Does sweating decrease the more you cycle over time (the more in shape you become)?
 

Do less fit cyclists (beginners) sweat more than long time cyclists? I was just curious if anything in our physiology changes when we become more fit/athletic with regards to amount of sweat produced and heat generated by our bodies.

A skinnier rider should sweat less than a heavier rider, because they're not working as hard to get the same speed on the climbs.

But then again, I've seen the saying, "It doesn't get easier, you just go faster." So using that, a more fit cyclist will still sweat as much, but it will evaporate quicker because of their speed.

GH

Not in my experience. As an unfit rider, or a fit rider (or runner) I have noticed no change in how much I sweat. On a bicycle I sweat less than when running because moving quickly through the air aids in evaporating sweat more quickly. But after a long ride, my clothes get covered with white salt, and salt crystals being to accumulate on my shins and such.

Sweating is not a bad thing, it keeps your body cool, and helps to clean out impurities and such.

I practically leave a sweat crumb trail back to where I started and have been cycling for years now. I think it may have even gotten worse.

So if I wanted to prevent sweating and still keep my body cool couldn't I just line my body with ice packs so they do the work of cooling me down instead of using sweat?

Maybe Im missunderstanding the question, but the more ride/exercise, the more you sweat.

For years (or decades) I would have said no, it doesn't change. However as I age beyond the warranty period, I'm finding that hot as I ran for decades, I'm running hotter now when I work hard.

OTOH - one of the nicest things about cycling is that our engines are air cooled. I get much hotter, much faster, with far less exertion working indoors.

I meant over the days and months (as you become more fit and athletic form cycling regularly) Does your body adapt and require less sweat to keep you cooled down (i.e. does your internal body temp. stay cooler for longer the more fit you become)

It is what it is.
You body has its own programing.
At 134 lbs. I seldom if ever sweat even in in 110 degree heat.
However, high humidity will increase the likelihood of perspiring.
Get used to it!

Yes.

Sweat is your body's reaction to excessive heat. The amount of sweat depends on a few things, the first being how hot your body is, and next, the air around you. If you live in a dry environment, your sweat dries quickly, so quickly that it may evaporate before your clothes get damp. When I was a child, I lived in Ludlow, California, where temperatures could reach 50 degrees centigrade in the summer, but there was almost no humidity. I remember that the air used to feel like it was burning my skin, but I never noticed any sweat. I have also lived in tropical places where summer temperatures are 40 degrees centigrade, and humidity sometimes reaches 100%. In these places you are constantly sweating, even when you are trying to sleep at night.

IF you get thinner, te hen you have a greater surface to volume ratio. This CAN make you more efficient at losing heat due to a greater relativsurface area. Surface area decreases at a square root, while volume decreases as a cube root. But clothes, humidity, etc etc can eleminate that potential.

QT

I notice that I get a little sweaty on my ride, but the moment I stop is when I start to sweat A LOT. Within a minute of stopping in anything above 80 degree weather, I look like I got out of a swimming pool. And I'm a skinny guy.

I respectfully disagree, A skinnier rider should sweats less than a heavier rider because he has less surface area/skin.
or one sweats less because they are dehydrated more,,very bad.

Some sweat less because of their skin, less sweat poors, . Think of sweat as a temp controller/thermostat. Those that sweat less can be overcome by heat stroke with less warning, more suddenly.....

Be glad you sweat,,I sweat, get wet, and that's free air conditioning, then I cool down just enough so I can push harder/faster, then I get hotter and sweat more and then I,,,,wait for it, push harder :P

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Get the pullover, for a better fit under a bike helmet..

You sweat just as much in low humidity as high humidity. The sweat just doesn't evaporate as quickly in high humidity.

GH

+1/2

How much you sweat is related to the body's internal temp. Sweat evaporates faster in dry air, so you don't notice it as much. However it's not the sweating itself, but it's evaporation that cools the body, so sweating isn't as effective as a cooling mechanism in high humidity. Since you're not cooling well, you're body tries harder by sweating more.

It's not an illusion, you do sweat more in high humidity. Wind is also a factor, and regardless of humidity, breezes cool you, and you sweat less.

Surface area to mass ratio is higher for a skinny person than for a fat person so he has better cooling.

We can get more efficient with training so that less heat is generated for a given effort, and sweat less.

[MENTION=370963]Rider_1[/MENTION] that has been a sort of conventional wisdom (and Wikipedia agrees with you). Surely when you're more fit you'll work more and therefore sweat more.

But at some wattage where I'm resting now, sweat would have poured off of me when I was less fit.

Obligatory medical study: Large differences in peak oxygen uptake do not independently alter changes in core temperature and sweating during exercise.

Interesting points of view these all are,,,

motion will help evaporate sweat better , stopping ends that.

No, but at under 140 pounds I sweat 1/2 to 1/3 as much (8-12 ounces an hour) as I did (16-24) at 185-205 (confirmed by weight - I drink that much, and it doesn't change between before and after riding).

With more insulating fat between your blood vessels and skin less heat gets out so you sweat more. It's like when dried out thermal paste insulates your CPU and it overheats.

Sweat is the cooling process of the skin. The sweat glands produce sweat once the body reaches a "high" temperature where it needs to cool off the heat by sweating and using the evaporating aspect of the water to cool the body. The "high" temperature is reached by how much intensity is being done at the time of exercising. So the "less" fit cyclist will start sweating first because he/she is out of shape and will attain a higher intensity work out before a "well" fit cyclist. Air temperature and humidity also play a small role.

I think you're asking for personal experience rather than a scientific explanation.

I sweat less than when i first began cycling, only to a degree. If the temp/humidity on the road reaches a certain degree then i will definitely break a sweat. I no longer have to take a shower after riding into work though.

One thing that does change is that we start sweating sooner as we ride more if we ride hard regularly. Our bodies "learn" to sweat quickly in anticipation as we get fit, much like the fit person starts breathing hard much sooner than an unfit person. (But that unfit person will soon be breathing far harder than the fit one who quickly arrived at his steady state breathing and stays there.)

Basically, our bodies evolve to being able to get into exercise mode very quickly.

BEn

Why would you want that? If it's the smell that's bothering just shower better and use baking soda after your bath, rub it on your body and then wipe it off with a clean cloth and that will take care of the smell, if it's for work or something just take another shirt. After a ride, when I get home I take off my shirt and dip it in water and hang it, it doesn't smell.

Mind you, I changed my diet and other habits and my smell just got better, I used to carry around to cans of dehodorant and clean myself regularly but my odor was awful! I drank a lot of booze, smoked, ate junk food and it showed.

At any rate, there is nothing wrong with sweating and ice packs would mess with your muscles and also your weight and areodynamics. I mean, you would to strap ice packs all over your body.