Sweat - argh!
 

It was 90% humidity this morning, and around 30C/86F -- I won't bother with the heat index conversion. Suffice it to say I was rather sweaty by the time I got to work. I did my standard sink mini-shower and changed into my office clothes after I felt I had cooled down a bit.

Then I sat down in my office chair and started sweating like mad! It took me at least 10 minutes to stop sweating. I can't figure out what was going on -- had my birdbath fooled my body into thinking it had cooled down, only to realise 5 minutes later that it hadn't?

And this is only the beginning of July — It's not even really hot yet. I can't imagine what's going to happen when it hits a non-heat-index 40C/104F .

Looking forward to winter...

Enjoy the tropics and think of people in Saskatchewan

Im no expert, but I believe that happens becuase your core temperature is raised and your body is over heated, it takes a while for all that heat to work out of the body and in the mean time you will sweat as your body attempts to regulate your temperature. you felt cool becuase you cant feel the heat inside of you only on your skin. next time give your self a longer cool off period and do what you can to cool down your core (drink cold water)

Did you have to walk up stairs or is your office warmer than the bathroom area (machinery generating heat, etc.)? I find that even a half hour later any light physical activity will cause my body to overreact by sweating if the workout/commute was over 1/2 hr.

Granted, I don't have an office-type job (I work w/ my hands), but I start sweating about 5 mins. out of my driveway, and I don't stop for about 5 hours or so, when I go to lunch.

But since one other guy works around me (he rides and sweats too), it's rarely an issue.

I live where there's 15% humidity nearly year round, so I hardly sweat. Now that it's monsoon season (afternoon rain), the humidity soars to 40% :) and I sweat like a dog.

Sounds like Georgia.

We put ice in our tea for a reason (lemon and mint too).

You know, I think you might be on to something there. We have air-con in my corner of the office, but it doesn't always work terribly well. It's cool, but perhaps not as cool as the bathroom. I had assumed that it would be cool enough to prevent more sweating once I sat down, but I guess it isn't.

Another thing I think I'll try: I've been riding in with a t-shirt and work pants. Maybe I'll try shorts... I know, I know, it's obvious, but I've never had anything more than a really short commute in hot weather before. This is my first summer with a 30 minute daily ride in.

Glad our workplace had a real shower. Mini showers just does not seem to get rid of the stink.

i have been riding easily around the building parking lot a few times to cool down a bit without a helmet and backpack on, it's pretty nice i can just cruise around a bit and it usually cools me down enough before i take a shower which is usually cold or close to it, when i sit down at my desk i am cool and dry and hungry too...

i live in houston which is pretty much tropical, and i'm still sweating 10 mins after my shower!

embrace the sweat.

Sometimes when its hot I will jump right into the shower after riding. I make it nice and cold in the shower but the minute I step out I am sweating bullets again. It isn't until about twenty minutes latter that I finally stop. I use a fan pointed right at me in my office and that seems to help stop the sweating.

Sandals are my friend with sweat. I don't know if you can manage in your office/place of work, but keeping my feet out of shoes and socks makes a huge difference in cooling down. It sounds dumb but it seems to work.

Unfortunately, that doesn't work here. I walked to a convenience store this evening starting in a completely cooled-down state (i.e. hadn't been outside in 45 minutes or so). After a 3 minute walk there and back, I was sweating like crazy. The humidity can be insane!

I like the shoes off idea. I might try that (will deodorize my shoes first ;))

I always drink about 40 oz of fridge cold water I leave at work the night before. It speeds up your body cooling down. It is your core that is too hot. Just cooling your outside skin does not cool down the inside of the body.

I'm in Utah, and it doesn't have the humidity that you do but it is staring to get hot here. Especially for the ride home. I do the same there. I drink cold water when I get home.

Hey — Great idea! We've got a little bar fridge at work — I'll start leaving my nalgene in there overnight. :beer:

I'm guess I'm one of the lucky ones, I use a wet towel to sponge bathe and I stop sweating within a couple minutes of changing. I probably smell better then half the people in my office.

Welcome to the world of being in shape. Humidity has a lot to do which how much you sweat, but so does your level of exercise. People who are in shape (reference your 30 minute commute), physiologically speaking, adapt to the increase in activity by actually sweating faster and more than an untrained person.

A few years ago, the summer Olympics were held in Atlanta, Georgia. That was a very hot summer, and there was great concern by officials for the health of the fans due to the heat. The athletes were accustom to the heat (to some degree, depending on country of origin), but the spectators probably were not. That is why they put up all the misters and fans to cool spectators off, not the athletes.

So, as eAspenwood said "embrace the sweat".

D

After a humid ride i always sweat for good 10 minutes after. On such days i suggest you cool down first before cleaning up yourself.

I work in a 20k warehouse without A/C moving equipment all day. So sweat is just a normal day for me but I still understand what you have going on.

The shock of hitting the A/C while I am still pumped up from the ride really plays hell with me and my bodies attempt to regulate its temp.

I found the best thing for me to do is before I even go into the A/C is to just take some slow laps around the parking lot to cool down in the breeze before going in. Then when I do go in I walk around for a couple minutes to keep the blood flowing and you get a good heat transfer from the core. That gradual cool down seems to really hold off the flop sweat that I was geting if I just went in straight to the desk in the A/C part of my building. I also wait about 20 minutes before changing into my dry shirt as well just to make sure I am past that. The sweat on the shirt you wore in will actually be cooling you faster. When you put that dry shirt on you actually insulate your body and it helps cause that sudden sweat to come on.

You may want to plan a little extra cool down time in the morning.

maybe pick up a jersey type shirt that will let the air pass through. This made a big difference for me. I still sweat pretty good because I wear a back pack.

I agree, hanging out outside for a bit to cool down feels much better than immediately going inside to an air-conditioned room.

I stop at a café near my building and sit outside drinking an iced coffee to cool down.

well, how timely of the nytimes to publish an article on sweat for our thread:

To Beat the Heat, Learn to Sweat It Out

Oh, amen to that. I really, really dislike A/C when my body's adjusted to the heat. I hate hate hate going into a hyper-air-conditioned supermarket on a hot day.