You know, you watch the shows like Heavy for example, and you see them SOAKED in sweat. Or you see people at the gym, and their shirts as saturated...no matter how hard I try, I can't sweat like that.

I don't know if I am not working hard enough, or if maybe there's a medical problem, or what, but my hands sweat, my scalp sweats sa little bit, and I may get a little area mid-back that's damp (not even visibly damp), and that's it.

Anyone have any ideas?

Everyone's different - don't sweat it Seriously - our bodies are ALL extremely different and sweating is a method of cooling the skin. Some people sweat immediately - their bodies go right into that mode, others don't sweat much at all. Just do the workout you need to do for your body and keep hydrated.

Those people are VERY heavy and all of that fat tissue can immediately raise body temp doing little to no exercise. As nationalparker said, sweating is a way to cool the body. As long as you are hydrated, you should be fine. It might be an indicator that you're not going very hard but I doubt it, even when I'm pushing I don't really sweat anywhere outside of my head, underarms, and back and it's not like I'm drenched. If you're a woman, that could be the reason too! Don't worry too much about it!

It's biological, everybody sweats, maybe you dont as much as others and maybe just maybe you arent pushing yourself enough where you can really notice it. I can hop on many machines like the elliptical and ride them for a half hour and never sweat. Even now. But I'm a runner and it takes me running an entire ten minutes (or a mile) before I start perspirate and when I do, watch out, the faucets have been turned on. Sometimes if you dont sweat it's because you may be dehydrated. As a runner I get highly concerned when I dont sweat or if my sweating has stopped, it means I've lost too much fluids.

Thanks all!

Dehydration isn't my problem, for sure! I was previously a non-hydrater. I lived on coffee and coke full time. Now I have 2 cups of coffee in the morning, and a minimum of 80oz of water each day.

As for working out hard enough? I don't know. Until recently, if I did 9 minutes on the elliptical (and a 2 minute cool down) I felt like I was dying. Then I started walking 3 miles a day. The next time I got on the elliptical I pushed it to 20 minutes (plus a cool down), and while I was extremely hot, and out of breath, I didn't pass out, and I didn't throw up....maybe I should work harder LMAO.

Seriously though, I honestly don't know if I am working out hard enough. I plan on getting a personal trainer in the near future, and seeing how that goes (although, to be honest, I am kind of scared).

Don't be scared, you're getting healthy! I would test your heart rate and see where it is while you are working out. If your heart rate is elevated to where you want it to be, you are fine. Also, is where you work out cold? If it's a low temp already you might not be sweating as much as outside on a hot summer day.

My coworker (who is a fitness instructor as well) told me that if you can engage in conversation then you aren't working out as hard as you possibly can. If you are trying to get the best bang for your buck you should only be able to breath. Hence when I only have a short time to workout I go until I feel my lungs are going to burst I sweat a decent amount but definitely nothing like the people on Heavy!

LOL I gauge based on if I can sing along to my MP3 player when I am out walking. If I can only get a couple of words in here and there, I know I am at least getting a semi-decent work out. On the elliptical, well I am at the gym, so I don't try to sing, but I know I couldn't even if I wanted to.

I have started to sweat more as I have gotten healthier. I'm rather proud of my sweat. And yet, I'm still not the sweatiest person at the gym. Most of the men in spin class are literally dripping around their bikes and many of them line the floor with paper towels. Ew! Recently I've noticed one or two drops of sweat will fall from my face and it makes me proud. LOL!

OMG, you had had me laughing out loud. I am exactly the same...ewww about lining the floor with paper towels, but...I wanna sweat too!

I am seeing lots of changes as I get healthier...I posted on Feb 11 that my resting heart rate was 96....I checked it yesterday and it was 61..I am seeing (and other people are too) a difference in my shape, and mostly I am noticing a change in my self confidence. I am actually going to try and jog just teeeeny tiny bits today (have arthritis in my knee, so will have to see how the knee handles it). I was bummed yesterday about how long this is going to take (you responded to that thread), but Heavy last night was really good about putting my head back in the right place. If they can do it, I can do it too. I have the added blessing of not being a food addict, I just made bad/lazy choices to get me fat!

Ug gross that's why I can't go to the gym! lol. Even my brother using my treadmill annoys me!

Yeah, I ditto the "don't sweat it." People are so different when it comes to this. You may find a time in your life we're you're sweating more and other times when you're sweating less. I notice that when I am walking/running, I am not noticeably sweating (but whoa, once I sit down, I am freezing!) but when I'm spinning or doing something I'm not good at, I sweat more.

Ooo! But I do turn bright red. SO annoying. At my heaviest weight, people would stop and ask if I was okay. UGH. Unless I am on the floor, leave me alone.

while genetics or whatever makes some people sweat buckets and others not very much play a part, also keep in mind the people on shows like heavy are usually spending their entire day working out with trainers keeping them at their limit. Working out for 6-8 hours is going to generate alot more perspiration then whatever any of our normal gym routines are

I can relate, my face goes a nice shade of purple/red when I am working hard!!

blech I STILL hate sweating!!! I'm a face sweater lol I need a towel to wipe off my face. Not so much anywhere else.... but as most have said, don't sweat the small stuff i'm sure you're fine, and your trainer can tell you soon if you're working at capacity.