Why can some guys walk around in a t-shirt in cold weather while I’m freezing my balls off?

41 comments

1. How long are your t shirts if it freezes your balls?

2. Cause they’re hotter than you?

3. I’m the whitest person, cold weather is my shit. I’m not sure if this is a proven genetic adaptation, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it was.

   If it makes you feel any better, I struggle hilariously in humid climates

4. Some guys retain heat better

5. I prefer a bit too cold over too warm.

6. 1. Fat can help (fatter people can tend to tolerate the cold better).
   2. People can become habituated to the temperature. U.S. Military ran tests on soldiers doing this. Soldiers got used to it and stopped shivering.
   3. Genetic variant in the skeletal muscle gene, ACTN3, makes people more resilient to cold temperatures

7. Some guys run hot, some guys just refuse to admit they’re cold and would rather suffer.

8. I blame genetics. I have Northern European ancestry and I can walk outside when it’s like 30 and as long as it’s not windy, I’m fine. I’ve also lived in a state with cold winters my entire life too though so I’m used to it.

9. I am one of these guys, I am almost never cold. My wife and daughter are the polar (pun intended) opposite.

   Today is my first day wearing long sleeves since like April, unless I was forced to do so because of work.

10. Because you’re not Canadian.

11. No idea, maybe we a bit more resistant toward the cold. I know for me winter is perfect since I can walk around in boxers and undershirt without sweating like a pig. Summer is killing me tho. I never have a problem with the cold, heat on the other hand… Can’t stand it.

    Also only place where I DO get cold are hands and feet, but even that is solved with some gloves and socks.

12. Everyone in my family is that way. Low was 21 last night and I was grilling I’m my shorts without a shirt or shoes on.

    We are just a bunch of Slavs so I figure it’s genetic

13. You can get used to hotter or cooler Temps. I sweat more profusely in June than I do in August. I’m more bothered by 40° in October than I am 0° in January.

14. It’s probably a combination of some genetic thing and the environment(s) you’re used to.

    Also, as one of said guys, I envy you. There’s not much of a limit to how many extra layers you can put on when it’s cold. But when I’m dying of heat in late spring, there’s only so many I can take off.

15. Gotta enjoy the cold before it gets hot again

16. Fat content, metabolism, getting acclimatized. If you’re not outside enough getting used to cooler and cooler temperatures as the seasons change, you’ll be boned for winter. Same reason certain plants need to be exposed to colder temps to properly winter themselves or they’ll die

17. 40 degrees and up is shorts and t shirt weather in Upstate NY

18. Some people just literally have a different definition of what’s actually cold or hot. This can be compounded with the fact that some of us just naturally produce more/less heat (something to do with metabolism I guess).

    I personally eat enough for two average men, and I’m just barely over 200 pounds; however, I produce an insane amount of heat (which my girlfriend seems to really enjoy because she’s perpetually cold). I can literally be out in shorts in 50°F weather and barely get the sniffles.

19. Cold doesn’t bother me as much as heat. I’d rather be uncomfortably cold than sweating from heat.

20. some of us are build different

21. There are definitely differences in heat “experience” among people. For one thing, some people are consistently warm to the touch (eg if you touch their hand) and some people are consistently cold to the touch. So, it makes sense that people would experience the same outward temperature differently.

    You can tell that, because (for example) to the same people consistently want to open windows/turn off air conditioning etc.

22. You’re prolly wearing the tshirt wrong if your balls are freezing off.

23. It makes a huge difference how much I’m moving around. Like sitting at my desk I get cold at just 60 degrees and put on a sweatshirt. But if I’m up and moving around 60 is nothing. Comfortable even. Even 50F is fine in a T-shirt if I’m doing stuff. Hell, I’ve been known to strip down to a T-shirt in the winter while shoveling snow.

    Another factor is body fat. Fat is insulating. So you’ll see bigger guys going without layers.

    But people also have different base metabolisms, circulation, etc.

    Where do you live and what temps are we talking about here?

24. I’m a firm believer that you can train your body to make more heat.

    I was notorious for shorts on snow days as a kid, and I was never cold. I’m pretty sure I just convinced my body that if we were going to make it, it would need extra brown fat.

