Sweating like buggery

[RichardWHardwick]

I'm a relative newcomer to this cycling malarkey. Two weeks ago I did the Great North Bike Ride quite easily (good tail wind) and I've been out three times since - just on twelve mile rides each time.

Then tonight I did the same ride and for some reason I sweated stacks more than usual. I don't usually sweat that much but this time it was dripping off me. I wasn't going any faster I don't think. This ride was at night time rather than usual early morning so perhaps that was a factor.

And so to my point - this sweating like mad. Is it good for me? Does it mean I'm losing more weight or my body is doing more work? Was I out of shape or not as fully prepared this time? Or is it just random?

With thanks...

 

[Hacienda71]

Could be down to the ambient temperature. Warmer after a sunny day than first thing in the morning. I sometimes sweat a lot, other times don't notice it much.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Probably the warmer evening temp and humidity, mornings tend to be cooler and more cooling, If you do sweat it will evaporate more readily in the cool than the warm.
Sweating's OK, it's the body's way of shedding heat but it does mean that you're loosing moisture and salts that need replenishing. To my mind there's no virtue in sweating unnecessarily! Thus a change of clothing strategy's required for different conditions or get used to it!

 

[Gixxerman]

I have the same problem.
I have always sweated like mad when doing even mild exercise.
Even just walking a mile or two in just a shirt it rolls off me.
After an hour on the stepper machine at the the gym, I look like I've been in a shower and there is a puddle on the floor. Every item of clothing is so wet I can wring it out (even my undercrackers!).
I am not overweight, so I do not know why I sweat so much.
I do have quite a lot of muscle due to my weight training and think that is the problem as large muscles generate more heat.

 

[e-rider]

clothes?

 

[chillyuk]

I sweated a lot. On night duty when I worked I would need at least 4 uniforms to get through the shift. then I was diagnosed with Grave's disease. My thyroid was very overactive, hence my metabolism was racing causing the sweating and weight loss.

I have had my thyroid removed and am now back to normal as long as I keep taking the pills! My real problem is keeping the weight down now.

 

[palinurus]

It's been relatively warm and humid recently. Worse than hot and dry for getting sweaty.

 

[asterix]

I sweat a lot but put it down to hard work and heat!

On the bike I don't notice the sweating because it evaporates until I stop when it doesn't.

For a while I did worry it might be abnormal until I watched the Tour de France riders and realised they were abnormal as well after which I didn't care.

 

[Moodyman]

I sweat buckets and love it.

It removed salt, sugar and fat from the body and a whole host of toxins.

Just make sure you replace the salt and sugar through a balanced diet.

 

[RichardWHardwick]

Mmmm - so its not necessarily my body working harder and thus shedding more weight?
It's down to environment and clothing. I was wearing my Great North Bike Ride t-shirt for the first time which didn't seem as good material - and it was humid.

And it's good and bad - as you shed shed toxins and fats but also lose essential salts and sugars?
I tip three capfuls of some electrolyte stuff into a pint or half pint of milk when I finish. That's supposed to be good for replenishing lost natural salts isn't it?

And whilst I'm here - is cycling really that good for losing weight around the stomach? I'm not fat, I'm reasonably slim with a forty year old gut that hasn't had any exercise because I never needed to until the last few years - and then I didn't do anything about it...

 

[Fab Foodie]

And whilst I'm here - is cycling really that good for losing weight around the stomach? I'm not fat, I'm reasonably slim with a forty year old gut that hasn't had any exercise because I never needed to until the last few years - and then I didn't do anything about it...

No.

I'm in great shape everywhere except round my middle

 

[Fattman]

And whilst I'm here - is cycling really that good for losing weight around the stomach? I'm not fat, I'm reasonably slim with a forty year old gut that hasn't had any exercise because I never needed to until the last few years - and then I didn't do anything about it...

Welcome to the 40-year-old-chubby-round-the-belly gang!

My understanding is that there is no exercise which is 'good for' losing fat from any particular bit of your body. You have fat, or you don't - and the distribution is what it is. As you get older it distributes slightly differently.

So cycling is good for losing weight around the stomach - because it's good for losing weight! You just have to keep at it and it eventually goes everywhere. If I let my weight slip back up the first place I notice it is round the middle - then it's back in the saddle and back off the beer

Oh, and back to the original question, I've seen it writ that the fitter you are the more you sweat (efficient neural response & all that) - so well done for getting fitter! Keep it up!

 

[jimboalee]

Welcome to the 40-year-old-chubby-round-the-belly gang!

My understanding is that there is no exercise which is 'good for' losing fat from any particular bit of your body. You have fat, or you don't - and the distribution is what it is. As you get older it distributes slightly differently.

So cycling is good for losing weight around the stomach - because it's good for losing weight! You just have to keep at it and it eventually goes everywhere. If I let my weight slip back up the first place I notice it is round the middle - then it's back in the saddle and back off the beer

Oh, and back to the original question, I've seen it writ that the fitter you are the more you sweat (efficient neural response & all that) - so well done for getting fitter! Keep it up!

The exercise which isolates specific fat loss is a brisk walk to the dermotherapy clinic where they give you a dose of Smartlipo.

Cycling is no good for losing weight. Cycling is good for getting around town without the need to spend money on fuel or fares. That includes fuel for the cyclists muscles. 99.9% of the population have enough fuel in them already for a 10 mile bike ride without the need to add more.
The shame is 99.9% of the population haven't got the physique to ride 10 miles without getting exhausted and hungry.

About sweating. Each 4 kCals of CHO used by the muscle produces 1 cm3 as 'waste product'. At low intensity, this is taken care of by letting it out on the breath or channeling it to the bladder. When intensity increases ( higher kCals/min ), these two routes get choked and it comes out of the skin.

There are also climatic and chemical causes for perspiration, such as a Sauna and Scotch Bonnets.

 

[jimboalee]

BTW OP,

Do you sweat profusely when commiting buggery? I didn't know that.

 

[Aperitif]

Naughty jimbo!