• Question: Why do we sweat during exercise

    Asked by 264sprg52 to Andrew, Dan, Emilia, Helen, Katy, LauraAnne, Stephanie on 7 Nov 2016. This question was also asked by 478sprg52, carmeen.06.
    • Photo: Helen Hanstock

      Helen Hanstock answered on 7 Nov 2016:

      Great question!

      Our body needs a way of regulating it’s core temperature to keep it as close to our normal set point (37C) as possible. When we exercise the increases in metabolism and muscle activity generate heat. Our bodies need a way to get rid of some of this excess heat. Sweating is a really good way to do this as the evaporation of sweat accelerates heat loss (think about when you get out of an outdoor swimming pool and your feel cool as the wind helps to dry you off). So we sweat to help us to cool down during exercise – and when it is really hot outside we sweat a lot more than we would in the cold.

    • Photo: Katy Griggs

      Katy Griggs answered on 8 Nov 2016:

      I completely agree with Helen. We can see how important the sweating response is when we look at individuals with a spinal cord injury. These individuals don’t sweat below their level of their injury. So for example if they are paralysed from the cervical part of the spine (neck region) they wont sweat below the neck. When these individuals with spinal cord injuries in the cervical region are in a hot environment or during exercise they get hotter and hotter as they don’t possess the sweat response to help them cool down.

    • Photo: LauraAnne Furlong

      LauraAnne Furlong answered on 9 Nov 2016:

      as Helen and Katy have mentioned, it’s to cool down our bodies so we don’t overheat. Interestingly, when we look at the animal kingdom, dogs don’t have that response – they can’t sweat – so that’s why they pant so much with their mouths open when they get hot

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