I don't sweat much when I exercise, why?

Kenneth Gardner, Fitness club

We all have different sweating patterns based on our gender, age, body size, fitness level and the environment. Some persons have fewer sweat glands than others. The inability to sweat could also be a medical condition. If your body does not find a way to keep cool, you would overheat and collapse.

The absence of sweating could be uncomfortable and potentially life-threatening. Men sweat more than women and they begin to sweat at lower temperatures than women. However, you don't have to sweat to get a good workout.

Sweat acts as our coolant. Sweating is the primary method of keeping your body cool and an excellent detoxification process. If you do not sweat when you are exercising hard enough, you could suffer from heat-related illnesses such as heat exhaustion, heatstroke, dizziness or even fainting.

HEART-RATE MEASUREMENT

The lack of sweating could just mean that you have to increase the length of time and/or the intensity of your workout. You can determine if you are exercising hard enough by measuring your heart rate and work towards exercising at your target heart rate.

It is also possible that you are in better physical condition than those who are sweating extensively. An exercise session that is strenuous and causes others to sweat could be easy for you, so you do not respond by sweating.

Sweating is the body's way of regulating body temperature when the temperature increases because of exercise. Sweating is a healthy and necessary body function that should cause concern if the process is compromised. The heat generated from exercise in addition to the heat in the environment increases the risk of excessive body heat storage, which can result in cardiovascular complications, motor and cognitive function impairment, and, in extreme circumstances, death.

REHYDRATION

It is also important to note that in order to offset your ongoing water loss, it should be replaced, irrespective of thirst sensation. Waiting for thirst to dictate when to rehydrate can be dangerous because your thirst mechanisms are slow to respond. The decreasing fluid level of your body has detrimental effects on sweating.

When your body becomes dehydrated, sweating will decrease and your temperature increases. If you become severely dehydrated, your sweat response decreases dramatically and increases your risks of heat injury.

Ideally, fluid should be replaced as it is lost. This entails drinking 12 ounces or more of fluid every 15 minutes during continuous exercise. You should hydrate before exercising, especially in hot weather. Drink about 30 ounces of fluid two hours before the start of the activity and up to 18 ounces of fluid 15 minutes before you commence exercising. Drink about 24 ounces of fluid for every pound of body weight you lose during exercise.

Replacement fluids with less than eight per cent of sugar are tolerated more easily and can be a useful source of supplemental energy in prolonged exercise without interfering with your fluid replacement mechanism. Fluids that contain alcohol or caffeine should be avoided because they increase your level of dehydration and urine production.

Dr Kenneth Gardner is an exercise physiologist at Holiday Hills Research Center; email: yourhealth@gleanerjm.com.