I hope this isn't a dumb question? lol.
Does sweating more make you lose more weight?
I was just curious cuz in the gym you see people working out in sweats and sweatshirts and I'm like "geez arn't you hot"
At home on the elliptical I have the a.c on, the fan pointed on my and I weat a tank and DH's boxers, I do not wanna feel hot....unless of course it will make me lose more fat.
I don't think it makes you lose more fat. I typically wear a long sleeve track jacket...I like how it looks mostly. I sweat a lot, but I also drink a LOT of water. Prob lose a little extra water weight, but nothing that I'm too concerned about. If I see a loss right after working out, I know once I drink more water and a little time has passed...it'll come right back. If sweating alone made you lose fat that fast, you'd see millions of people wearing layers...and you'd see them shrink super fast. It just doesn't happen.
The more you sweat, the less you will weigh after your workout, but it is all water, not fat. It will come back that same day as soon as you re-hydrate.
Yup. What Julie said. Sweating is not a measure of exertion or of weight loss. Some people (like me) sweat like crazy. Some people don't sweat much. But that has nothing to do with how hard you're working.
The only way to tell how hard you're working and how effective you're being is to track your heart rate. The higher your heart rate, the more calories you're burning, as a general rule. Of course if you go so hard and fast that you wear yourself out quickly, then you're not being effective either! So it's a balancing act.
I sweat like a man at the gym. It used to embarrass me back in college because I'd see other girls in makeup and hardly breaking a sweat. Now, it's a sign that I know I am working hard. And it's only water. I have to drink a TON before, during and after a workout or else I get dehydrated.
Everyone's right. How much you sweat is just how effectively your body cools itself down. It has nothing to do with how hard you are working...it's simply genetics. I sweat a good bit at the gym so for me that's how I know my heart rate is at the right place. My mum barely sweats at all, but she wears a heart rate monitor as well and is technically working out harder than me...even though she sweats significantly less.
The amount one sweats changes with age as well. Older people can't sweat as much, and that's one reason that overheating can be a serious problem in the elderly.
Lose 'weight', yes. Fat, no. Wrestlers will run on treadmills in garbage bags and come out soaking in order to 'make weight,' i.e. get into an easier weight division. But... no. It's all water weight, and quite dehydrating, so keep your water up!
Sweating helps our bodies cool so some people sweat more and some less. As others have already said, it's mostly water and you need to make sure you're taking in water to replenish what you've sweated out.
I see no need at all to make yourself sweat more than you naturally do. People who purposely wear those plastic suits to make themselves sweat more are just dehydrating themselves more than needed.
Location: Louisville, KY (though really I'm a Michigander)
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Sweat just means you're too warm, not necessarily that you're getting a good workout. Personally, I HATE to sweat (it tickles!). I can get a good workout without sweating at all when I exercise in the winter (as long as I dress light enough). I don't know why gyms don't lower the temperature more than they do... I want it to be way too cold at first, so that I won't sweat once I start exercising.
Some people think that if you haven't worked up a sweat, you haven't worked hard enough, but that's just not true. You're more likely to sweat when you workout hard, but really it all comes down to what the air temperature is and how efficient your body is at cooling itself.
Matter how much we sweat???
So it's a balancing act. 
