Sweat/Sauna Suits - are they a fad?

[RetiredGreyFox]

After watching 2 blokes on Dragons Den trying to sell disposable coloured bin bags for training in, I was surprised to see Douglas Bannatyne put in his place about why they work.
Going to this site and reading the theory/testimonies - http://www.sweatsuits.co.uk/ makes it sound like plausible theory.
I think we all know that the hotter you get the more calories you burn.
I was after a decent track suit anyway and the Professional Sweat Suit plus Base Layer only comes to £75.

Thoughts?

 

[crunchman]

Well if you watch the ultimate fighter, you'll see some of the fighters use a sweat suit along with cardio and sauna in order to cut weight.

 

[semi-pro waster]

I know that some boxers would wear a bin bag while running to lose some weight before weigh-ins for a fight and this sounds rather similar but as I understand it you're only likely to lose "water" weight i.e. the amount you sweat out but the increase in temperature/calories burned is fairly minimal. This is however without looking into it too closely so there may be something that I'm missing.

 

[DanF]

When the fighters cut weight isn't it usually body water level they are shedding which goes back on after the fight. I think it's also why some of them can really struggle doing it as their body is basically working with unnaturally low hydration. Not sure if I'd recommend that for any long term weight/fitness goals.

lol beaten to it

 

[drunkenmaster]

Yes, they cut water weight and will aim to put it back on BEFORE the fight because a seriously dehydrated body is unhealthy and no where near its peak physical capability.

People use them to drop water quickly, by sweating, your body burns fuel to HEAT your body, the hotter you get, the more work your body does to generate sweat to cool down, the less energy it uses to keep you warm.

Its about water weight and not much else, and they aren't a fad, boxers have been using them for, well, at least 30 years, probably a heck of a lot longer and they still do it.

As you get hydrated, your body does everything worse, and worse, till you die, its for VERY short term weight loss and incredibly daft to do long term, utter waste of cash unless, you're trying to hit a weight for a fight.

One of the key things every trainer, every fitness instructor, every diet, every bulking regime will tell you, is keep well hydrated because your body does EVERYTHING better when properly hydrated.

 

[semi-pro waster]

One of the key things every trainer, every fitness instructor, every diet, every bulking regime will tell you, is keep well hydrated because your body does EVERYTHING better when properly hydrated.

A figure I've heard bandied about a few times is that being dehydrated by around 2% could lead to a loss of around 10% in performance terms - this may be an exaggeration but that your body is quite detrimentally affected by a lack of hydration seems pretty unquestionable. There's also the increased potential for cramps as a result.

 

[RetiredGreyFox]

However, the makers claim you must keep hydrated when using them.
The water you sweat out should be replenished as you're training so after a workout you've lost zero in water weight BUT you have burnt up the extra calories because of the heat.

 

[semi-pro waster]

However, the makers claim you must keep hydrated when using them.
The water you sweat out should be replenished as you're training so after a workout you've lost zero in water weight BUT you have burnt up the extra calories because of the heat.

Ok, I've now read through the benefits of sweatsuits that they link to on their site and if you actually check it the article in "support" of it doesn't seem to offer much support at all for sweatsuits being as it is a general article on the benefits of training in the heat. You may lose marginally more calories with the sweatsuit, it's possible but I have my sincere doubts that it will be anything significant or anything that could not be achieved with a bin bag and an ordinary tracksuit - I'll grant you it might look better and be slightly less uncomfortable though.

If you want to get it then by all means go ahead, I'm just giving my uneducated opinion on the benefits or therein lack of them.

 

[DanF]

I'd imagine that you could run further without the suit and have similar calorie burn at the end? If it's making you heat up and your using extra energy to keep cool then this energy can't be used for the core exercise.

 

[RetiredGreyFox]

I'd imagine that you could run further without the suit and have similar calorie burn at the end? If it's making you heat up and your using extra energy to keep cool then this energy can't be used for the core exercise.

I run at least 5k every day and do the odd half marathon so I don't really want to do any more mileage.
I also do 100 crunches every day, bit of weight training and time on the punch bag.
I want to maximise what I already do without increasing my time.

or anything that could not be achieved with a bin bag and an ordinary tracksuit - I'll grant you it might look better and be slightly less uncomfortable though.

That's exactly what I'm using at the moment

 

[Morba]

The one thing it doesn't do is draw the sweat away from your body. If it did this fhen to would produce more sweat as your skin would be drier.
Tbh though, stick a hoodie on and a beenie, that will raise your body temp.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

The one thing it doesn't do is draw the sweat away from your body. If it did this fhen to would produce more sweat as your skin would be drier.
Tbh though, stick a hoodie on and a beenie, that will raise your body temp.

spot on.

waste of money, if this truly worked everybody would use it day to day. But no they dont, boxers and fighters only use them in order to cut weight for a weigh in. his weight then goes straight back on.

All this about being a higher body temperature is untrue as well, do you know why you sweat? and how it works?

Thats the reason why fighters use sweat suits inside of sauna's.

 

[RetiredGreyFox]

spot on.

waste of money, if this truly worked everybody would use it day to day. But no they dont, boxers and fighters only use them in order to cut weight for a weigh in. his weight then goes straight back on.

All this about being a higher body temperature is untrue as well, do you know why you sweat? and how it works?

Thats the reason why fighters use sweat suits inside of sauna's.

