Solar Suits -- Just Dumb

In my almost ten years of teaching fitness classes, researching diets, reading what works and what doesn't work, I can unequivocally state that Solar Suits and the other plastic workout clothes people put on to lose weight is the stupidest gimmick that I've ever seen.  About as stupid as those vibrating belts that let you burn fat while sitting around doing nothing.   Let me not mince words, if you are wearing one while working out STOP.  Anyone who comes to my class wearing one, I make them take it off or leave.

http://health.msn.com/fitness/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100163531

Water In Your Body

The human body is about two-thirds water. And wearing plastic “solar suits” can squeeze some of the water out and decrease the amount of fluid the body holds. Even though you can drop a few pounds immediately this way, you’re losing water, not fat and important electrolytes along with it.

....

Water Cools You Down

....

A review in the International Journal of Sports Medicine noted that sweat must evaporate from the skin to produce a body-cooling effect. If it doesn’t then, not only does the rapid water loss dehydrate you, but the pent-up heat accumulates, raising your core temperature. With less water available to cool you down, the heat continues to rise. 

....

When Dehydration Gets Dangerous

Athletes who compete in different divisions based on their body weight are famous for the extraordinary lengths they go to lose weight. The Journal of the American Medical Association reported the weight-loss practices of three college wrestlers in 1997: All three men restricted food and fluids while over-exercising for several weeks, dropping around 15 percent of their body weight. All three wore plastic sweat suits while performing intense exercise in a hot environment. All three died.

.....

Water Loss Weakens You

Even a little dehydration can hurt you. Sweating off 2 percent of your body weight—a 175-pound person losing about 3 ½ pounds—can significantly impair performance. You’ll feel fatigued and weak, you’ll be more sluggish, and you won’t be able to push yourself to walk faster or have the stamina to hike up hills, for example. In other words, dehydrating yourself will slow you down. And slowing down burns fewer calories.

....

Is a Plastic Suit Helpful At All?

.......

Trash the suit, drink up, and start incorporating sprint walks or mini-jogging intervals into your hour-long walks to get the weight-loss results you want.

Let me repeat, wearing a plastic bag while working out is dangerous and stupid.