25. I can’t do it in a t shirt, but I could probably wear shorts year round. No clue why, but my legs just never get cold.

    Arms and feet, that’s another story. If my feet are cold all of me is now cold.

26. I think where you grew up has a big part to play in it. I grew up in Boston and am used to a decent amount of cold. Moving to Texas for a while changed that up, but now that I’m back, I’ve reacclimated to the temps. It isn’t abnormal to drive by kids waiting for the school bus wearing hoody + gym shorts when it is in the mid-30s.

27. There are plenty of reasons. Genetics, upbringing and metabolism come to mind.

    There’s a gene that makes you produce more heat, iirc.

    The way you’re raised affects your genes, well, not exactly, but it’s understandable that way. So, the same person, if raised in a tundra, would take the cold much better than one raised in a medium climate.

    Some people also have a faster metabolism, meaning they create more heat. Oh, and, the ones with high body mass also tend to retain heat better.

    I’m sure there’re more factors, but these are the only ones that come to mind.

28. Im a big guy living in Florida. I can assure you if I was skinny and had no belly i would be shivering.

    I am a furnace during the summer. I literally step outside And sweat during the most menial of tasks (most Floridians do). But right now in the 50s everyones freezing and im like “yo this is beach weather!”

29. It can also be very gender specific. My wife gets cold in the summer time. KEEP YOUR DAMN COLD FEET OFF MY LEGS YOU DAMNED DIRTY APE! No, but really, her hands and feet get outright cold. It drops below 19 Celsius, and she’s freezing.

    I can tolerate cold temps pretty good, but I’m also Canadian. It’s our thing. We’ll also risk hypothermia just so we can look at you and say “whattya mean it’s cold out?”

30. I’ve got a layer of blubber, like a walrus, the cold does not phase me.

31. I think bluster and laziness is a huge part of it. A lot of men don’t want to bother dressing for the weather since they generally are only ever in it on their way to and from their vehicle.

    Not showing that the cold bothers you is also some sort of toxic flex. I know people who will brag about how the cold doesn’t bother them one day and complain about the cold the next.

32. Why can you walk around in hot weather and not sweat your balls off?

33. i use to be cold all the time but since i picked up a combat sport, i’ve been feeling very warm. i’ve also taking a liking to a very nice woman so i just may be horny lol

34. I’m from Arizona, but when I lived in Wisconsin for a couple years, I would get used to the cold over the winter. When it got back up to -10 I had to unzip my coat so I wouldn’t sweat.

35. Your circulatory system might not be as good as others

36. They ain’t bitches

37. Why you going out without pants.

38. Genetics and body composition can play a role, but so can “mind over matter” and pain tolerance.

    Think spicy food. People that enjoy spicy food aren’t immune to the physical sensations of watery eyes and a tingling tongue, it just doesn’t bother them as much as they don’t viscerally react to it.

    Cold and heat can be the same. Yes its cold, but I dont mind being cold and im not gonna shiver and shuffle and rub my hands together just because my fingers are a little more numb than usual.

39. For me I’m pretty sure it’s my horrendous amount of body hair. I take off my shirt and it looks like I’m wearing a wool sweater. My ancestors were mainly German, Irish, Scottish and gypsies from Bohemia. Some of the hairiest, drunkest, whiter than mayonnaise people in the world all decided to meet up in Texas and start my lineage.

40. I’m out in a tank top and shorts in 50 degree weather. (Actually legit happened thos weekend and I had no less than 5 people approach to ask if I was ok).

    On the other hand, I’m sweating like hell if it’s over 60 degrees.

    Some of us just run at a much higher temp, and retain more heat. No idea the reason why, it just happens.

    Trust me mate, we would trade you if we could, it’s a lot easier to warm up than it is to cool off.

41. Depends on various things tbh. They could be more used to dealing with cold or used to colder climates or genetic variations too.

    I’m used to cold temperatures in my home town (J and K in India) so when I went to Goa and other nearby states around December (a South Indian state), I was walking around in dresses and skirts and shorts while natives there were wearing jackets and more layered up.