S.W.E.A.T – Sweat Rate Study
WHY A SWEAT RATE STUDY?
Myself ( P. Venkatraman ) and Dr Aashish Contractor, Preventive Cardiologist and Head of Cardiac Rehab, Asian Heart Institute and Medical Director of Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon have launched India’s first and World’s largest study on ‘Sweat Rates’ of Indian runners.
This was consequent to the feedback after the SCMM of Jan 2012 that got us thinking along this path. Numerous Social Media comments were around a common theme.
– Too many runners had cramped. Much higher in number than earlier years. Close friends of mine had to pull out of the race. Or worst, limp to the finish line in pain.
– The medical base camp at the Finish line had an unusually large number of runners who needed to be treated for cramps, pulled muscles etc.
– Relispray ( and other similar muscle relaxants ) were out of stock in many medical camps, even though they were stocked at much higher levels this year.
Numerous conversations revealed the following underlying reasons
– Mumbai had an extended winter. With much cooler weather the thirst trigger was muffled and runners did not hydrate enough
– With a cooler weather, runners also over paced themselves early on.
Naturally cramping occurred in much larger scale than every before.
It was thus felt that something should be done about this so that runners do not suffer in the years ahead. The best and easiest way to fix this was to do a study and measure the ‘SWEAT RATE’ of Indian runners we felt.
Sweat rate data available, so far, are based on research from Western countries. Our readings also revealed that in most cases the sample size was very low ( 10 or so runners ) and again mostly in a gym on the treadmill.
We felt that using such data, based on Western ‘rules of thumbs’ may result in numbers that could be quite different from what may be the reality in Indian weather conditions and that too on the streets. Also each racial profile has its own genetic differences in many areas.
Hence we felt the need to launch a Sweat Rate study appropriately titled S.W.E.A.T ( Sweat, Water, Endurance And Training )
It is India’s first..no one has done this before.
It is going to be the World’s largest..we intend to cover runners by the hundreds from various running groups in Mumbai and Pune.
What out for further announcements…coming soon to a venue near you 
P. Venkatraman
YouTooCanRun
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Posted On 10 Sep 2020
Looking forward to it Venkat Sir.
Excellent! Looking forward
Nikhil,
I am doing this Saturday test at my home ground..MIG club. Then I am travelling.
In the meantime I will co-ordinate with you and we will plan Pune…either a Saturday or a Sunday.
Thanks,
Venkat
Hi, would like to participate in this study. I have a personal opinion that I sweat much more and much easily, as compared to many others, though I have not made a formal study of it, as such. Would like to see how I am placed as compared to others as well as would like to know other information on sweating, in general.. Do let me know when the study gets launched.
The sweat rate can be very different for individuals..I lost 700 ml while my friend lost 2 ltrs in one hour. So there is a 300% difference between our sweat rates. If I drink to his level then I am at risk of hyponatremia http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001431/
And if he drinks to my levels then he can be severely dehydrated.
So knowing your sweat rate is a must for each runner if he does not want to compromise his performance. One more boundary of risk gets defined.
Venkat
Already looking forward to the findings! You will have several eager participants at NMR. Curious as to how you are planning to standardize the tests. Do let me know how I can help.
Surya,
I already sounded Srivatsan and will put a calender together so that runners can be present in their most convenient location on a particular weekend..and in other locations if that date does not suit them for any reason…idea is to cover all regular runners of Mumbai…as much as possible.
Venkat