Why You Get Cold When You Stop Walking – and What to Do About It
You've been walking for an hour. The weather is cool, but you're perfectly comfortable. You reach a viewpoint, stop for lunch and take off your rucksack. Ten minutes later, you're cold.
It can seem strange. You haven't gone anywhere, the temperature hasn't suddenly collapsed and you're wearing exactly the same clothes that kept you comfortable while walking. So why do you feel so much colder when you stop?
The answer is largely down to heat production, perspiration and heat loss. Understanding what happens when you stop moving can make a big difference to how comfortable you remain during autumn and winter walks.
Walking Generates a Lot of Heat
Your muscles aren't particularly efficient machines. When they work, only part of the energy they use becomes movement; a considerable amount ends up as heat. That's extremely useful when you're walking on a cold day. Climbing hills, carrying a rucksack and maintaining a brisk pace all increase the amount of heat your body produces. This is why you can be comfortable walking in clothing that would leave you feeling decidedly chilly if you were simply standing around outside.
It also explains one of the points we made in our UK autumn layering guide: you don't necessarily want to feel completely warm when you first set off. Once you start walking, your own body effectively becomes part of your heating system. The problem starts when you stop.
Your Personal Heating System Suddenly Slows Down
Reach the top of the hill and your muscles no longer have to work as hard. The large amount of heat being generated while you were climbing therefore falls considerably. But the environment around you hasn't changed. The wind can still carry heat away from your body. Your clothing may still be damp. The rock or bench you're sitting on may be cold. And if you've stopped somewhere exposed, you may suddenly notice conditions that barely bothered you while you were moving.
This is why a temperature that felt perfectly comfortable five minutes earlier can suddenly feel surprisingly cold. It isn't necessarily the weather that's changed. You've changed.
Sweat Makes the Problem Worse
There's another important factor: moisture. If you've become too warm while walking, your body responds by sweating. That's exactly what it's supposed to do. Evaporating moisture helps remove excess heat from the skin. While you're working hard, you might hardly notice. Stop walking and the situation changes.
You're producing less heat, but moisture can remain in your clothing and continue cooling you. A damp cotton T-shirt is particularly unpleasant in this situation because cotton can retain a significant amount of moisture. This is one of the reasons a technical base layer is useful even when conditions aren't exceptionally cold. Its job isn't simply to insulate you; it also helps move perspiration away from your skin so that moisture can be managed more effectively by the rest of your clothing system.
We've looked at this in more detail in why technical clothing isn't just for mountains. You don't need to be halfway up Ben Nevis to benefit from managing perspiration.
Don't Wait Until You're Cold to Add a Layer
This is probably the most useful habit to develop. When you stop for a significant break, put on another layer before you start feeling cold. You've already generated plenty of heat while walking. The objective is to retain some of it. If you wait until you're shivering before reaching for your fleece or jacket, your body then has to generate the heat required to warm you again.
Instead, stop walking, take off your rucksack and add your insulating layer. It can feel unnecessary when you're still warm from the climb. Ten minutes later, you'll probably be glad you did.
Your Mid Layer Becomes More Important When You Stop
While walking energetically, you may only need a base layer and perhaps a lightweight outer layer. When you stop, insulation becomes much more important.
A fleece or technical mid layer works by trapping air, helping reduce the rate at which your body loses heat. The important point is that the garment doesn't actually create heat. You create the heat. Your clothing helps you keep it. That distinction helps explain why adding insulation while you're still warm works so well.
It is also the principle behind a proper layering system. Rather than relying on one enormous coat, you can adjust the amount of insulation you're wearing as your activity level changes.
Protect Yourself From the Wind
Wind can turn an otherwise pleasant rest stop into a very short lunch break. Moving air continually replaces the warmer air immediately around your body with colder air, increasing heat loss. Once you're no longer generating as much heat through exercise, the effect becomes much more noticeable.
A wind-resistant outer layer can make a substantial difference. So can choosing where you stop. If you're walking along an exposed ridge and want to eat lunch, moving a short distance to the sheltered side of a wall, hedge, rocks or hillside may make you considerably more comfortable. You don't always need another enormous layer. Sometimes you just need to get out of the wind.
A Waterproof Can Help Even When It Isn't Raining
Your waterproof jacket isn't only useful when water starts falling from the sky. Because waterproof shells are generally highly wind resistant, putting one over your insulating layers can reduce heat loss in exposed conditions.
