When you complete a really good workout, you’d expect to feel warm. After all, you’ve been working your body and that’s the natural response. But why is it that you can sometimes get the chills after your workout is complete? Shouldn’t your body temperature just go back to normal and feel like it did before you started exercising?
There are several reasons that you can feel cold after you’ve finished a workout. The main reason is because of the processes your body uses in order to be able to maintain a steady core temperature. Keeping a relatively constant temperature is important to all mammals. For humans, it means that your body needs to remain around 98.6 degrees as much as possible.
Your body temperature can rise or fall because of many things such as illness (fever), and extreme temperature exposure, such as a hot summer day or a freezing winter night. Even in those circumstances, your body shifts the way it functions to try to bring your temperature to where it should be.
When you exercise, your body temperature rises due to the chemical reactions taking place within you, particularly in your muscles, but also throughout your circulatory system. This puts your body into cool-down mode as it works to try to restore your temperature to its original 98.6 degrees.
However, if you suddenly stop your exercises without doing a proper cool down, your body may still be using its various cooling processes to lower your body temperature even if you’re not doing anything to warm yourself up anymore. This can make you feel quite chilly. That, compounded with the fact that you are likely wearing sweaty clothing once you’re done your workout can expose you to even cooler temperatures.
To help to avoid that cold feeling after you finish exercising, there are several things you can do:
• Cool down – Once you’re done your main workout, do a cool down routine. This gradually reduces your blood flow and body temperature, which can help you avoid injury, reduce muscle soreness, avoid pulled muscles and, of course, lower the risk of getting that chilled feeling you don’t want. An effective cool-down workout is as easy as walking slowly for 5 to 10 minutes or doing a few gentle muscle stretches for that same length of time.
• Dress properly – Dress in layers so you can pull clothing off or put it back on again as needed. Make sure that they layer of clothing closest to your body is made of moisture wicking fabric so you don’t end up with sweat trapped against your skin, making you feel clammy and placing you at risk of skin irritations.
• Hydrate – Drinking water is a vital part of the body’s temperature regulation. Stay hydrated and you’ll be less likely to experience temperature extremes.
