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Sweet Sweat: Bonus or Bogus?
Fitness | March 28, 2016
I recently had an opportunity to try a product called, Sweet Sweat, which is touted as a “workout enhancer”.
Per their website, Sweet Sweat is a gel that is applied before exercise to promote sweating and thermogenesis. Thermogenesis is a big word that means your body is heating up. The most dramatic claim this product makes is that it helps you treat stubborn problem spots by forcing your body to heat up more in the area to which you’ve applied the gel. The idea is that once you begin exercising, that specific part of your body has to heat up more than other areas because of the product and you’ll burn more calories and melt away the fat stored there.
So, let’s talk facts. If you burn more calories than you consume, you can lose weight and all areas of your body will shrink, including those problem areas. And let’s just assume the product does work and does make you burn more calories. If your body is burning more calories due to heating up, it still doesn’t mean that fat will magically go away in a certain area. Especially if you’re still consuming more calories than you expend.
The main ingredient in Sweet Sweat, per their website, is White Snow Petrolatum. Petrolatum is just another word for Vaseline, or petroleum jelly. The other ingredients are as follows; Brazilian Carnauba Wax, Acai Pulp Oil, Pomegranate Seed Oil, Organic Coconut Oil, Organic Jojoba Oil, Virgin Camelina Oil, Squalane Oil (Olive), Aloe Vera Extract, d-Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E), Natural Fragrance.
So, Sweet Sweat is basically Vaseline, a bunch of oils, some aloe vera, vitamin E, and fragrance. It causes you to sweat more because it smothers your skin by clogging your pores.
The Sweet Sweat website doesn’t cite or list any studies to support their claims, nor do they explain how their product works in any kind of scientific way.
After some digging around, I’ve found studies that prove you can burn extra calories when you’re cold (mainly from shivering). But it’s hard to find scientific support for the claim that excess sweating causes extra calories to be burned. I also found studies showing that athletes who sit in a sauna after their workouts have enhanced athletic performance, but no mention of extra calories burned there either.
Sweet Sweat also claims that their product increases circulation. This is supposed to help keep your muscles warm and decrease soreness, accelerate warm-up and recovery, and soothes injuries.
Bottom line, if you think extra sweating helps you lose more weight, go buy a jar of Vaseline and save yourself 30 bucks, or put on an extra pair of sweatpants! If you really want to treat problem areas, I think it’s wiser to take a hard look at your diet and work out more. I can promise plenty of sweating during my workouts, whether you’re all lubed up or not!
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Private Member |
I’ve been wondering how that stuff works. I never considered trying it, but I wondered why someone would want to sweat more in the first place. Thank you for the review, some of these sports products are just so strange lol.
Private Member |
Nice post and it just all makes sense! If I want to make myself separate more, I’ll simply workout harder (if possible ah ah ah) 😉
Private Member |
*if I want to make myself SWEAT more lol
Private Member |
washington, dc, usa
I ordered the sweat sweat waist belt and a jar of jelly came with it. After reading the ingredients, I quickly came to the same conclusion…that it was just a jar of glorified Vaseline. I like to wrap my waist when I workout which increases sweating in that area but I don’t use the jelly that came with it.
Private Member |
Totally bogus! Just eat healthy, exercise consistently, drink water and avoid the things we know are unhealthy – Happy Day!
Private Member |
Anyone want to buy a jar of snake oil?!… 😊
Private Member |
awww man I actually bought this product and use it under my waist trainer while I workout. I seriously thought I was working to getting a smaller tummy soon
Private Member |
usa
I’ve tried it. It really does make you sweat more when working out in a warm environment. My son even noticed the sweat pouring off of my bare arms, shoulders and calves when he was working out with me. I love to sweat because it rids the body of toxins and helps reduce water weight but I don’t think this product nor any product burns fat.
Private Member |
medicine hat, alberta, canada
Hahahahaha that’s a funny article…thanx. how unimaginative of people now a days. .. whatever sells I guess. I need to workout. Thanx for the laughs.
Private Member |
switzerland/, france
clogging pores, increasing blood circulation…yep.It is not because you have more circulation in one area that it means more fat will be burnt in that area. Hormones in the body are a complex work. Fix your hormones, fix your body/health… but that is very complicated as even MD don’t know how to help.they are trained to fix the symptoms of already established diseases. Not the root cause.
No stress, nutrient-dense food, fresh air and alternating strength/plyometrics with long walks would be a good start.
Private Member |
I had to register to say: LOL!!!!!! Freaking great post! Take that gimmicks!