It’s February, and many of us have already abandoned our New Year’s Resolutions. If you're looking for a reason to get back on track, here’s a convincing reason to show more love to your hair and your body through exercise.
Not only improving your body’s health, exercise improves your hair’s health, too. Hair loss and hair thinning can be attributed to many causes -- genes, medical conditions, hormonal changes, diet, medications, stressful events, chemical products, and more. Thankfully, there are specific exercises that can help combat hair loss and positively affect your hair’s health. Isn't it time you practiced self care?
How exactly does exercise lead to hair growth? For starters, it improves our overall health and reduces the risk of getting a medical condition that may contribute to hair loss. A healthy body translates to healthy hair, skin, nails, etc. Regular exercise ensures better sleep, which leads to better overall health. A good night’s sleep is also important for protein synthesis and the release of growth enzymes -- both vital to hair growth.
Additionally, exercise increases blood flow/circulation in the scalp, allowing nutrients and oxygen to be supplied to the scalp, and aids in hair growth. Finally, exercise produces chemicals like serotonin, a mood regulator and hair loss preventing stress reducer.
There are a multitude of benefits exercise has to strengthening and protecting against hair loss. Specific movements may help to create a healthy scalp. As you add exercise to your resolution routines, consider adding these hair strengthening exercises to your daily/weekly routine:
Scalp massages: scalp massages increases blood flow to your scalp and provides nourishment to hair follicles. This exercise won’t even work up a sweat! Scalp Massage is also great for inducing relaxation and reducing stress – a known cause of hair loss. Start by warming up a nutrient rich oil, applying it to the scalp, and gently massaging your head. Try this at least twice a month.
Cardio: That’s right, aerobics can also help combat hair loss. Moderate exercises, like walking and slow jogging, stimulate blood flow in the scalp and produce sweat, which can push out dead cells on the scalp, promote healthy sebum production, and help regenerate new cells. Try any form of cardio for at least 30 minutes a day, a few times a week. When it comes to improved health, slow and steady wins the race. If you are just beginning a healthy cardio routine, a gradual approach will help to prevent a chronic stress reaction that may cause excess shedding. A more moderate approach will ensure an opportunity to build endurance and protect hair health.
Yoga: Yoga has been practiced for centuries and offers an optimal solution for relieving stress, relaxing the mind, and oxygenating the blood to the body and scalp. One such exercise, Kapalbhati Pranayama, involves breathing exercises to help strengthen abdominal muscles and oxygenate the scalp, rejuvenating damaged hair and promoting healthy hair growth. Pawanmuktasana contributes toward promoting healthy digestion. By laying on your back, fold your knees to your chest and hold them for 10 seconds. Repeating the process can clear digestive buildup and promote healthier scalp health. Head Inversion Poses, such as the forward fold pose Uttanasana may also help to contribute toward better health. This pose is part of the Sun Salutation sequence and involves standing in a forward bend, promoting a healthy body release, loosening the hamstrings and letting the head hang. Like the Pawanmuktasana pose, this bend contributes to better digestion and sending oxygen to hair cells. Recent studies point to gut health to the leading contributor to assessing better hair health. The majority of yoga poses--from the diamond pose to the mountain pose, to the forward bend—each work to aid in digestion and constipation, promoting healthy gut and allowing for the body to grow healthier hair!
Neck stretches: Exercising the neck is another form of exercise that improve blood flow to the scalp and oxygenates the follicles. Stretching the neck from side to side and front to back also helps relieve any tension/stress and promote healthy hair. These side-to-side movements allow neck muscles to release tension and stress, encouraging hair growth. The increased blood flow to the scalp may combat hair damage and boost follicle growth.
While exercising will certainly give you great results, there are other important factors to consider that can improve your overall health. Not all hair health comes from exercise. In evaluating your new year’s resolutions, consider exercising your gut to better health. A well-balanced diet with the right amount of protein is important for healthy hair. A malnourished diet can contribute to hair shedding. Additionally, restrictive dieting can deplete nutrients needed for hair growth. If your diet is lacking essential vitamins, thought should be considered into taking hair boosting vitamins, like those found in LOCKrx. Hair, Skin, and Nails may be a key indicator of missing nutrients. Dry skin and ridges along the fingernails may suggest a warning of hair fall. Supplements like LOCKrx offer nutrient hair health vitamins from Biotin, Zinc, and B-Vitamins to help strengthen your hair and make up for any deficit in nutrition. The best way to address hair and gut health is to consult with a physician first.
2021 can be a fresh start for you and your hair if you follow these exercises and general health tips. Giving yourself a scalp massage, doing neck stretches, and eating right are just some of the simple steps you can take from the comfort of your own home. Exercise and better hair health have never seemed like a better New Year’s resolution!
