Many gym-goers equate an effective workout session to how much they sweat. If you’re not dripping in sweat, did you even work out at all? In reality, sweating is necessary. It’s your body’s natural cool-down mechanism that kicks in when your muscles generate heat during exercise.
“Sweating basically happens when your body wants to cool itself down,” says Domenic Angelino, CPT, with International Personal Trainer Academy, which offers NCCA-accredited Personal Trainer (CPT) and Certified Nutrition Specialist (CNS) programs. “The more energy you burn during your workout, and the faster you burn it, the hotter your body gets.”
But is sweat a trueindicator of a productive workout? The concern is real. If you’re performing a gym routine with an exercise buddy, it’s natural to compare how you both hold up. Your pal may be looking as fresh as a daisy while your workout attire is drenched. Or, you might be taking a class and everyone is running for the hills to get water because they lost so much in sweat—and you didn’t use your towel to dry off once. These are all valid points, and many of us have been there.
To set the record straight, we spoke with certified personal trainers who explain everything you need to know about sweating and whether it changes with different training modalities.
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Do You Need To Sweat for a Workout To ‘Count’?
The short answer? Not necessarily. Some individuals will sweat a lot during the least bit of activity, while others don’t break a major sweat even during an intense workout.
In addition, many factors can impact how much or how little you sweat, regardless of workout intensity. These can include humidity, temperature, regular sauna usage, how hydrated you are and even sweat gland size.
“Every single person is different in how they thermoregulate, factors like genetics, age, hormones, environment, clothing, training level, etc. all play a role, and sweat is absolutely not a reliable indicator not only of how hard someone is working, but also of how effective the workout is,” explains Jess Schneider, certified personal trainer and nutrition coach at Life Time Westchester (NY).
It’s also worth noting that burning calories isn’t the main goal of various workouts. “Some workouts are designed to help you build muscle. Others are designed to help you get stronger—and so on,” says Angelino. “Sweat isn’t that predictive of workout quality when it comes to workouts that aren’t explicitly about fat loss or calorie burning. Performing two similar muscle-building workouts under similar conditions might lead to the better workout involving less sweat, or vice versa. It really can go either way since there isn’t a strong correlation or strong causal relationship there.”
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How Sweat Changes With Age
Age also plays a key role here. In fact, sweat output most often decreases as you grow older. Of course, perimenopause and menopause are factors all their own that can produce extra sweat.
“Sweat glands become less active [and] body temperature regulation becomes less efficient,” says Julie Dermer, CPT and master Soul Cycle instructor. “As you age, judge your workout by how you are feeling and progressing. You should be thinking about longevity, joint health, energy, not requiring dripping with sweat.”
But Schneider tells us that the quality of your workout can be rated by the same method you would view any routine, regardless of sweat, aka, are you stronger? Have your muscle recruitment patterns improved? Do you have fewer aches and pains? Do you have more energy post-workout? These are all good questions Schneider suggests asking yourself.
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Can a Low-To-No-Sweat Workout Still Deliver Benefits?
It’s totally normal not to sweat much for the majority of productive workouts. According to Schneider, it’s actually healthier not to sweat than to push yourself over the top in order to break into a sweat.
“Trying to go all-out for every single workout is a quick path to pain, injury and slower results long term,” Schneider tells Parade.
Mallory Fox, DHSc, MS; NASM master trainer, NASM certified personal trainer (NASM-CPT), NASM certified wellness coach (CWC), agrees there are many workouts that deliver results without having you drenched in sweat. This includes Pilates, strength training, mobility work and yoga. These training modalities can significantly boost flexibility, joint health and strength.
Cardio workouts, like treadmill inclines, walking briskly, jogging lightly and cycling are stellar for boosting your heart rate—and not your sweat glands. “The effectiveness of a workout depends on progressive overload and proper programming—not perspiration,” Fox stresses.
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More Reliable Markers to Gauge Workout Productivity
Rather than stressing over how much you’re sweating during your next session, experts came up with reliable markers that will gauge your productivity. So don’t sweat it out!
Instead, be mindful of your strength on a daily basis. “Things like how energized you feel throughout your days after working out, how strong you feel when doing daily things like carrying groceries or climbing stairs will show that what you’re doing during your workout are improving not just your physical fitness, but your life health,” says Vicki Chimenti, CPT and instructor at The Pack in NYC.
You can also note your rate of perceived exertion (RPE) or the time spent in target heart rate zones to track your workout productivity and progress.
“Most importantly, [focus on] things you can track [as time passes], like if you’re using heavier weights over time and are getting stronger, a VO2 Max that’s getting more efficient, better resting HR and BP, better blood glucose levels or even your ability to do things outside of the gym with more ease and mobility,” Schneider points out.
The bottom line? Nobody’s workout should be judged by how much they sweat. Accordingly, keep doing what you’re doing at the gym—and don’t worry about how much you are or aren’t sweating. If you’re following a consistent routine that’s showing results, you’re doing just fine.
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This story was originally published by Parade on Nov 29, 2025, where it first appeared in the Health & Wellness section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.