Many of you already know that exercise improves your heart health, joint health, and reduces the risk of several diseases. But did you know that working out also affects your skin and can help you look younger?

This post will explain both the short-term and long-term effects of training in terms of skin health and anti-aging. You’ll also learn why working out too hard can have a destructive effect on your skin and facial appearance.

Since I am not just a nutritionist and skin nerd, but also a trainer, this topic is truly a favorite of mine.

This is what my post will cover:

• Exercise and skin health in general
• Can exercise make you look younger?
• What happens if you work out too much?
• Summary

Exercise and skin health

Exercising in any form gives you better circulation, and that includes the blood flow to your skin. With this improved circulation, you get more oxygen and nutrients to your skin cells, which in turn help them with rejuvenation. As a result, your skin will be healthier and more vibrant.

The increased circulation also includes the lymph flow. Which will decrease unwanted puffiness, and increase the skin glow even more.

Another benefit of exercising is that it will lower the number of stress hormones in your body And as you may know, stress is a huge culprit to many skin problems. Such as premature aging, acne, and eczema.

By lowering stress hormones, especially cortisol, you also get better sleep. Which in turn has a huge impact on your skin! As you can read in this post, beauty sleep promotes good collagen production, as well as the production of hyaluronic acid (for fuller skin). It also reduces inflammation and helps with total rejuvenation. In other words, it makes you look better and younger

Can exercise make you look younger?

In addition to the basic knowledge about exercise and skin health, is there any scientific evidence that exercise makes you look younger?

As mentioned above, exercise will improve your skin in many ways. And better skin health will of course lead to a younger complexion. But in addition to the obvious hypotheses, some studies have also examined this topic more precisely.

For example, one study examined the skin of sedentary people in the age of 65 and above, before and after they were put on a workout routine twice a week. After three months their non-sun exposed skin (in other words the skin with normal signs of aging) resembled the skin of someone at least 20 years younger.

Another study has shown how exercising helps to keep our DNA young. The explanation seems to be that moderate exercise protects the telomers. Which in turn helps our skin cells to remain younger. This protection seems to be constantly renewed upon exercise.

According to another study, long-term exercise also gave a modest reduction in glycation. And glycation is, in simple terms when sugar molecules deform proteins, such as collagen. Which in turn causes wrinkles and stiff skin.

Mitochondrial metabolism is another aspect of skin aging (and aging in general). Which simply can be explained as your cellular energy. And this study shows that endurance exercise reduces age-associated changes to the skin by improving the metabolism of mitochondria.

So there are definitely reasons to believe that working out will improve your skin and give you a younger complexion. But there is even more to add.

With stronger muscles and joints, you get a better posture and body confidence as a bonus. Which in turn gives you a much younger version of your appearance.

Tip: Also see my post about microcurrent. A technology that trains your facial muscles for tighter skin and a more plumped face. It also improves mitochondrial metabolism and prevents facial bone loss.

What happens if you work out too much

After talking about all the benefits of exercise, let’s also mention why too much of it can be detrimental to your skin and face.

Just as with most things in life, excessive exercising can cause too much stress on your body. And that is never a good thing.

Stress hormones can when there is more than you can handle, break down collagen and elastin, trigger acne, and cause a number of skin problems. So make sure to get your rest in between, and listen to your body.

Also, if you are dieting, remember that dieting too much can make you lose fat in your face. Which will make you look older. My post about foods that help tighten loose skin will explain more about what you need to eat to preserve your skin. And why you cannot eat too little if you want good skin.

Another thing to remember is that if you do like to exercise outdoors, you must must must use effective sunscreen to prevent more wrinkles. You’ll need sunscreen even on cloudy days, and this post explains why.

Summary

So, in short, does working out make your face look better? These are the most important takeaways regarding exercise and skin health:

• Exercising seems to impact your skin in many positive ways. It increases circulation and transport of nutrients and oxygen to the skin cells. Making them perform better.

• Exercising also lowers stress hormones in your body, which helps you sleep better and fight skin inflammation. With better sleep, you’ll also get a higher production of collagen and hyaluronic acid that will help you preserve your skin.

• Studies have been made that show that exercising has even more impacts on the skin and even helps preserve our DNA. It also seems to improve mitochondrial metabolism give our skin cells more energy.

• There is, as with many other things, a limit of exercise that is healthy for your skin. If you train too hard and often without proper food and recovery, your skin will suffer. You can for example experience more acne (due to an overload of stress) and/or fat loss in your face. Which in turn will make you look a lot older. Make sure to eat healthy food and never starve yourself.

• Also, remember to wear sunscreen if you exercise outdoors. Since UV-rays will lead to premature aging.

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Hope you found this post interesting and inspiring!

Exercise is an essential part of a healthy life and something I wish every human being could do on a regular basis. It improves all our organs, including the skin, and simply gives us a longer and happier life.

Hope you find motivation by reading this post and let me know if you have any questions. I read and answer all comments in the comment section below.

Until next time, love your skin!