Hair care and exercise - compatible?

[kaykayblue]

Hey ladies,

Last year I cut off over half my hair in order to grow out the colour and to get rid of all the fried hair in terrible condition. When it grew to my shoulders, I cut it again and have now got rid of pretty much all the colour and fried hair.

I'm now in the process of growing it, but it's going to take a while. A long while. At the shortest it was jaw length (so above the chin) and I'm aiming for mid boob length hair.

The problem I have is that I am also trying to lose a bit of weight that has crept on, and to get back in shape. This means that I work out 4-5 times a week - and I mean actually dripping in sweat, bright red working out.

Everything I've read about keeping your hair in good condition says to only wash it once or twice a week, but this simply isn't an option for me.

Does anyone have any good ideas of how I can keep on with my workouts but keep my hair in excellent condition?

At the moment I only wash it on days I work out (which is still most days), I hardly ever use heat on it, so no blow dryer or anything (maybe once a month, if that), I use a boar bristle brush, a gentle shampoo, I condition every time I wash (obviously?) and also use a light oil spray on my hair when it's damp. I've bought some leave in conditioner with a UV filter for when we go on holiday.

My hair is slightly wavy (unfortunately not in an attractive way!) and quite fine, so heavy products would probably weigh it down.

Any advice would be hugely appreciated. I really don't want to have gone through this horrible hair growing process only for my hair to be in shit condition again!!

I really try to not wash mine every day too and also end up v v sweaty after workouts. I have found hair up tightly off face and sweatband on really helps, as does a bit of dry shampoo on top pre excersise. I also find wearing a cap really helps but that does depend on what your gym dress code is like (no one at current gym wears caps so seen as bit odd!).

I can generally get away with one workout without washing my hair.. It did take a bit if time to 'train' it though.

Also some times i just wash the fringe, this means I can sometimes get away with two days of excerise without washing it (sound classy don't i?!).

Hi Lizard - thanks for the tip! I don't have any dry shampoo so could try that I guess. I work out at home so could wear a cap, but, well....I sweat A L OT. I was at the front of the queue when god was distributing the sweat glands. That combined with Insanity or the "Banish Fat Boost metabolism" workout by Jillian Michaels...well, it's normally pretty grim to say the least!!

Do you think diluting the shampoo could work?

Do you have to shampoo every time you wash? Could you just co-wash, ie, just condition your hair? I wash my hair regularly due to working out (and relaxed hair can be seriously dry) and I find that co-washing has kept it in better condition than shampooing each time as well.

I have no idea what co-washing is, but I'm definitely going to look it up!

hair care and exercise IMO is not compatible sadly. I schedule my workouts based around hair washing. ie: day 1) morning work out, wash...
day 2) evening workout, rise (or don't)
day 3) morning workout wash

that way u are only washing every second day.

alternatively: I don't do much cardio on non wash days and focus on lighter exercises and dry the sweat with a cool hairdryer blast and use dry shampoo ... this only works for light sweaty hair not hair that's been thru an hours dripping sweaty stinky run..

aged 30 for the first time in my life my hair is BRA STRAP LENGTH wow. for gym I have to tie it in a braid to stop it going wild as a bun is too heavy and falls out. a normal pony just asks for knots and ratty-ness...

Exercise and hair care do not go well together. I have very curly dry hair and I cannot wash it too often other wise it gets even more dry.
I have resorted to tying my hair back into a bun and wearing a sweat band. It doesn't solve the problem completely but it does help.

I've recently changed the shampoo I use to Body Shop's Rainforest range. So it's sulphate, silicone and paraben free. Took about two weeks for my hair to adjust, but it looks and feels really good at the moment and am starting to adjust to washing it less too. (Run and do an exercise class each weekday.) My goal was to get shinier, sleeker hair, but tbh I struggle to find the time to wash my hair - and it always looked like it needed a wash after the first day - so it's been fab! Maybe worth a go?

yomellamo I also just switched to rainforests range from body shop. its only been a week but my hair looks/feels pretty good from it And its not too heavy. the shampoo is quite watery. maybe worth a try op as its quite gentle.

NewLeaf - Am amazed by the change in my hair. Reminds me of when I was a teenager. (No idea when modern shampoos came in.) My hair seems thicker and it's really soft. Will not be going back!

Really? How is washing your hair bad for it? You wash it when it needs washing. its only if you strip out the oils with harsh products or blow dry it with high heat that it will be damaged.

My hair used to need washing every third day (unless I'd been out and it reeked of smoke from pubs and clubs- in the olden days!). Now that I'm older it needs washing much more, every day or every other day at a push. If you use a gentle shampoo and plenty of conditioner and leave it to dry it will be fine. My hair is very long and thick and its in great condition even though I wash (and frequently blow dry) most days.

Really? How is washing your hair bad for it?

If you have Afro or typical mixed race hair then washing too regularly is bad for it. Even mild shampoo strips some of the hairs natural oils (hence why people wash their hair if it feels greasy). Afro or mixed hair or very curly dry hair doesn't respond well to being washed too often. The natural sebum takes longer to travel down the hair shaft (than it does on straight or wavy hair) due to the tight curl structure, hence very curly hair is much drier and washing daily is bad for it.

I was using Timotei pure shampoo which has no silicone, parabens or colourants in it, and I have to say I really did notice a difference in my hair. I switched to using a silicone free one when it ran out, and it wasn't as good.

Now I've gone back to the timotei one....I've noticed it's starting to look good again.

I have no idea why it would make a difference but it definitely feels softer and thicker!!

I'm going to try using diluted shampoo every other day and using it to rinse through to get the sweat off my scalp (HMM SEXY) and then use undiluted on the other days to prevent it getting too rank.

Hopefully this will help!!