7 facts about workout impact on your skin

We are thrilled to share with you a quick summary of Dr. Sharon Rozenblat's research on the impact of exercise on facial skin. This research was conducted especially for FRÉ. Dr Sharon Rozenblat is expert in dermatology and herbal research.

Let's start with the bottom line: overall, working out is good for your skin and the benefits you get from workouts outweigh the damage. So, although exercise can harm your skin, you definitely shouldn't stop working out.  

If you exercise regularly, and especially if you exercise outdoors, you need a customized skincare routine to prevent short-term and long-term skin damage.

What kind of workout-related skin damage should you take care of?

1. Sweat increases skin's photosensitivity (sensitivity to sun exposure). The wetter your skin, the more UV rays are absorbed, which means sweat intensifies sun damage. The combination of sun and sweat accelerates premature aging even more than sun alone.

2. High-impact exercise fosters anti-oxidative stress, which causes collagen degeneration, elasticity and firmness loss. It can also cause a loss of volume on your cheeks and bones.

3. Outdoor workouts can accelerate the signs of aging: wrinkles, dehydration, dark spots and oxidation.

4. Sweat and physical exercise dehydrate your skin or cause over-dryness. Extreme weather and environmental conditions (UVA, UVB, IRA and pollution) exacerbate skin dryness.

5. Pimples, blackheads and blotches – typical breakout symptoms – are triggered when facial skin pores are clogged by sweat combined with everyday grim.

6. Delicate PH balance is upset by sweat that remains on the skin's surface, causing irritation, redness, itching and blotchiness.                                                                

7. Key minerals and vitamins are lost through sweat during exercise.