Do Plastic Sweat Suits Help You Lose Weight?
Those looking to maximize their workouts for weight loss may consider wearing a plastic sweat suit. Plastic suits have been used by athletes like wrestlers in an attempt to quickly lose weight. The weight that you will lose from wearing a plastic sweat suit is only temporary, however, and exercising while wearing one can result in health complications.
Weight loss from wearing plastic suits is only temporary. (Image: Judith Flacke/iStock/Getty Images)Plastic Sweat Suits
People wear plastic sweat suits while they exercise in an attempt to lose more weight during their workouts. When you exercise, your body breaks down fat to use as fuel. This process causes your core temperature to rise, and to maintain a safe temperature, your body addresses this increase by getting rid of heat through the sweating process. Heat is released through the fluids that your body sweats out. It's the evaporation of your sweat into the atmosphere that concludes the dispersing of heat. A plastic sweat suit, however, prevents your sweat from evaporating. As a result, your body is unable to cool itself and thus increases its sweating efforts.
Losing Weight
Losing body fat has nothing to do with how much you sweat. In order to permanently lose weight, you must burn more calories than you consume over a period of time. Thus, increasing how many calories you burn by exercising regularly and decreasing the number of calories you consume by eating healthy are two recommended techniques for successful weight loss.
Water Loss
When you wear a plastic sweat suit and increase the amount of fluid you lose through sweating, it's likely that you will weigh less after each workout. This difference in weight is only water weight, however. Your body needs adequate fluids in order to maintain a healthy blood volume and transport nutrients to your organs and tissues. As a result, your body will work to absorb fluids as soon as you consume them after your workouts in a plastic sweat suit. The weight that you lose with plastic sweat suits is therefore temporary.
Dangers
Not only is the weight loss from wearing plastic sweat suits temporary, but the water loss can be extremely dangerous. As you prevent your sweat from evaporating, your body is unable to adequately cool itself. This can lead to overheating, which can result in heat stroke. The increase in fluids that you lose will cause you to become dehydrated, which will adversely affect your blood volume. As a result, you may be unable to provide your heart or brain with adequate oxygen and a stroke or heart attack can result.
