Challenge (Week 6): Do some healthy movement activity that will break a sweat each day. Baseline Goal: 4 of 7 Days.
Challenge Benefits:
- Exercise of any sort has benefits for the entire body including but not limited to: fat reduction, strengthened bones, increased metabolic rate, muscle growth, increased mobility, improved mental state, improved immune system, and improved cardiovascular/respiratory function.
- Exercising to the point where one begins to sweat with experience, to some extent, the aforementioned benefits along with the benefits that sweating has itself. Sweating helps the body cleanse toxins such as alcohol and different waste products. Sweating induces more peripheral circulation of the blood and also releases salts from the body, which can help prevent kidney stones as well.
- Sweating while exercising increases the rate at which the body is able to burn fat.
- As mentioned before, the improved peripheral circulation of the organs, tissues, and muscles allows for improved muscle recovery/skin health as well as a reduction of inflammation and toxins.
Challenge Insights:
- You may increase your body temperature by working out with sweatshirts or sweatpants on, allowing you to sweat a bit more. With this, you can accelerate the rate of fat loss.
- Working out outside during warmer months may also accelerate this process. Outside workouts have the added benefits of increased vitamin D production from sun exposure, and respiratory health from cleaner outdoor air.
Precautions:
- The water loss from sweating needs to be replaced! Be mindful of proper hydration throughout the day, not just during the exercise.
- Consuming large amounts of water in a short period of time can cause hyponatremia. To avoid this, consume water throughout the entire day.
- Sweating reduces the amount of sodium in the body and if not replaced, it can also cause hyponatremia. Consider drinking a sports drink that contains sodium with water for the exercise or following exercise in which you have been sweating.
