Primal Primer 14 (Fitness)
Homo sapiens have a unique adaptation among mammals that is crucial to survival and success: the ability to sweat profusely. This ability of sweating intensely plays role in thermoregulation, allowing humans to maintain stable core body temperature in extreme conditions of heat and work.
Reduced Body Hair – Our evolution resulting in less body hair enhances the efficiency of sweating. With less fur to trap heat, sweat can evaporate more quickly making the cooling process more impactful.
Efficient Thermoregulation – Body heat dissipates through evaporative cooling. When the body heats up, sweat glands release moisture into the skin and as it evaporates it cools the body and prevents overheating.
Endurance Hunting – Intense sweating, combined with bipedalism gives humans the advantage in hunting. Early humans can run or walk long distances during the hottest parts of the day, chasing prey until the animal is overheated (known as persistence hunting).
Adaptations To Diverse Lands – Sweating enables Homo sapiens to survive in a variety of environments, from hot savannas to more temperate regions. An especially important attribute as our species migrated out from Africa.
Detoxification – Sweat leeches from the body small amounts of trace minerals such as heavy metals (lead, cadmium, arsenic, mercury) and certain chemicals (bisphenol A or BPA). Circulation of the lymphatic system is also augmented; enhancing the removal of waste product from tissues.
Skin Health – Sweating helps cleanse the skin pores by pushing out dirt, oil, and other impurities.
Truth In Sweat
Sweat was a constant state for our ancestors. Although lives today require less manual input, we should strive for continued activation of these systems due to the numerous benefits and genetic pathways augmented from this state of adaptation.
If you’ve ever questioned your workout intensity, observe the saturation of your attire. If sufficiently intense, there should be no dry cloth. Perhaps even a murder scene in the wake of your session; splatters and streaks of sweat still communicating your effort. Saturation is the situation; from this proxy, there is no misallocation of time, purpose, or question of result.
~Cave Implementation~
Engineer workouts to elicit the most amount of sweat possible. Crank the space heater in summer. Throw on a hoodie or sauna suit. Workout under the sun when most people seek shade. Wear a heavy kimono in jiu jitsu. Often if your workout is tuned just right, you can achieve levels of saturation without aid, but if the intention is to Maximize Misery and adaption, bolting on these conditions will supercharge workout intentions (calorie burning, mental strengthening, and enacting heat shock proteins).
Let Sweat Be One Measure Of Man.
