I was sitting in a steam room and noticed my smart watch indicate a sharp rise in my heart rate to coincide with time spent in the steam room. What causes this rise in heart rate, is it the heat and dilation of the vascular system?
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Imagine your body is like a car engine. When you sit in a steam room, it’s like your engine gets a little hotter, just like when a car’s engine gets warm when you drive it. Your heart is like a pump that helps your blood flow all around your body, bringing oxygen and nutrients to your muscles and organs.
When you’re in a steam room, your body gets warmer, and your heart needs to work a bit harder to make sure all your body parts get enough blood and oxygen. So, your heart rate goes up to keep up with this extra work. It’s a bit like when a car engine revs up to go faster when you need more power.
So, sitting in a steam room makes your body warmer, and your heart beats faster to take care of your body, just like how a car engine works harder when it gets warm.
Paramedic here. When your core temp increases, your vessels expand so they can be closer to the surface of your skin. This allows your blood to be closer to the outside, where heat can radiate away easier against the lower ambient temperature.
When your veins expand like this, your heart must now beat faster to overcome the now larger container, because it is now pumping less blood per beat, and must keep the total amount pumped the same to make sure every organ is getting enough.
I’d also like to add that this may accelerate in a humid environment like a sauna, because the high humidity makes it very difficult for sweating to be effective. Most organs but especially your brain and nervous system are very sensitive to high temperatures and must aggressively react to prevent damage.
I have anxiety and I calm my racing heart with heat, a sauna would be so relaxing lol. Being cold causes my heart rate to increase and my chest to tighten, anything below 70° is freezing
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