Sweating during exercise is the body’s way of maintaining a normal temperature. Sweat glands release moisture, which cools the body by evaporating excess heat. Sweat itself has no odor, but when mixed with sebum, it attracts bacteria that cause body odor.
The relationship between sweating and exercise is something that active people are familiar with. There are actually beneficial reasons why increased levels of movement, such as exercise, cause you to perspire or sweat. Here’s why people sweat when they engage in exercise, and why this is an important bodily function.
The main thing to understand is that sweating is the body’s way of triggering a mechanism to help maintain body temperature within an acceptable range for efficient function. When the body begins to sweat, this is a sign that some type of stimulus has increased the overall body temperature to the point that the automatic cooling process is activated. The cooling process begins with a signal sent from the brain to sweat glands found throughout the body. As the glands create moisture, sweat is released through the sweat glands and up to the outer layer of the skin.
At this point in the sweating process, your body will begin to use excess heat or energy to evaporate sweat from your body. As this occurs, moisture that has already been sweated through the skin begins to dry and new sweat production begins to slow as the body begins to cool down. In effect, sweating cools the body by forcing excess heat to be redirected to a specific task, that of evaporating external moisture.
Sweat glands are found throughout the body. High concentrations of the sweat glands are found on the soles of the feet and the palms of the hands. The efficiency of sweating as a means of maintaining the body has led to the creation of a series of exercises that are specifically designed to encourage sweating as well as work particular muscle groups.
While many people think that sweating is the cause of body odor, the fact is that sweat itself has no odor. During sweating, the moisture generated by the sweat glands mixes with the sebum or oil that is also generated by the body and is deposited in the pores of the skin. The combination of sweat and sebum attracts bacteria to the skin’s surface, leading to odor as the bacteria begin to consume the mixture. Daily showers or baths are usually all that is required to remove bacteria and stubborn sebum from the body, although many people will also choose to use a deodorant or antiperspirant.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
