Fitness myth: Do you need to sweat for your workout to count?

by purelytwins

Do you catch yourself stressing about the effectiveness of your workouts based on how much you sweat? Do I need to sweat to not gain weight or lose weight? Doesn’t sweating mean I am burning more calories?

We are guilty of having those thoughts.

We were those girls that felt in order for our workouts to count we had to SWEAT!  This mindset around working out lead us down a destructive path – we abused our bodies through exercise. We struggled to take it easy. We struggled with rest days. We would feel guilty if we didn’t sweat that day.

Luckily we learned that isn’t case.

We learned the truth that no matter how much or little you sweat, it doesn’t always correlate to calories burned or how hard you’re working!  That was music to our ears when we finally learned that. Hearing it and reading it is one thing but you also have to believe it. Coming from girls who over exercised like crazy, we’re talking about twice a day for 2+ hours, we had to really believe that was true to start ending our cycle of over doing it. It took time for it to really hit home for us. Once we saw our skin and hormones (missing periods) going south we knew things had to change.

Yes, sweating is good. We aren’t saying it’s not. What we are saying: don’t go killing yourself during your workouts if you aren’t sweating.

In the video below we bust another fitness myth – you already know you don’t have to be sore after every workout .We busted those. Hopefully you are starting to believe that these myths simply aren’t true. Working out should be looked at as a privilege. Be grateful you get to move the body.

Do I need to sweat a lot in my workouts to burn fat and lose weight?

We share our thoughts in the video.

Share your thoughts below in the comments.

If you know of anyone who needs to hear this please share this with them. Thank you.

Do you have to sweat for your workout to count? Come found out if you are getting a good workout or no.

Good news! You don’t have to sweat a lot to get a good workout in.

Sweating is your body’s way of regulating its temperature.

Just like we busted the fitness myth no pain no gain there are other factors to consider when deciding if you had a good workout or not.

We feel it is good to get a variety of workouts in your fitness routine, some that push you really hard and others that keep you active. Sweat has nothing to do with it. It comes down to you and how much effort you put into your workout.

Things to consider:

1 – Genetics – some of us just sweat more than others

2 – Are you hydrated?

3 – You might be in better (or less better shape) than someone – it doesn’t mean your intensity for your workout is not good

4 – Your environment can play a role if you sweat or not. It can be hot outside and you sweat, it doesn’t mean you are burning fat.

Just give your workouts your best effort. We are all at different fitness levels.

We hope this helps you on your journey to start working out less and most importantly stop abusing your body through fitness. Moving the body is a privilege. Respect your body.

xoxo

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5 comments

Cara's Healthy Cravings December 7, 2015 - 6:35 pm

So so true!
As someone who loves to get a good sweat on by doing HIIT and weight lifting, I also now know that I can exercise effectively without sweating or working out as intensely.
This past month has been a fun experiment for myself as I have just completed my 200hr YTT cert. So for the course of the month, all I did was yoga for my exercise and nothing more. Not to say it was easy by any means, far from it, but I was not doing any cardio or weights along with my yoga practice and my body remained strong (if not stronger), toned and healthy. I think it was also quite beneficial to give my body a rest from my go-to forms of exercise.

purelytwins December 7, 2015 - 6:47 pm

Yes yoga is awesome for building strength

Tommy January 7, 2016 - 1:29 pm

I used to think that a successful workout translated to puddles of sweat on the floor. For someone who just doesn’t sweat a lot, you can just imagine how hard I worked out each time. I was exhausted! It wasn’t until I injured myself (from too much exertion) that I realized I should stop looking at the numbers on my weighing scale or judging the success of my workout by the how drenched my clothes were.

Now, I am healthier and no longer exhausted each time I hit the gym!

purelytwins January 8, 2016 - 8:41 am

Awesome!

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