Professional football players can lose between 4 lbs. and 9 lbs. during a hard practice or game, according to a trainer for the Buffalo Bills as quoted in an November 2010 report in the Scientific American. Trainers try to keep players from losing more than 3 percent of their body weight through sweat, and then they immediately have them replenish it. Historically, some athletes have tried to sweat off pounds to make weight, and manufacturers have pounced on the idea, designing sauna suits and wraps to cause excessive sweat and weight loss. How much weight you lose while sweating depends on how hard you train, for how long, and your body composition. Regardless, it's a water weight loss, and you're almost certain to gain it back within days.
What You're Losing
When you sweat, you lose water. You are not losing fat. Because water carries weight, the difference shows up on your scale as pounds lost, but it's a mirage. As soon as you drink anything to replenish the water that your body has lost, the scale goes right back up again.
Why It Happens
Approximately 60 percent of the human body is made up of water, according to the Mayo Clinic. Your body is constantly losing some of this every time you breathe out air and when you perspire. Exercise accelerates breathing and sweating. It's your body's reaction to your core temperature rising in response to exertion. Your body wants to cool off again, so it uses its water content, sending it toward your skin -- where it can evaporate and take the heat along with it.
Dangers of Sweat Loss
When you sweat, your body doesn't just relinquish water to cool you down. Your sweat also contains salt and electrolytes. Combined, extreme loss of sweat can result in kidney damage and cardiovascular crises due to loss of electrolytes, says Military.com, and hyponatremia from loss of salt. This can lead to nausea, disorientation and even death. Other functions can shut down as well, because your body doesn't have sufficient water to perform them.
Recommendations
Don't try to increase your sweat output in order to lose weight. If you lose weight due to sweating, you need to replenish the fluids as soon as possible. The Mayo Clinic recommends drinking an additional 1.5 to 2.5 cups of water to compensate for moderate exercise. Extreme exercise and excessive weight loss should be compensated by drinking as much water as is necessary to restore your weight. Weigh yourself before you work out and sweat, and directly afterward. That's the amount of water your body needs you to replenish to remain healthy and avoid dehydration.
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