While I was on my vacation, I had a lot of little things that were nagging at me. So, I decided to make one of those infamous Top 10 lists. This is pretty much going to be about things that I hate or some common misconceptions.

#10

Working out while hot doesn’t help you burn fat!

I feel like I see this all the time. People show up to the gym dressed in layers. I don’t get it. Now, I know some guys wear sweatpants to cover up their chicken legs, but come on . . . who are you really fooling? Everyone knows why you’re wearing sweatpants in the middle of summer in a gym with a broken A/C. In my spin class, people don’t want to turn the fans on until there’s so much humidity in the room, it’s more of a sauna than a place for exercise. It’s incredibly irritating.

This is bad for a few reasons.

First, working out under those high-heat conditions can lead to overheating. Obvious, I know, but I thought I’d get it out of the way. Even if you’re well-hydrated and don’t overheat easily, why take the chance? Heat exhaustion is a very serious and potentially fatal condition. Stay hydrated, stay cool.

The sweatpants probably aren't helping her heat issue

Second, hot workouts, especially in extremely humid conditions, make it impossible for sweat to do its job. It can’t evaporate, and therefore can’t cool the body.

That leads me to a sub-point: Sweat-wicking clothing. Up to a point, it’s useful. You want it to keep the sweat from building up underneath the clothing. Built-up moisture will reduce the rate of sweat evaporation, reducing your body’s natural cooling effect. They can keep you cool — to a point. If you’re sweating so heavily that you soak the clothing, it loses its effectiveness. At that point, there’s no reason to wear it. So, evaluate carefully whether or not you really need that expensive clothing, or if a simple shirt will do the job you need it to.

Last, and most importantly, the hotter you are, the less effective you are. In this year’s Tour de France, Team Radioshack has its riders wear ice-vests during warm-ups to keep their core temperature down. During the race, they drink up to 2 liters of a special cold water mixture to further keep their core temperature down. And it’s not just because of the heat. Team Radioshack knows that the cooler you can keep a rider, the better his performance will be.

Staying cool is always a priority

Now, I’m all about getting the body up to a nice, warm operating temperature for maximum performance. But the hotter it gets, the more your endurance is impacted. Some studies indicate that for every 5 degrees above 60 F, runners can expect a 30 second decrease in their mile time.

That estimate is for marathoners and half-marathoners, so for shorter distances and weight lifting, the effect may not be as severe. But, if you’re interested in making progress as quickly and efficiently as possible, whether it’s running, biking, or lifting, you’re going to want to stay as cool as you can.

Wearing heavy clothes and sweating a lot at the gym isn’t going to make you burn fat more quickly. In fact, due to the increased inefficiency, you will probably burn LESS fat than you would just working out normally. Now, you might see some temporary weight loss on the scale, but it’s all water weight. As soon as you rehydrate, the weight will come back. That leads into my next post tomorrow: The difference between weight loss and fat loss.

-Drew

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