With the warmer weather, we all become more active, this can have some excellent benefits for our skin. Exercise can be beneficial for clear skin, however being active is a double-edged sword. Exercise combined with the increased temperature and humidity is a recipe for acne breakouts should we not take care to maintain our clear skin.
Exercise is said to detoxify your skin by removing impurities, which isn’t entirely true, however it does help. Increasing blood flow around your body will contribute to the regeneration of skin cells as the liver processes and detoxifies the blood supply to your skin. What’s of greater benefit to your skin from exercise is the reduction of stress, which you’ve seen in other blogs is a contributor to acne.
Whilst exercise provides for a great opportunity to reduce the factors contributing to acne, it also proves to be a risk to clear skin. I’ve devised tips below on how to enjoy the benefits of exercise whilst avoiding the risk to your clear skin.
When going to the gym, do not wear make-up. I would even go as far as to suggest avoiding hair product. I never see the logic in doing yourself up before going to the gym, because if you are going to do anything properly there, then your makeup and hair will look a mess anyhow. The risk is that these products can block your pores and cause acne.
When exercising, avoid tight fitting clothes. It sounds stupid initially, but with the trend in thermal sportswear, it’s increasingly common to see people in these. The risk is that this will rub and irritate acne prone skin, contributing to breakouts.
After exercise, get changed out of your gym clothes and shower. The warm water will open the pores of your skin, and showering with acne control cleansing mousse.
Just as how you’d take a protein shake after the gym, have your Acne Control Tablets. Ensure that you’re taking acne control tablets with each meal. Just like exercise, it takes time and consistency to get results!
There are growing cases in America of acne that’s difficult to treat due to staph infection. Staph has been found to be spread not just in hospitals, but also gyms and hot yoga studios. To avoid staph, wipe down gym equipment before you use it. After the gym, get changed out of your gym clothes and shower (funnily enough – as I’ve already suggested!), but ensure you also wash the clothes from the gym – don’t put them on again the next day!
Being outdoors during the warmer weather can often lead to sunburn. There’s a persistent myth that this will help acne, however it is not the case. Sunlight is understood to have anti-inflammatory properties which would reduce the redness of acne, however it does not treat acne. Much greater is the concern of skin cancer. Protect your skin from the sun, use oil-free or skin sensitive sunscreen when outdoors and be sure to shower it off after your time outdoors.
So get outside, get active, but take care to keep your skin clear.
Who is Nick Bell?
Nick joins SkinB5 as a writer, contributing monthly to the blog.
A mid-twenties Melburnian cliche, the bearded student suffers wanderlust, a soft spot of his city's cafe culture and a love of cycling. He writes from experience, having suffered acne himself throughout both high school and university, and it's something he still battles today. Nick also writes a personal blog where he is documenting his journey for clear skin with SkinB5, having previously given up after years of ineffective products and medications.
