Question about being fit and sweating less

I've always heard that the more in shape a person is, the less they sweat. Or at least, it takes them longer to start sweating than someone who hardly exercises and/or overweight. Is this true?

I ask because I tend to start sweating very easily with moderate activity, and I'm that exercising consistantly will help me not sweat as easily.

nop, the more fit the more you sweat.

Some people just sweat more than others, and some days you'll sweat more than other days (this depends on how hydrated you are)

Also, is this something you've noticed recently.  It is summer, and you'll be sweating more now than when its cold out!

ching12: So a person who is fit that walks for 20 mins will start sweating quicker and longer than an out of shape person who walks for 20 mins?

Original Post by maxx86:

Some people just sweat more than others, and some days you'll sweat more than other days (this depends on how hydrated you are)

Also, is this something you've noticed recently.  It is summer, and you'll be sweating more now than when its cold out!

I've noticed this ever since I've gained 60 lbs, for example before I gained the weight I could go to the mall and shop for an hour without sweating, but after gaining the weight, right when I walk in I start sweating. Plus, with my friend who's fairly thin and plays sports, it seems like she could be outside for hours on a hot day and not sweat. But maybe that's just how she is.

Hmm never thought about this. 

I'm average weight, not fat, not thin. I am always FREEZING when other people are hot. My roommate and I would always fight over the temperature in our apartment. 

But when I exercise, I sweat more than anyone I know. Even if I go to the gym where it's air conditioned, I still am completely drenched. Like my underwear is soaked, sweat is dripping down my legs, etc...

I've always been a "sweater." I'm probably in the best shape of my life right now, but the sweat just keeps dripping ;)

Original Post by xsara726:

Original Post by maxx86:

Some people just sweat more than others, and some days you'll sweat more than other days (this depends on how hydrated you are)

Also, is this something you've noticed recently.  It is summer, and you'll be sweating more now than when its cold out!

I've noticed this ever since I've gained 60 lbs, for example before I gained the weight I could go to the mall and shop for an hour without sweating, but after gaining the weight, right when I walk in I start sweating. Plus, with my friend who's fairly thin and plays sports, it seems like she could be outside for hours on a hot day and not sweat. But maybe that's just how she is.

Well I don't sweat from shopping or anything like that. Maybe it has something to do with your heart rate. The more energy it takes you to move, then yeah, I guess the higher your heart rate is and thus the more you sweat. 

For me, activities like walking around and shopping are very normal and don't raise my heart rate in the least. But as soon as my heart rate goes up (i.e. in exercise), the sweat is out of control. 

Original Post by xsara726:

ching12: So a person who is fit that walks for 20 mins will start sweating quicker and longer than an out of shape person who walks for 20 mins?

 usually....its not cut and dry but in most cases yes, as with anything there are exceptions. The more exercise you do, the body adapts by becoming better at cooling oneself

I think there are too many variables to answer that. Ambient temperature, hydration, physical exertion, etc.

Original Post by jcl76:

Hmm never thought about this. 

I'm average weight, not fat, not thin. I am always FREEZING when other people are hot. My roommate and I would always fight over the temperature in our apartment. 

But when I exercise, I sweat more than anyone I know. Even if I go to the gym where it's air conditioned, I still am completely drenched. Like my underwear is soaked, sweat is dripping down my legs, etc...

I've always been a "sweater." I'm probably in the best shape of my life right now, but the sweat just keeps dripping ;)

I'm always cold always, my husband laughs at me walking around in jeans while heis in shorts and t shirt but the minute I look at a piece of exercise equipment I start sweating. May be it's fear LOL. I just think we're all different.

I`ve been sweating way more since I got fitter, even though my endurance is better. I always blamed it on drinking much more water nowadays.

Someone may have already mentioned this (don't have time to read through all the replies just now) but it probably has something to do with building muscles. They are more active and work even when you're not specifically working them, and thus you are warmer (muscles are warm, fat is cold) and that leads to sweating in some conditions.

Now, that's just in general -- if you mean when you're working out, I'd say it's probably the same reasoning.

I could be totally wrong, but that's what I've always sort of figured whenever I think of it (and that's not often, so I haven't looked it up.)

I've always heard that fit ppl sweat MORE but start sweating LATER.

This seems to ring true for me too. I sweat like a hog when I run, but the rivers don't start flowing for a good 20 min to a half an hour, and when I stop running I sweat about 600X as much for a good 10 or 15 minutes afterward, even though I'm not exercising anymore.

Original Post by vrykol:

 

This seems to ring true for me too. I sweat like a hog when I run, but the rivers don't start flowing for a good 20 min to a half an hour, and when I stop running I sweat about 600X as much for a good 10 or 15 minutes afterward, even though I'm not exercising anymore.

 That's exactly what happens to me during and after my workout. I recently got my hair cut shorter... just because I hated the feeling of all the sweat sticking to me. Yuck!

I've always heard that the more you workout the sooner in your workout you will start sweating and that the rate at which you sweat is personal and not effected by your level of fitness.  You can measure your sweat rate in order to know how much water you should be drinking during your workout.

I honestly don't know. I thought it was all about exertion? My bf is ALWAYS warm and in pretty good shape. I used to ALWAYS be cold. He had better circulation than me and I was out of shape. Now that I workout more, my circulation is better and my body is warmer than usual, but I think there are LOTS of other factors involved. For instance, I used to sweat A LOT because of too much caffeine. Yup. It's awesome, but if you sweat a lot cut back on the caffeine and sodium.

Sorry I don't have any factual points, but I just thought I'd share.

My understanding is that your body "learns" to cool itself more efficiently the more you exert yourself in a warm environment.  So, since many fit people routinely exercise in the heat, they learn to cool themselves more efficiently by sweating more.

My husband is a former wildland firefighter, and it doesn't take much movement for him to be drenched.  I am a vineyard manager, and often work in the heat of the day (not as hard or as hot as fighting fires, though!) and I also sweat quite freely for a woman.  But, everyone is different, some people I know hardly sweat at all, no matter how hard they are working or how hot it is.  It is a danger, we see people dying of heat stress in agriculture and construction, so I am glad that I do sweat as much as I do.

BTW, the old school is that horses sweat, men perspire, and women glow.  (Is that sexist, or what?)

I reckon it's horsest!

I think that when you're overweight you sweat easier because you have "insulation" all around you trying to keep the heat inside your body.  Evolutionarily this is a good thing because it let us survive cold winters and stuff like that, but now-a-days it's just a pain in the butt.  It's like the temperature you feel is higher than the temperature skinnier people feel so you sweat more just as if it was hotter.  I have nothing to back any of this up, but it sounds right to me.