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It's common knowledge that you will sweat from being in a very warm room. And you will also sweat from exercise, presumably because it raises your body temperature.

But if you exercise in a cold enough room, which magically adjusts its temperature to counteract your body temperature, will you then not sweat at all? And is it therefore possible to exercise without sweating... And not even have to take a shower afterwards?

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    $\begingroup$ Well, if you define "cold enough room" as outdoors in the winter, and the exercise is cross-country skiing, then it is perfectly possible, as long as you adjust your clothing layers appropriately. Indeed, you do not want to sweat much - enough to wet your clothing - as that exposes you to a risk of hypothermia when you stop. $\endgroup$
    – jamesqf
    Commented Feb 16, 2017 at 20:40

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Apparently you can sweat even in a cold enough room, without even doing exercise! The main causes of sweating include, among exercise and high body temperature, stress and anxiety. This condition is called cold sweating. See this article:

The body normally produces sweat as a way to help keep cool. Sweating normally occurs with exertion such as when exercising or in high temperatures. However, there are other reasons for sweating. Sweating can be triggered by fear or anxiety, and this is often referred to as a cold sweat. It comes on suddenly and results in cool, damp skin. It is the body's reaction to stress as part of the "fight or flight" response that helps us to react in a dangerous situation.

So, even if you just think about doing heavy exercise, you might get sweat in hands or feet.

But cold sweating is not the only cause. It may also be caused by a more severe condition known as hyperhidrosis. See this article:

Normally, your sweat glands produce perspiration that’s carried to the skin’s surface when the air temperature rises, you develop a fever, you’re exercising, or you’re feeling anxious, nervous, or under stress. When those factors are no longer an issue, the nerves that signal sweating are put on hold. For the 2% to 3% of the population who have hyperhidrosis, however, the sweat glands don't shut off. They sweat even when the circumstances don’t call for it: when they’re in air conditioning, or while they’re sitting and watching television. Some people even tell their doctors that they sweat in a swimming pool.

So, one might start sweating even in a cold enough room, if not because of body heat, then because of anxiety, hormones or medical conditions. Also, this condition does not work the way you are speculating. When the surrounding environment is very cold, the body prefers to shut off blood supply to skin than to cool it down through skin i.e. sensing cold environment, the body shuts off blood supply to skin and diverts it to core of the body. This is what causes more urination in cold environment and is called cold diuresis. Have a look at this answer for more information on this point.

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    $\begingroup$ Why the downvote? Anything I missed or said wrong? $\endgroup$ Commented Feb 17, 2017 at 4:53
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    $\begingroup$ I believe many at times people would have experienced this. I have had sweat drops even on a very chilling evening. $\endgroup$
    – Tushar
    Commented Mar 7, 2017 at 13:50
  • $\begingroup$ It wasn't me, but it might have been because you didn't actually provide OP with the information they were looking for. At least, according to the way I read the question. You go into other things that can trigger sweat to conclude "it is possible to sweat in the cold," but "Is it possible to sweat in the cold?" isn't the question that I see, rather it is "I start sweating when I exercise, but would that still happen if I exercised in a cold room?" Read: all other things being equal, am I likely to sweat... not is it possible to sweat. Note the "Is it possible to exercise without sweating" $\endgroup$
    – Aaron
    Commented Jul 19, 2018 at 16:38
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    $\begingroup$ @another'Homosapien' I do understand your perspective, and your answer was a good read. And if you try to pick out a single sentence from the question and answer it directly, and you pick the part that says "is it possible to exercise without sweating", then your post has answered that very directly, and quite well. I'm merely responding to your (1.5yr old) comment asking for criticism because of a down-vote. Although you have answered one of the specific questions contained within OP's post, I would suggest OP did not get the info they specifically were after based on the question's context. $\endgroup$
    – Aaron
    Commented Jul 19, 2018 at 19:40
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    $\begingroup$ That is, it appears that the asker is interested in avoiding sweating while exercising. If you set aside the specific words the asker used, and just look at what their end goal is, the answer you provided hasn't helped them with that. At least, if my assumption about the asker's intent is correct. This is one of the issues with the format of StackExchange... if the asker asks the wrong question, even a perfect answer might not help them. And we aren't supposed to have a lengthy discussion about it. $\endgroup$
    – Aaron
    Commented Jul 19, 2018 at 19:43

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