Why Some People Sweat More Than Others

Some people sweat more than others. Exercise with a group, and the differences become obvious.

But what determines these variations?

Answers have traditionally focused on factors like body fat percentage (more fat insulates you and makes you overheat sooner) and aerobic fitness (the fitter you are the less you sweat).

At the American College of Sports Medicine meeting this spring, Matthew Cramer of the University of Ottawa and Ollie Jay of the University of Sydney presented some results that challenged those ideas. That data has now been published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, and it has some surprising twists.

The problem with previous studies is that body fat and aerobic fitness (VO2 max) tend to correlate with other factors. People with lots of body fat tend to weigh more—so is it the insulative properties of fat that matter, or is it simply being bigger and having to haul around more weight?

What You Can Learn from Your Sweat

Your sweat signals

  more than the intensity of your workout. Everything from your mood to your diet—and even the way women react to your presence—is literally leaking from your body, according to a slew of recent research. Surprised perspiration can say so much? Here are four secrets your sweat may reveal: