Be it rain or extreme heat, some women never fail to show up at the gym. Exercising regularly can help you lose weight or to stay in shape and to keep you healthy. Exercise offers several beauty benefits too. But you need to take some precautions while working out if you don’t want to end up with acne or skin infections. It’s best to understand the good and the bad ways a workout can affect your skin. This way you can prepare and protect your skin while working out.

HealthShots connected with Australia-based cosmetic physician Dr Umed Shekhawat to explore how workout affects your skin.

How does workout affect your skin?

It can be as simple as walking or skipping, but exercising is important for our general well-being. It can help us to fight obesity and other health conditions.

Here’s how workout can affect your skin:

Dr Shekhawat says that regular workout is important for increasing circulation and improving blood flow in the body to nourish both body and skin cells. The increased blood flow happens while you are working out and will result in more effective cellular repair in skin cells. Workout will also help in releasing toxins and oxygenating skin, which are the most important factors in preventing and reversing signs of aging.

With regular exercise, stress levels go down. This is good news for women with acne, eczema, rosacea and psoriasis conditions. Improving overall health means that our skin will suffer less. If our immune system is weak, our skin will be affected as well.

Regular exercise can give you glowing skin

Regular exercise makes you sweat and promotes removal of toxins through perspiration. As working out improves blood circulation, oxygenates and tones the skin, it helps to keep your skin radiant, healthy and glowing. When there is an increase of oxygen in the skin, it will help to flush out toxins and impurities that clog pores and create breakouts. So, yes exercise will certainly help in getting clearer skin, says the expert.

However, workout can have some negative outcomes for the skin as well. While toxins get flushed out during workout, vigorous exercise can make you sweat a lot. It will result in pores getting clogged, can cause acne to flare, and also lead to skin infections.

Also, with too much sweating while we exercise and more oils on the skin’s surface, bacteria can cause sensitive skin to feel irritated, says Dr Shekhawat. Skin can also feel dry and flaky after exercise if it is not cleansed immediately after workout.

Skin care tips to follow pre and post-workout

It’s good to focus on the beauty benefits of workout, but you need to take out a few minutes to prepare your skin before sweating it out.

Here are some tips you can follow:

• Clean your face, apply a light moisturiser and sunscreen before your workout.
• Avoid make-up or use make-up that is more natural and non-clogging.
• Make sure that you are wiping off your face during each workout with a clean towel to avoid bacteria from affecting your skin.
• After workout, wash your hands first, then clean your face again, apply hyaluronic acid serum for hydration and moisturiser.

Working out is not enough for healthy skin. Don’t forget to drink enough water and eat a healthy diet to have happy skin.