OOOkay, so as I've mentioned several times now, I've been going to the gym.
But see, I have this problem, and I KNOW someone else out there must have it too...
I don't sweat. Sometimes my face will get a nice shine to it but that's it.
The ONLY place I sweat is my butt. As I slide/fall off the machines at the gym there's a butt sweat mark. Now, obviously I clean it off before letting anyone else touch it and no one probably notices, but it's gross and embarassing. (especially when working with a personal trainer, or sharing equipment)
So this post is a two part question post
1) Is there anyone else that struggles to sweat? I'm definitely hydrated enough I've had it measured and drink 4-5 litres of water a day. How do I make myself sweat? I work out HARD and get a huge red tomato face and almost die with cardio but no sweat.
2) Is there a way to STOP the buttsweat? A certain type of pants or panties that I can wear? lmao
LOL - I'm right there with ya! I don't struggle to sweat. I sweat quite easily and a lot but along with that comes the embarrassing butt sweat! I honestly just slide off the machine or piece of equipment in a way that I try to wipe it off with my pant leg while getting up. Either that, or just immediately turn around and wipe with the towel. Oh the lives of butt sweaters, huh?
Gosh, I looked for a fitting butt sweat emoticon but I just can't seem to find one that accurately shows what we go through! Ha, ha!
My butt sweats all the time. I live in the tropics, and if I get up off a chair (other than a fabric covered one that absorbs it) there is a sweat mark on the chair. No matter that the rest of me isn't sweating, that I'm wearing jeans, whatever. It's there every time.
I wear cotton pants and jeans/shorts. About as absorbent as you can get.
Sorry I have no suggestions. Just letting you know you're not alone.
Wicking bra, panties, socks, shirts and compression/bike shorts shorts can help minimize the sweats. I would go with top, bra, socks, bike shorts and skip the panties so there wasn't two layers to get through before it would evaporate.
Won't solve it all, but I feel a lot cooler and it wasn't so soggy as in cotton.
If they carry your size, try Target or Walmart and check the tags for wicking versions.
I don't think you can choose where to sweat. There are ways to inhibit sweating, but I don't think there are ways to provoke sweating in a specific location.
I've used antipersperant to avoid sweating in places I don't want to, but I wouldn't do that if I were you, because you need to sweat from somewhere and if you antipersperant your butt, if it worked it could increase the likelihood of overheating, I would think.
You might consider using a deodorant rather than an antipersperant under your arms, which might allow your underarms to do some of the work your butt is doing (but again I might be talking out my own butt, because I'm not sure of the biochemistry here).
There's really no reason to be embarassed because the butt is a very common place to sweat, so everyone else is butt-sweating too, it's why the towels and wipes have become part of gym ettiquette. I've been to gyms where towels and disinfectant spray are provided at each station and signs are posted to wipe equipment after EACH use (whether or not there's any visible sweat).
I get so mad about this. (Not at myself, or at you, JessicaDawn, I hasten to add.) I swear this all goes back to the way girls are brought up. There's still some of that "horses sweat, men perspire, ladies glow" mentality going around, in which women are not supposed to be fully human animals, as we really are. We're never supposed to sweat, stink or look messy. Not even in a gym, apparently, or so we tell ourselves, because we're so used to regulating our behavior.
But there are some places where these rules have to finally be suspended. Break yourself of these qualms. (I am working on this, too.) In the rest of the world, we're supposed to be clean, neat, polite. In a gym, it's different. It's like a hospital room. It's a place of the body. In places like that, the normal rules go into abeyance. It's okay to be red-faced in a gym. It's okay to sweat all over the place & leave the machines wet (as long as you clean up after yourself). It's okay to sweat in what you think are weird places & in weird quantities. It's okay to breathe hard, pant, gasp. (No really showy, dramatic grunting, though.) It's even okay to fart from the effort. It's all okay. Really.
Do not let that "nice girls don't" voice get into your head while you're out there really WORKING your body. (As I said, I mean this for myself, too.)
It's even okay to fart from the effort. It's all okay. Really.
too funny. I was doing crunches with a medicine ball one day, I paused to avoid the above, and the woman next to me said, Oh, keep going! those are so good for you! I didn't know what to say, so I just looked at her and smiled.
I agree, sweat at the gym as you will, as long as you wipe it off for the next person, no harm, no foul.
Do not let that "nice girls don't" voice get into your head while you're out there really WORKING your body. (As I said, I mean this for myself, too.)
This post was so great. I agree, don't be self-conscious of what happens at the gym. You're going there for YOU. But if it does bother you, the only advice I have is black pants/shorts, and also bring a sweatshirt or jacket that you can tie around your waist to cover your sweat. As you're getting off the machine, you can even discretely wipe the machine using the sleeve as you're preparing to tie it around your waist. Keep up the good work!
This post was so great. I agree, don't be self-conscious of what happens at the gym. You're going there for YOU. But if it does bother you, the only advice I have is black pants/shorts, and also bring a sweatshirt or jacket that you can tie around your waist to cover your sweat. As you're getting off the machine, you can even discretely wipe the machine using the sleeve as you're preparing to tie it around your waist. Keep up the good work!
bahahha some very funny responses, thank you.
I feel like i need to clear something up though...I'm embarassed about the buttsweat cuz its coming out of my butt, not because it's sweat...I WISH I could sweat normally, it just doesn't happen
I think I'd feel 10x better about myself if I left the gym dripping rather than just having a soggy butt and a red face.
y'know?
Maybe I'm just not going hard enough. TIME TO UP THE RESISTANCE
Slide some deoderant between your cheeks. The expensive kind that are actually made for people who's underarms sweat too much. I bet it would work. Just make sure you mark it so you know that is the butt only deoderent. Wouldn't want to be putting it anywhere else.
Last edited by MikoMarcia; 04-11-2010 at 08:13 PM.
Reason: I can't flippin spell.
I did not sweat until I lost about 40lbs. I don't know what's up with that. I could not believe I was not sweating. Now my shirt gets soaking wet. My but sweats I love it. I feel better when I sweat! I fart sometimes but I always did. I feel better when I fart too!!! hehehe!!!
hmmm
an update :
I did 90 minutes of cardio this evening (ready to die) but took it at a slower pace than normal, and sweat a TEEENY tiny bit on my lower back.
SUPER excited about it. Then I went in the sauna for 20mins but nada other than the shiny face.
Then went in the hottub for 15 minutes.
I feel awesome.
Exhausted, but awesome