You probably know that regular exercise does great things for your cardiovascular system, your muscles -- even your brain. But did you know studies show that exercise is also good for your skin?
Exercise Can Speed Wound Healing. A 2006 study of the effect of exercise on wound-healing, found that the wounds of people who worked out healed 25% faster -- or an average of 10 days sooner than people who didn't workout out.
Exercise May Decrease The Risk Of Skin Cancer. In animal studies, mice exposed to cancer-causing UVB rays developed fewer tumors, took longer to develop them and had less deadly types of cancer when able to exercise a running wheel on a regular basis.
Exercise and Caffeine May REALLY Decrease The Risk Of Skin Cancer. (I'm really happy about this one!) In other animal studies, this protective effect of exercise relative to skin cancer was increased dramatically when combined with the ingestion of caffeine. The amount of caffeine these mice took in was the equivalent of a human being drinking 1-4 cups of coffee a day. Caffeine alone decreased the risk, exercise alone decreased the risk -- but incredibly together they created more than merely an additive effect. In other words, the sum was even greater than its parts.
Exercise Improves Blood Flow To The Skin. This one's not so surprising when you think about it, but cardiovascular exercise improves circulation all over the body -- including the skin. In fact, the "microvessels" of the skin go through an age-related decrease in their ability to dilate. Regular exercise reduces and even reverses this process, keeping skin more glowing and younger looking longer.
But Doesn't Exercise Make You Breakout? In a word..."no". Contrary to popular belief there is very little evidence that exercise increases the tendency to have acne. In one interesting (if somewhat unsanitary ;-) study, young men where put into one of three groups. One group worked out and had to shower within an hour after exercising, one group worked out and had to wait to shower four hours after exercising (yuck!) and one group didn't work out at all. Interestingly, there was no difference in the development of acne between the three groups. In other words, having sweat remain on the skin did not increase the tendency to breaking outs. (Although it might decrease the "tendency" of your friends to want to hang out with you)
That said, some things associated with exercise can promote the development of acne, including:
- Certain types of clothing (the men in the study above all had to wear the same 100% cotton tees)
- Equipment pressing against the skin (such as bike helmets) - this is called "acne mechanica"
- Using oil-based make-up during exercise
- Certain sunscreens which clog pores
Bottom line? Not so surprisingly, exercise is as good for the skin as it is for the rest of the body. So if a desire to lose weight (or have a flatter belly) doesn't motivate you to get you to the gym, maybe wanting healthier, better-looking skin might.
Geralyn Coopersmith, MA, CSCS is an exercise physiologist, certified personal trainer, author of Fit + Female: The Complete Fitness and Nutrition Game Plan for Your Unique Body Type and the creator of The Best Me Ever, a comprehensive weight loss and wellness system just for women. It's a first of its kind program designed to fit into a busy women's life. Lose weight and look great -- 90 Day Unconditional Money Back Guarantee!!
