Taking care of your skin when practising sports

Your muscles are not the only thing that work hard when you train. Exercising can take its toll on your skin and it’s important to take particular care if you workout regularly. Without proper care, athletes could see an increase in dehydration, breakouts or redness. In this post, we’ll cover some of the things you can do to keep your skin healthy when training.

Clean Your Skin After Exercising

Depending on when you exercise during the day, it is generally recommended to avoid working out in a full face of make-up. Whether that is possible to you or not, you should absolutely take the time to properly cleanse after training. This will remove any sweat, make-up and dirt that can clog pores and lead to breakouts.

Start with an oil-based cleanser to remove make-up and SPF and follow up with a second cleanser (usually a gel or a milk cleanser) to ensure there isn’t any residue and your skin is clean. Remember that cleansing your skin too often during the day can be very irritating so it’s also something to consider when planning out your daily schedule.

Use moisturiser to prevent water loss

Staying hydrated when exercising is crucial, and aside from drinking water to replace what you’ve lost through sweating, using a moisturiser can also help prevent your skin from becoming dehydrated – which can make it feel tight or look dull.

Rich creams aren’t usually ideal before a workout as they can lead to pores clogging more quickly or can feel like it’s running into your eyes when sweating, but it will also depend on your skin type. Generally speaking, a light moisturiser is recommended before a workout and a thicker cream after training.

Treat yourself to a soothing mask

Once or twice a week, you may want to apply a mask to give your skin a little boost, depending on what it needs. This could be something to reduce redness, calm the skin, deeply hydrate or even brighten your complexion.

Sheet masks are a great option – you can easily carry them in a bag with you and they don’t require any rinsing so you can use them straight after your workout! They also often feel cool on the skin, which can help cool down after a tough session and reduce redness. Skinsider has some great ones that use very soothing ingredients like aloe vera or centella asiatica, great for that post-workout redness.

Use SPF if training outdoors

You should apply SPF every day, regardless of whether you are exercising or not, but if you are going to train outdoors and particularly stay outside for a while (i.e. trekking), SPF is going to be a key to protecting your skin from sun damage – which is a leading cause of skin ageing as well as skin cancer.

If you are going to work out first thing in the morning, make sure to apply SPF before heading out and if you are going to stay out for hours, reapply regularly. Nowadays you can find many products that have a light texture so you won’t feel greased up before your training.

When it comes to training and skincare, the key points to remember is that you’ll want to keep your skin hydrated (from the inside too, by drinking enough water) and protected if you are going to be outdoors. We hope that these few tips will help you take care of your skin! If you’re interested in reading up about the latest opinion pieces in the world of sport, head over to our comment section.