs dont’ really sweat – not relevant here, but I thought it was interesting 🙂
We all know it feels great to work up a sweat during a workout, but have you ever wondered if the way you sweat is related at all to your fitness level?
We sweat to cool of our bodies from becoming dangerously overheated. When your core temperature rises, your body needs to redirect that heat to the skins surface. Your blood vessels start to dilate, and you start sweating. It comes as no surprise that the harder we work, the more we will sweat. So if you are experiencing an increase in how much you sweat since you began an exercise program, it may be b/c you are simply working harder.
The more fit you become will not really increase how much you sweat, but it will make you sweat earlier and more efficiently. As your body adjusts to exercise, the cooling system becomes more efficient, causing you to break a sweat earlier than you used to. Also, you may be drinking more water which will also increase how much you sweat.
The amount of electrolytes in your sweat goes down as you become more fit b/c the body is also more proficient in managing those electrolytes. Unless you exercise heavily for more than an hour, your have enough carbs and electrolytes to get you through a workout without needing an electrolyte enhanced sports drink (gatorade, etc….).In fact, you are just adding unnecessary calories if your workout is under an hour.
There are conditions when one might sweat profusely (sometimes even when not exercising) – known as hyperhydrosis or not sweat at all – known as anihidrosis. These are separate conditions unrelated to exercise and should be discussed with a doctor.
The most important thing to remember is to keep hydrated before, during and after your workout. This will allow your body to sweat as much as it needs to and keep your energy where it should be during your workout.
Go break a good sweat!