When I lived in a climate that was regularly over 40C, sometimes I showered twice a day. Now I live in a cool climate, and every 2-3 days is usually fine. But if I'm under stress, it's back to daily.
When I lived in a climate that was regularly over 40C, sometimes I showered twice a day. Now I live in a cool climate, and every 2-3 days is usually fine. But if I'm under stress, it's back to daily.
The real answer is that people need to shower enough so that they A) feel comfortable and B) don't cause issues for the people around them. A is a bit fuzzy, and will change depending on what an individual is used to, but most people in most situations won't run into B if they are showering every other day (or even every 3 days) modulo things like "I went for a run this afternoon" or "I worked in the garden all day" etc.
The edge cases are probably rare enough to say "you don't need to shower every day, but if you get particularly dirty/sweaty, then you should shower" and you will be correct for most people. The few people who do need it every day can probably work it out for themselves.
Perhaps the largest exception to this is teenage boys who just really are a biological marvel of smell generation. They should potentially be showering multiple times a day for the sake of those around them.
So it's not that you are unusual in that you sweat profusely (I'd agree that most people probably need a shower after any decently vigorous exercise), you are unusual because you exercise regularly.
[0] https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/data/inactivity-prevale...
Showering in this case may be useful, but the use of soaps/cleansers would still probably not be needed. Sweat is mostly water itself, along with salt and some other minerals (potassium?), so a quick shower—using just water, which is a great solvent—will rinse/dissolve most things from your skin.
Worth remembering that body odour is from bacteria and not the sweat itself. The bacteria is determined (partly) by your genetics and the type of sweat glads you have. Eccrine sweat glands go directly to the surface of the skin (secrete: water, NaCl, K), while apocrine sweat glands connect into hair follicle (secrete: protein, lipids,): the bacteria feed off the latter.
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweat_gland
The gene on whether you have (more) apocrine glands is ABCC11:
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ABCC11
Asians are more likely to have to have the gene variant that makes you less smelly (Allele A).
In the Before Times (pre-COVID/WFH) I used to cycle hard to work everyday: I would shower at home, pedal in with the funny-looking lycra, and change at work. I didn't bother showering at work and I didn't stink. (This concern regularly gets mentioned when topics of car-alternative comes up on HN.)
People are much less sensitive to their own body odor than you may assume. Please default to taking a shower before you go to public places unless you have very concrete evidence otherwise.