Sunday, May 4, 2008

Oh my sweat...

Some of you might have heard me saying in class that my sweat is tasteless or not salty recently. Often enough when we work out so hard in a class, the sweat on the face will flow into the mouth accidentally. (Some of you might say yuck at this moment. But no choice, lah! Instructors need to open mouth and talk, thus the chances of the sweat to get into our mouth is very high! Hey, have you seen our sweat, or maybe saliva, “flying” in a class before? Gee gee gee!!) This is the time when I discover that my sweat is no longer tasty, oops, I mean, salty like last time. This started to worry me as I thought that sweat is supposed to taste salty, right? So, if mine is tasteless, does it mean something is wrong with me?

Anyway, I did nothing about it. Just drink bird’s nest juice instead of plain water everyday. Just live life to its fullest like usual. Then on last week, I got to know a medical doctor who is also joining one of my classes. Yeah! What a golden opportunity to clear my doubt!

“Doc, my sweat tastes like plain water, lah! Not salty at all. Will I die prematurely?”

“No such thing, lah...”

“Huh? You mean no such thing for the plain taste of my sweat? Oh no! I’m going to die then...”

“I meant no such thing for you to die because of the taste of the sweat, lah!”

“Ohhhh... So what is happening to my sweat? Isn’t it supposed to taste salty?”

“Well, this is not a good or bad condition. You see, when you work out so vigorously and sweat profusely, and you're drinking a lot of water daily, the sodium level in your body is getting low and being diluted. That’s why you can no longer sense the salty taste...”

“Oh, I see. So I'm not "ham-sap" lah then. I thought my taste bud is dead already. Is there anything I should do then?”

“No specifically. Don’t worry about it. Just live your life as it is.”

“Thank you, doc! By the way, can I see you hold your boxing guard higher in the class later, ah?”

4 comments:

jeandesign said...

Hi! Ask u a question...Why somebody after work out in class, they unable to perspire?
Is it the pores of the skin is "JAM"?

Eugene Lim said...

Hi jeandesign,

Your question had been answered in the new post How come some of us don't sweat during exercise?. Please refer.

Anonymous said...

Ha! Surprised to see me mentioned in your blog after such a casual conversation... Hmm. In case you haven't relize, doctors are not exactly the fittest animal alive! Most of us are overweight, chain smokers & alcohol users! =P To date, I can only go all out till track 4-5 of your Combat Class. So, I have to be smart to conserve my energy, ya? Otherwise, I might create a scene in your class & get carried out of the room instead of walking! Anyway, thanks to you, I can feel much improvement ever since I joined the gym in Dec 2007. Thanks bud! Will remember to work my ass off in your next class! =P

Eugene Lim said...

Due to my job nature, I also duel with a lot of doctors. And they are... well, you’ve mentioned it all. :-P Anyway, do work out at a limit that you’re comfortable with, but do increase the intensity progressively in order to make our heart and lungs fitter. After all, we do exercise is for long-term benefit and not for short-term gain. See you again, doc! :-D