Do you have a sweat-aversion? Here’s why you should sweat it.
Recently I was talking to a trainer who brought up the common aversion to sweating during exercise. She said most people will do anything to avoid it, pulling back at first sign of dew or sticking to piece-of-cake workouts to prevent it altogether.
The fear of sweating during exercise is especially prevalent at the gym, since, you know, it's public. I used to brag to friends about how I never sweat at the gym. People around me would leave reservoirs under their equipment, and I’d float back into the locker room to change after a workout, still fresh and dry and smelling like roses.
I simply declared that I wasn’t a “sweater,” like it was something to be proud of.
Of course, the results of my gym time were nothing to brag about. I went to the gym 4-5 times a week for years without managing to develop any muscle tone or whittle my waist.
(Somehow I never made the connection.)
In reality, I avoided sweating by training at a low intensity. I didn’t want to be inconvenienced by needing to shower before work or school, so I stuck to a comfy stroll on the treadmill, plus some light lifting and stretching here and there.
Training with Sufficient Intensity
Call it impolite or gross, but I've learned the truth: sweat is your friend. It can be one of the best indicators that you're shedding fat, because it signals that you are training with high intensity.
Sure, it’s more pleasant to leave the gym without feeling sticky and like you need to replace a week's worth of water.
But if you're sweating, it means your body is working hard enough that it has to sweat to cool itself. Sweating is also healthy because it releases toxins which can build up in your muscles.
So how do you train hard enough to break a sweat? High-intensity interval training is a great way. Of course, it doesn't take fast-paced bursts of activity. I'm sure you've noticed that holding plank position for 10 seconds can make sweat sprout from your forehead (or is that just me)? Same with lifting heavier weights.
As for those who think sweating at the gym is uncouth? It's not. And everyone around you is sweating too. If they're not, they're probably wasting their time.
(Confession: I have yet to try Bikram yoga for fear of slipping on my own sweat lake and breaking my neck. That, and I'm afraid it'll just be gross. Have you tried it?)
Related posts:
Sweat it out—Should you exercise while sick?
3 Comments to "Sweat It Off?"
Great post! It may be a female thing . . . I’ve never known any men who had an aversion to sweating, while I have known men who have an aversion to showering, but I digress . . .
You hit it on the head, short bursts of high intensity is the best, with “high” being determined by the one performing activity.
Yeah, it’s probably a lady thing, but I didn’t want to leave the guys out.
I, as a man and some with low esteem before, didnt want or like to sweat. However after noticing that I was losing weight or gaining muscles like I should and want to, that whole aversion thing went right out of the door….Sweat and take urself home and wash up, simple!!