How Exercise Affects Your Skin

It’s no secret that working out is good for us. If you’re looking to lose weight, tone up or improve your health, hitting the gym a few times a week is the obvious place to start.  But did you know that exercising also benefits your skin? Here’s a few more reasons to get off your sofa and push yourself that extra mile.

Sweating Your Way To Healthier Skin is Real

When you sweat, your pores open and release impurities. “Apart from your liver, the skin is the biggest detoxifying agent. Sweating removes toxins which not only makes you feel better, it rejuvenates your skin,” says dermatologist Dr Shyamalar Gunatheesan. So when you’re pushing yourself to that unattractive shade of puce on the treadmill, you’re actually increasing blood flow to the dermis. This increased circulation means your skin is being sent all the essential nutrients, hormones and oxygen that can’t be reached at a normal heart rate. This gives the skin a healthy glow and plump appearance that is still present the day after our workout.

Exercise Is The Essence of Youth

Improving blood circulation not only keeps the skin healthy, it also promotes collagen production. This encourages skin cells to renew which is helpful for anti-ageing. Over time, that can make skin some 25 years younger at the microscopic level, according to a study at McMaster University in Ontario.

"Studies prove that regardless of the age you start regular exercise, it will have almost-immediate positive effects on our skin's thickness and elasticity." says celebrity trainer Jess Schuring. Elasticity allows the skin to snap back into place once stretched, making it a key characteristic in skin looking young. But like most things, this changes over time. As we age, our skin starts to lose elasticity. Strength training and toning muscles help to maintain the skin's firmness. Jess suggests engaging our facial muscles, the way we tone up the rest of our body, to keep them taught, "so pull faces, lift your eyebrows, sing loud and most of all, laugh a lot!" You don’t even need a gym membership for that!

Stress Relief Keeps Your Skin Clear

Do you suffer from stress on a regular basis? When stress becomes chronic, unmanaged and intense, it can take a toll on your skin and cause irritation and breakouts. Some stress relief activities will restore calm and help you to have beautiful clear skin.

It’s no surprise science has found that kind of stress to be highly associated with acne, especially for women — and stress can mix up our skin’s nerve signals, causing imbalanced hormones and chemicals that increase oil production.

While it’s nearly impossible to remove stress from the equation entirely, there are ways to combat it. Keep 5 and 10 minute stress-relief tricks handy and try longer stress-management techniques, like exercise, to increase your body’s abilities to adapt.

Taking a walk brings peace and calm as you enjoy a change in scenery. It can also help you think and process your thoughts. Walking boosts endorphins, which can reduce stress hormones and alleviate mild depression. Also, walking gets your blood flowing which makes your skin have a healthy glow.

Sex releases endorphins and other hormones that elevate mood. Breathing, touch, and social connection helps relieve stress and makes you feel good. Having sex in a healthy relationship helps pump oxygen to your skin and make it brighter, clear, and vibrant.

When the body feels good, the mind does, too. Dancing releases neurotransmitters and endorphins which help alleviate stress. Dancing also improves your skin by promoting healthy circulation and helping your skin become balanced and clear.

Sleep & Exercise Is The Perfect Combo 

To optimize your skin’s quality for improved elasticity and glow, you really need to combine both adequate sleep and exercise. 

With the right amount of sleep, your body will be recharged. This will not only give you the energy and motivation to exercise better but it will also ensure that your skin receives enhanced levels of nutrients as well as enhance all of the goodness that exercise brings to your skin.

What’s more, regular exercise tends to lead to an improvement in sleep quality, you might even be ready to sleep after your workout. This will enhance the health of your skin even further with greater cell regeneration which leads to reduced wrinkles, less dryness and a reduction in puffy bags under your eyes. This will improve your skin no end, reversing the damages caused by daily life and giving you a radiant glow.

Prepping Your Skin

This all sounds well and good, but won’t all this sweating cause me to breakout?!

Even if you’re acne prone, the pros of exercising outweigh the risk of flare ups. Plus, if you take care of your skin properly, it can even clear up your blemishes. Make sure to take care of your skin pre and post workout to avoid clogging those pores we’re about to cleanse. Many of us lead busy lives, and go straight to the gym or an exercise class from work, meaning we’re probably wearing makeup. If you’re going to wear makeup to work out in, make sure it’s a lightweight product that won't clog the pores and cause breakouts. Of course if you’re exercising outdoors, make sure you're covered in a good quality SPF!

After your workout, resist over scrubbing, as that can irritate the skin. Simply use a gentle cleanser to wash away sweat and grime.

Give Yourself Some TLC

While there’s no magic solution to a tired, dull complexion, there are certainly ways to improve your skin quality. A combination of regular exercise, a balanced diet and getting enough sleep is the very best way to improve your skin, not to mention your overall health and well-being. 

The best news is that you can boost your skin quality at any stage of life simply by taking better care of yourself. It doesn’t even have to cost you a fortune in fancy creams and lotions. 

So to get that youthful glow, tone up as well as look and feel great, simply take a little extra time to work out and get to bed early. In time, you’ll see a vast improvement in all areas of your life, it really is that easy!