Exercise has been proven to increase collagen, flush away debris, reduce inflammation and combat free-radical damage so your skin looks and feels younger. If you think I’m kidding, The New York Times explains the science pretty well – Younger Skin Through Exercise.
When you hit 40, the outer layer of your skin, the epidermis, gets thicker, drier and flakier while the layer below, the dermis, gets thinner, less elastic and more droopy. All of these gradual changes amount to something I try to avoid. Getting regular facials with me is one way to combat these changes, but you can help your skin a lot just by working out.
When you exercise, you increase blood flow to all the cells in your body, including your skin cells. The added oxygen helps carry away free radicals and other debris that has accumulated from the sun and other environmental pollutants.
The added blood flow also dilates your pores which allow dead skin cells to be flushed away more easily by sweat (tip – to avoid breakouts, keep facial wipes in your gym bag!)
Another detriment to our skin is stress which activates the sebaceous, oil-producing glands in our bodies. Excess oil leads to breakouts. Ugh.
And finally, my favorite reason to exercise is that working out increases the efficiency of the collagen-producing cells in your body. More collagen is going to bring me a long way towards getting the 30-year-old skin that I want!
See you at the gym,
Colleen