This doesn't mean you should wear your waterproof throughout an entire dry walk. If you're exercising hard, doing so may make it more difficult to manage the moisture you're producing. But when you stop on a cold, windy summit, a shell can become a very useful additional part of your clothing system.
The principle is simple:
Base layer – manage moisture.
Mid layer – provide insulation.
Outer layer – protect against the weather.
You can then adjust the combination depending on whether you're climbing, descending or standing still.
Don't Forget Your Hat and Gloves
Your hands can become noticeably cold when you stop walking. While you're exercising, blood flow and heat production help keep your extremities warmer. Once you're stationary, fingers can quickly begin to feel the cold, particularly in windy conditions.
A lightweight pair of gloves and a warm hat take up very little space in a daypack. You may spend most of the walk carrying them. That's not a reason to leave them at home. They're often most useful during the periods when you're not walking at all – lunch stops, navigation breaks, waiting for somebody or dealing with an unexpected delay.
Sitting Down Can Make You Colder
There's another source of heat loss that's easily overlooked. The ground. Sit directly on a cold rock, damp bench or wet grass and heat can be transferred from your body into the colder surface. Your walking trousers may also provide considerably less insulation than the layers covering your upper body.
If you're stopping for more than a few minutes, a small sit mat can be surprisingly useful. Alternatively, sit on your rucksack if its contents allow it, or find a dry, insulated surface. It's a tiny detail, but on a cold day it can make lunch considerably more enjoyable.
Keep Your Spare Clothing Dry
An extra layer isn't much use if it's been sitting in a wet rucksack. Pack spare insulating clothing inside a dry bag, waterproof stuff sack or another suitable waterproof liner. This is particularly important during longer and more remote walks.
Your spare layer isn't only there to make your coffee stop more comfortable. It can become important emergency equipment if you have to remain stationary unexpectedly. A minor injury, navigational problem or delayed member of your group can turn a five-minute stop into something much longer.
Our essential UK day-hike packing list covers other equipment worth considering when planning a day walk.
Manage Your Temperature Before You Stop
Preventing the problem actually starts while you're still walking. If you're sweating heavily, you're probably wearing too much. Rather than waiting until you're extremely hot, remove a layer, open ventilation or slow your pace slightly. This is particularly important before a long climb.
Starting slightly cool and gradually warming up is usually preferable to setting off wrapped in every layer you've brought and becoming soaked in perspiration twenty minutes later. The aim isn't to avoid sweating completely. That's unrealistic during strenuous exercise. The aim is to avoid becoming unnecessarily wet.
What If You've Already Become Cold?
Sometimes you get it wrong. Perhaps the temperature dropped faster than expected, you stopped longer than planned or your clothing became wetter than you realised.
If you're simply feeling chilly during an ordinary rest stop, don't sit there hoping you'll warm up. Put on your dry insulating layers and protect yourself from wind and rain. If appropriate and safe, start moving again.
Eating and drinking can also be important during a long day because your body needs energy and hydration to function properly.
However, persistent or worsening cold, uncontrollable shivering, confusion, poor coordination or unusual behaviour can indicate a much more serious situation. Don't treat suspected hypothermia as ordinary discomfort; seek appropriate emergency assistance.
The Five-Minute Lunch Stop Rule
There's a simple routine worth getting into. When you stop walking for more than a very brief pause:
- Add a layer while you're still warm.
- Get out of the wind where possible.
- Put on a hat or gloves if conditions warrant them.
- Avoid sitting directly on a cold or wet surface.
- Before setting off again, remove excess insulation so you don't immediately overheat.
It soon becomes automatic. You'll also notice experienced walkers doing something similar. They reach a summit, put down their packs and almost immediately pull on another layer. They're not necessarily colder than everyone else. They're trying to make sure they don't become cold in the first place.
Staying Warm Isn't About Wearing More Clothes
The temptation when the weather becomes colder is simply to wear increasingly thick clothing. But good temperature management is more subtle than that. You're constantly moving between different levels of activity.
Climbing steeply generates lots of heat. Walking downhill generates less. Standing around generates considerably less again. Your clothing therefore needs to adapt. A moisture-managing base layer, adjustable insulation and protective outer layer allow you to regulate your temperature far more effectively than one extremely heavy garment.
Take layers off before you become too hot. Put them on before you become cold. And remember that the warmest part of your walk might have very little to do with the weather forecast. It might simply be the bit where you're walking.
Further Reading
If you're preparing for more walking this autumn, you may also find these useful: