A good workout makes you feel incredible for lots of reasons – it improves oxygen and blood flow to your muscles, releases feel-good endorphins, helps with flexibility and strength, and can even decrease pain in some instances. It also comes with some things that are considered less than pleasant – like sweat. We tend to associate sweat with uncleanliness or bad smells, but sweat is actually incredibly beneficial! Don’t be afraid to sweat it out.
Sweating is our body’s natural cooling and detoxification process. In fact, sweat coming directly out of a sweat gland is actually sterile. It isn’t until it reaches the skin and begins to interact with bacteria that we start to notice that “bad” sweat smell. Sweating during your workout is a good thing, and as long as you bathe regularly, there’s nothing to fear. There are certain diseases and disorders that may affect the way your sweat smells, but they’re rare.
What’s so great about sweating? Well, for starters, it prevents your body from overheating. When we’re exercising, especially in hot weather, our body produces energy, which in turn produces heat. Without a system to regulate our temperature, our bodies would quickly overheat, which can cause serious damage to our brains, internal organs, and more. Sweat allows moisture to evaporate from our skin, cooling us down and helping us stay regulated.
That’s not all! Did you know sweating can actually help PREVENT pimples? When you sweat, your pores open up and flush out any dirt or bacteria that’s been building up. Of course, you do have to wash your face after sweating for this to work, because if left to its own devices, all that gunk ends up on the surface of your skin to do its dirty work all over again.
Many experts consider sweating to be a form of detoxification, ridding your body of excess salt, cholesterol, and even alcohol. If you’ve overindulged recently, get on the treadmill and sweat that stuff out! Bonus: you’re also burning calories. This is why some people swear by saunas.
There have even been studies indicating that sweating helps prevent illness and infection because it contains natural anti-bacterial elements that can battle nasty bugs before they make their way into your system. Other research indicates that sweating out excess salts can prevent stones and deposits from forming in your organs.
We all know that regular exercise improves our health, but here’s yet another reason to get out there and sweat like you mean it! Keep your energy levels high with REVV so you can go the distance.
