Lately I have been seeing more and more people wearing sweatbands around their stomach at the gym. These fitness belly-bands claim to help you sweat away the pounds on your mid-section. Ohhhh, don't we all just wish it was that easy? The truth is these belly-bands will not help you lose stomach fat and will hinder your workout.
The purpose of sweat is to cool the body down. The process of sweat does burn calories, but this is extremely minimal and itself will not help with weight loss. When the body sweats, water and chemicals are released NOT fat. The weight which is lost through sweat is put back on when water is consumed. Therefore if you sweat away 2 lbs. from a workout, this is just water weight and will be returned when 32 oz. of fluid is drank or eaten.
The real downside to these bands is they cause you to burn LESS calories when working out. Since they make you sweat more, you become dehydrated and may not be able to exercise as long or at as high of an intensity. Also these bands, when strapped tightly around your stomach, act as support for your abdominal muscles. Well that doesn't seem so bad right? The truth is the band will work as your stomach muscles allowing them to relax, letting the band do their "job". If your abs are not contracted form will start to lack and you will not receive and ab workout by tightening these muscles. So leave those silly bands at the store and get your fantastic body to the gym!
On a side note, the same rules apply with saunas and sauna suits. These ways of dehydration are sometimes used for sports performance to qualify for a lower weight class or to look leaner for competition, FOR THE SHORT TERM. These athletes will "gain" the weight back immediately when they REHYDRATE.
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