Benefits of Sweating
What if someone said you could eliminate toxins in your body by increasing how much you sweat during workouts? You would probably look at them like they were a few fries short of a Happy Meal, right? During a recent morning workout with some of my executive athletes, this was the topic of conversation for the majority of the session. How can we increase detoxification by way of exercise? Our conversation led to many questions. Here are some of the answers and strategies that we discussed, to help improve workout efficiency and increase core temperature
We know that exercise provides many benefits to our health, such as burning of glucose, which helps prevent insulin resistance, the building of muscle tissue, and helps us maintain a higher metabolic rate. Another reason exercise is beneficial, is due to the fact, that workout intensity helps the body with sweating, which is the body’s natural way of regulating temperature. When we exercise, small increases in core temperature speed up metabolic processes, which cause toxins stored in fat to be released and broken down. This process is carried out to cool the body during sweating to help with the excretion of toxic materials in the form of oil and water.
Since that morning conversation, we have been testing some strategies to increase core temperature and improve time-efficiency during workouts. We have found that simple body-weight exercises such as jumping jacks and jumping rope can increase core temperature and stimulate the cardio-respiratory system with 60 seconds of continuous activity. We took this a bit further and combined some basic strength training exercises, such as push-ups, steps ups, and chin ups and combined them with the ground based interval exercises of jumping rope and jumping jacks to provide a higher stimulus. The combination of these two components in a super-set fashion (performing one exercise after another with 60 seconds rest between sets) has allowed us to create 30-minute efficient workouts, that maintain a higher than normal heart rate in comparison to normal steady state activities such as elliptical work or walking. Our clients sweat more in half the time and appreciate the efficiency of our shorter routines. The shorter more intense workouts have improved cardiovascular fitness, which helps draw out lactic acid build up and can diminish stiff muscles and general fatigue. Remember, when beginning an interval program make sure to alternate burst of intense exercises with easier intervals
Exercise doesn’t have to be long and boring. You can be more efficient during your workouts by combining different forms of exercises into your routine. This will allow you to burn more calories, improve aerobic and anaerobic capacity, keep you from getting bored and minimize the amount of equipment needed. You can take intervals to many levels, but base the intensity on how you feel that day. Make sure you combine good nutrition and a multivitamin mineral that can help replace minerals that are also excreted in our sweat.
