You CAN Exercise And Look After Your Hair

By Jane Sandwood

The fitness industry is huge and more options are becoming available for keeping fit, but does regular fitness affect just our body and mind, or does it also impact our hair? It’s really important to maintain a healthy diet while exercising, but many of us may not actually consider the impact it has on our hair and ways in which we can best protect it during and after fitness. It might be acceptable to complain that gyms don’t always provide the right facilities to give us salon-worthy hair after exercise, but with over twenty-five million individuals in the US exercising at home there’s really no excuse not to look after your hair when you exercise. 

Type of exercise

If you’re doing any exercise which causes you to sweat, then ideally you should wash your hair after exercise to ensure the sweat is removed as build up can leave hair susceptible to breakage or cause it to dry out. If you swim regularly you may be exposing your hair to chemicals such as chlorine or to salt water, which if it not washed out afterward can cause problems as it can cause hair to dry out and break. It’s advisable to swim in non-chlorinated water, or otherwise wash hair straight after swimming or wear a swim cap during exercise. 

If you exercise at home, it’s even easier to look after your hair afterward. A diffuser can help to protect your hair, whether it’s curly or straight. It allows the hot air from the hair dryer to divide so it reduces heat exposure and compliments your hair. To be more gentle to your hair when styling, it’s worth investing in a decent brush to minimize tangles and damage, and a heat protector. A heat protector does exactly what it says and encourages the hot air to heat the product rather than the hair. 

You are what you eat?

Often a person’s health can be read by their appearance. This may be related to weight, but it can also be displayed in the skin, the hair or even teeth. It would probably be fair to assume that the healthier a person’s lifestyle the healthier they will look. Regular exercise will boost general health and circulation, so it should promote healthy hair and prevent hair loss. In addition, drinking lots of water, getting enough sleep, eating healthily and steering clear of stress can also improve scalp health. It’s important to have a healthy intake of vitamin A and E and biotin in either your diet or in the form of vitamins, as they can strengthen hair and make it healthier.  

Whether you exercise at home or elsewhere, you can always look after your hair. You need to consider the essentials for your post fitness hair and ensure that you either take these to the gym or use them at home depending on where you exercise. Not wanting to ruin your hair is no excuse not to exercise and in fact, the exercise may actually make your hair look even better.