Are you just sweating or burning calories?

Tuesday, October 13, 2009 19:15

Posted in category Dieting tips, Nutrition, fitness tips, wieght loss

Frequently clients will tell me they are burning a lot of calories working out because they are sweating so much. While I don’t doubt they are working out really hard, the amount of sweat doesn’t always determine the amount of calories they may be burning. Sweat is simply the body’s way of regulating body temperature but it doesn’t determine if you are burning fat. (Example: you may be sweating profusely while you are in a sauna but it does not mean you are burning fat.)

The best indication of calorie burn is your heart rate or the Rate of Perceived Exertion. This method is a self-reported scale: On a scale of one to ten, one is at complete rest, and ten is maximum effort. Most health authorities suggest you work out from a range of three to five. When your exercise is intense ,it increases your heart rate which indicates the amount of fat you are burning. So although sweating is good for regulating body temperature and ridding your body of toxins, you want an intense workout for a good calorie burn.

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