But there is a lot of evidence that the hotter you get the more calories you burn.
I'm sitting here now in a very cheap tracksuit with bin bag underneath after a 45 minute session and there's no doubt it's taking more out of me than just running in shorts and no top.
I was going to invest in a decent tracksuit anyway and it doesn't look too bad and the base layer garments also look OK compared to what I normally train in.
If we disregard all the 'sweat suit' fad then they still look a good price and who knows in 1 months time I might be saying it works (but would the stuff I'm wearing now have worked?).

 

[Psycho Sonny]

But there is a lot of evidence that the hotter you get the more calories you burn.
I'm sitting here now in a very cheap tracksuit with bin bag underneath after a 45 minute session and there's no doubt it's taking more out of me than just running in shorts and no top.
I was going to invest in a decent tracksuit anyway and it doesn't look too bad and the base layer garments also look OK compared to what I normally train in.
If we disregard all the 'sweat suit' fad then they still look a good price and who knows in 1 months time I might be saying it works (but would the stuff I'm wearing now have worked?).

the higher body temperature only attributes to a very small part of weight loss, the fact that you cannot train as hard or for as long in a sweatsuit negates the amount your burn whilst in it.

for example.

if i was wearing a sweat suit, im going to tire faster and not be able to keeps the same endurance of speed. therefore i could run 10 miles in say 3 hours.

now i wear what i usually wear, shorts and a t shirt, i now run 15 miles in 3 hours.

in which workout did i burn more calories?

 

[RetiredGreyFox]

the higher body temperature only attributes to a very small part of weight loss, the fact that you cannot train as hard or for as long in a sweatsuit negates the amount your burn whilst in it.

for example.

if i was wearing a sweat suit, im going to tire faster and not be able to keeps the same endurance of speed. therefore i could run 10 miles in say 3 hours.

now i wear what i usually wear, shorts and a t shirt, i now run 15 miles in 3 hours.

in which workout did i burn more calories?

But what if you want to maximise your workout keeping the same distance/time?
I have no intention of running any more than 5k until next year comes around and about 3 months from the Potters Arf I will train harder.
I have no intention of doing any more than 100 crunches a session or spending any longer on the punchbag.
I may increase my weights.
I will do this routine at least 5 days a week and it's my thought that getting my body temp up will burn more calories and maximise my workout.
If it's only 10 calories over 50 minutes then it would have been less traumatic to run another 100 yards but I'm guessing it will burn a lot more than that.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

But what if you want to maximise your workout keeping the same distance/time?
I have no intention of running any more than 5k until next year comes around and about 3 months from the Potters Arf I will train harder.
I have no intention of doing any more than 100 crunches a session or spending any longer on the punchbag.
I may increase my weights.
I will do this routine at least 5 days a week and it's my thought that getting my body temp up will burn more calories and maximise my workout.
If it's only 10 calories over 50 minutes then it would have been less traumatic to run another 100 yards but I'm guessing it will burn a lot more than that.

maximise your workout by keeping the same distance/time?

does not compute.

if your maximising your workout, that means pushing yourself to your max. when you do this you should be beating your previous distance/time, until you get to a point where it is physically impossible to do so.

wearing this thing is going to make you tire quicker. therefore not work for as long or at the same pace. therefore i reckon your better off without it, at the end of the day you seem convinced so go ahead and buy it.

 

[p4radox]

The one thing it doesn't do is draw the sweat away from your body. If it did this fhen to would produce more sweat as your skin would be drier.
Tbh though, stick a hoodie on and a beenie, that will raise your body temp.

I don't agree.

Allowing the sweat to be drawn away means allowing it to evaporate, thus decreasing your body temperature. This will decrease the overall amount you sweat. That's the whole point in synthetic sports tops that aim to keep you cool.

The point in the "bin-bag" type suit is that it traps the sweat, preventing it from evaporating. Your body then sweats more as it is struggling to regulate your body temperature but isn't intelligent enough to "know" that sweating isn't working.

 

[RetiredGreyFox]

wearing this thing is going to make you tire quicker. therefore not work for as long or at the same pace.

I haven't dropped 1 second but I'm dripping wet.
I can do 5k in 24:30 but I'm way into my anaerobic zone so I run at 30 minutes to keep on the top level of my aerobic zone.
I can run 3k at that pace with or without a bin bag.
However if I put the bin bag on then surely it increases my body temp therefore burning off more calories than normal?

 

[Psycho Sonny]

I haven't dropped 1 second but I'm dripping wet.
I can do 5k in 24:30 but I'm way into my anaerobic zone so I run at 30 minutes to keep on the top level of my aerobic zone.
I can run 3k at that pace with or without a bin bag.
However if I put the bin bag on then surely it increases my body temp therefore burning off more calories than normal?

did skynet build you?

 

[RetiredGreyFox]

did skynet build you?

I would think that you could run 5k in 30 mins with or without a bin bag my Terminator friend.

Lets put it another way.
If you ran 5k on a treadmill in 30 minutes but the following day you took the treadmill into a sauna and still ran 5k in 30 minutes which exercise would burn the most calories?

Or another way -
If you ran for 5k in 30 mins in England in about 18c but the following day flew to Turkey and ran the same 5k in 30 mins in 40c which one would burn the most calories?

I have a link to somebody who confirms this but obviously I can find links that say no - http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1815702/do_you_burn_more_calories_exercising.html?cat=50

Who is right?