Sweat and weight loss

[ilovemybike]

Can someone explain to me, is it better from a weight loss point of view to come home from an exercise session all sweaty or no sweat?

I wonder why when I ride my bike, I hardly sweat at all compared to if I was walking the same duration. Someone said it was because of the wind when riding which makes it less likely to sweat - it does make sense. But if I’m not sweating, how am I burning off more calories than walking. I read that cycling is twice as effective as walking. But I don’t feel it. I come home from a long walk all sweaty but on the bike I am dry. Am I really being more effective on the bike?

[Mozziediver]

I'm not any kind of medical expert, but my understanding is that sweating is about keeping you cool by evaporating. The muscles burn calories and get you warm, so sweating is the body compensating. Then, when cycling, you are moving the air past you quickly which evaporates the sweat faster and you don't notice it so much - you are not sweating any less, though.

But. You are losing fluid, so please, make sure you keep the water up and drink frequently.
Weight loss with exercise is possible, but if it is due to this loss of fluid that's not necessarily a good thing. Exercise will help with weight loss but not on its own, but I would talk to the professionals about what's best for you.

[trailgumby]

Great to see you asking questions!

As with most things related to cycling, it's a case of "it depends". By going hard and getting sweaty you will see some quick gains, but you will also reach a plateau and stop improving quickly too.

For longer, more sustained and sustainable improvement where you can keep on getting better, 80% of your time should be in what the boffins call "zone 2", where you're working such that a conversation can still be held, not super easily, but in between breaths. This is a pace that you can keep up for hours with appropriate nutrition and fluid intake.

The other 20% you can push harder if you want, but not in the same ride. So one day out of 5 you'd go hard, the rest are at this zone 2 endurance pace.

As for not being as sweaty as when you walk, on the bike you are travelling faster, so the passing air evaporates your perspiration more. For comparison, try doing a spin class at the gym! There's not nearly the airflow, and without fail I end up dripping wet like I've fallen in the pool, and have to dry down the bike and wipe up the puddle I've left on the floor.

[Leaf T]

I recall hearing somewhere that walking is better for weight loss because unlike cycling you use more muscles to support your own weight as you move.

[g-boaf]

I recall hearing somewhere that walking is better for weight loss because unlike cycling you use more muscles to support your own weight as you move.

I used to walk quite a bit, 6-10km but it didn't do a whole lot. When I'd ride 120km or so I'd see more weight loss.

As for being sweaty, it depends on how much effort you are putting in and what the temperature is, it's a function of both.

Sometimes it's better to have an easy ride because you need the recovery. The old do your hard rides very hard and the easy ones very easy.

Also note that some people recommend you do neither of those, you should only do rides for utility purposes and never for anything else.

[Andy01]

I can say with some certainty that cycling at 20-24km/h average speed will drop weight (assuming diet doesn't change, or also changes for the better) than walking at 6km/h.

In 2019, I walked 5km (52 minutes) daily for 8 weeks, and lost 1kg.

In 2020, I cycled about 12-13km (about 34-38 minutes) daily for 8 weeks and lost 4kg. I kept this up for another 6 months and dropped from 75kg to 64kg. No significant change in diet either.

I don't think that sweat = calories or weight loss with any kind of consistent correlation

[cyclingnolycra]

Isn't it simply how hard you're breathing, multiplied by the time spent exercising? That should be proportional to how many calories you're burning. Most of your fat will be breathed out in CO2 as it gets used up. So don't think too much about the sweat factor, because you won't "feel" sweaty due to the wind. Same with swimming - you don't feel sweaty at all, but you're obviously burning calories.

[g-boaf]

It's less about average speed but the work you/effort are putting in. Average speed you might have a nice flat ride so you can go quite fast very easily, or you might have hilly dead roads where you are going slowly.

You can have an easy ride in terms of effort/intensity but with a longer distance which will burn a lot of calories.

You are looking at the calories you are burning versus what you are eating.

I've posted this before, but it's still a good one - GCN talking to the guy from Team Sky who deals with this stuff:



Good no nonsense advice. And most importantly - no crash weight loss efforts, those are never sustainable - you have to do it bit by bit otherwise you'll burn out as he says or often you'll end up raiding the fridge after a big ride.

And I've also said it before, but don't throw out all the nice things - give yourself some food you like here and there in moderation otherwise you'll just hate it.

As he says: You are fueling well for the days you need to fuel well, and deliberately underfueling for the days you aren't doing high intensity rides. Over the 7 day period you build up a calorie deficit, then every month you are continuing that and slowly but surely the weight will go.

Also try not to get over-consumed with this - it can be a danger particularly with very competitive riders and it can encourage unhealthy practices which are ultimately dangerous to their wellbeing.

There can be a lot of pressure to be at a particular weight because you might benefit by being faster uphill for a race or a big gran-fondo event (some of them are very high profile) or even just to conform to a particular body image. I know that sounds ridiculous but it really does happen and it can be dangerous when people get obsessed with it.

[fat and old]

Good no nonsense advice. And most importantly - no crash weight loss efforts, those are never sustainable - you have to do it bit by bit otherwise you'll burn out as he says or often you'll end up raiding the fridge after a big ride.

I've seen an interview with Wiggins where he explained that the work it took to win the Tour was unsustainable for him past that victory. Of course, that's right up there at the pointy end.

[ilovemybike]

Thank you everyone. For some reason I have always associated sweat with effectiveness of the workout. And after my bike ride i feel cheated that I didn't sweat lol