Even if you are not a professional or wannabe athlete, a fitness training routine can help you live life to the fullest. It helps your body perform more to its potential and also helps it build resistance to various diseases and infections.
Exercising is great for your body, no question. But too much of it could probably not be good for your hair. That’s because heavy exercising puts the body under excessive physical and mental stress. And stress is bad for hair.
Exercising Is Stress
Exercising is controllable stress, and while the body eventually adjusts to the stress, the hair suffers. That’s exacerbated when you exercise heavily even while going through some kind of stress in your life.
Some weightlifting and light cardio would be a good option while you’re undergoing stress rather than resorting to heavy exercising. However, it’s advisable to cut your training days short while you’re going through physical or mental stress,
Hair loss due to exercising isn’t permanent, unless you’re already suffering from alopecia before you began exercising. And since hair loss caused by heavy exercising is temporary, it can be reversed.
So, here are a few recommendations for sustaining the hair growth if you enjoy exercising and can’t do without it.
Keep the Nutrition Coming
Don’t neglect nutrition while you’re exercising, just for the sake of cutting calories. The meager calories you consume are already used up in your exercising, and there’s nothing for your body to benefit from. This just means that your body will lose weight and your hair won’t get the nutrition it needs to keep growing as well.
In extreme situations, when your body lacks the required nutrition, it channels the little nutrients it has received to perform the vital functions. And, hair growth isn’t considered a vital function by the body. So, the bottom-line is not to cut your calories while you’re exercising.
Also try to incorporate healthy nutrition habits into your lifestyle like having matcha tea and avoiding alcohol.
Keep Limits on Your Exercising Schedule
Through your exercise regime, make sure you don’t put your body in chronic stress. Put limits on your exercising such as exercising for 5 days a week and leaving 2 days off. In those five days, restrict your exercising to an hour per session.
How to Exercise the Right Way
Exercising the right way can also help your hair grow, say the experts at Eve woman. They suggest moderate and regular exercising can actually improve the blood circulation to all the parts of your body. It stimulates the hair follicles to grow, leading to healthy hair growth and also helps you develop strong nails and a glowing skin.
The hair follicles get nourished with oxygen and the required nutrients through the blood vessels. Moreover, exercising increases the blood circulation in your body and the scalp. As more blood flows to your scalp, you have more oxygen and nutrients that are supplied, which improves hair growth.
- Exercising strengthens the body’s cardiovascular system. That helps by preventing you from getting certain health conditions that could affect the growth of your hair.
- Moderate exercising helps you deal with stress. Periods of stress result in the body producing the cortisone hormone, causing shredding of hair. Exercising helps the body to produce the serotonin hormone which reduces stress. Less stress equals healthier hair.
- With regular exercising, you get to sleep better. Sleep is when new cells are produced and the breakdown of proteins happens at a slower pace. That ensures your hair grows better since proper sleep ensures the cell renewal process functions better. Improved cell renewal also contributes to your body’s overall improved health.
- The reason cardio exercises are important is that they increase the speed at which blood is pumped through the scalp and your entire body, while also raising the body temperature. Cardio exercises such as running and aerobics, performed half an hour, twice or thrice a week can contribute to healthy hair, according to experts.
- Yoga is recommended for your fitness regime since it has exercises involving inverted poses and back bends. These increase the blood flowing to your scalp and your body, and improve hair growth. Yoga also helps your hair indirectly by reducing your body’s stress levels.
- Swimming makes for a great workout for your body’s cardiovascular system. It would be great if you could swim in clear pools, but most of the public pools you find are contaminated with chemicals such as chlorine. These could make your hair dry and your follicles brittle. Make sure you’ve covered your hair properly when you’re going for a swim.
Caring for Your Hair
Don’t forget to carry out important hair care steps such as keeping your hair and scalp clean and well-maintained. It’s doubly important to ensure this during your fitness program. And, keep the exercises at a moderate level.
Ultimately, exercise is considered as one of the easiest and most effective methods for natural hair growth. But, there are a few precautions to take note of. Here’s how you care for your hair during your fitness regimen:
- While you’re doing exercises, ensure that you keep your hair protected from sweat. Minimize your hair’s contact with sweat by wearing some kind of protective gear.
- Make sure that you shower after your workout. We just talked about the negative effects of sweat on your hair. You must ensure that you don’t let sweat build up on the scalp. And only flowing water can help here.
- If you have some old headgear such as caps or hats around, make sure you wash them periodically or dispose them off since they could have sweat accumulated in them.
- Also, ensure that you are gentle with your hair. Avoid very tight hairstyles such as ponytails or tight braids since they can stress your hair. That could lead to hair loss.
With these steps, and a disciplined exercise routine where you ensure you train regularly but moderately, you can experience the benefits of exercising on your body and in your life while ensuring your hair doesn’t pay the price for it. Remember- always care for your hair, and you’ll see the results.
Author Bio:
Catalin is the founder of Ecommerce Platforms and Web App Meister. He blogs about matcha, Japanese lifestyle, and mindfulness at matcha-tea. He’s a design enthusiast and loves matcha, and is uber passionate about blockchain technology and travel.