I was sitting on the couch covered in a blanket and the temperature was set at 65. I go for a 4 mile jog, come back inside, temperature is still 65 inside but I feel comfortable and warm. Why is this?
In: Biology
Your body is constantly trying to balance efficiency. When the weather is colder, our body is actually actively burning energy to keep us warm. When we “assist” the conservation of energy by sitting still under a blanket, our body is able to slow done our heart rate and blood supply to our limbs and conserve energy by not having to increase our temperature. This lowers our metabolism and slows down the rate at which the body generates heat, because it doesn’t have to. The consequence is when we come out from under the blanket, the cold “feels” more extreme, because we haven’t been actively generating heat.
When you go for a run (or relatively active), your body has to increase blood flow, to make sure all the muscles are able to perform correctly. Heart rate goes up, and the body increases the rate at which you process energy.
In warm weather, this would raise you temperature to the point of sweating, with the hope that the airflow around you causes cooling by evaporation. In winter when the air is substantially cooler, and the effects of the cooling is so much more efficient. In summer you may feel like you are overheating, whereas in winter you feel like you temperature is in the “perfect” zone.
You find that the effects of the exercise only last a while. Your heart rate returns to normal, your core temperature starts dropping, and then the ambient temperature has cooled off your limbs enough that you start feeling the cold again. This is the way.
You are radiating more heat than you were before the run. One of the byproducts of energy being burned to fuel your muscles is a significant amount of heat. Your body is venting that heat by having your blood carry it to your skin, where is can leave the body. That’s why you feel warmer.
It doesn’t, your body temperature is so high that you don’t actually feel the cold instantly. I would recommend taking a cold shower after exercise, because, if you just sit, you’ll be getting dirty and if, for any reasons you get to a cold place while sweating, well, you may catch a cold, but if you take a shower, you’ll feel more relaxed and cleaner than before and you reduce your chances of getting a cold (compared to being sweaty in a cold place)
Internal body temperature so high, what your brain thought was cold is much more tolerable now
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