WHAT IS YOUR SWEAT RATE & WHY DOES IT MATTER?

WHAT IS YOUR SWEAT RATE & WHY DOES IT MATTER?

by | Jan 23, 2020 | Heat Injuries

Calculating your sweat rate is the best way to figure out how much water you need to be drinking when working or exercising in the heat.

You can use our sweat rate calculator (see below) to figure out your average sweat rate, and how much water you should drink back after your exercise bout or work day.

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO TO GET AN ACCURATE SWEAT RATE CALCULATION:

  1. Pick an activity (ideally during your typical workday) that is 30-60 minutes long, where you are usually sweating. Note that you will need to weigh yourself (nude) before and after the activity, so if this is not possible at work, then go for a run at home or the gym, or do some sort of aerobic (endurance) activity that gets your heart rate up & causes you to sweat (e.g., elliptical, cycling, etc).
  2. Weigh yourself (nude) before exercise and/or work. Write down this number. Go do your activity – and be sure to keep track of the time (be as precise as possible). Note: During this exercise period, you should not use the restroom or drink any fluids. Immediately after you’re done, take your clothes off & wipe off any dripping sweat from your body.
  3. Weigh yourself (nude) again. Write down this number. Enter your two body weights & your exercise/work duration in the calculator below to get your sweat rate & how much water you should drink back!

Sweat Rate Calculator

 

Note that the amount of water to drink back is the amount specific to the activity you did (and that amount of time). If it’s really hot outside, your sweat rate might be even higher, and then you’ll need to drink even more water.

**Remember that you can’t just chug all of that water at once because your body can only absorb it so fast.. as a general rule of thumb, your body can only absorb ~1 cup (8 oz.) of water every 15 minutes, so try to divide up your fluids (over the hour) based on that rule.

For more information, check out our blog on staying hydrated during the workday.

THIS IS A GOOD PLACE TO START, BUT FOR MORE CUSTOMIZED HYDRATION PLANS & RECOMMENDATIONS SPECIFIC TO YOUR SITE, WORK ACTIVITIES, AND CLOTHING, CHECK OUT KENZEN’S HEAT SAFETY PROGRAM– WE’RE HERE TO HELP.