Find out more or book a one to one video consultation

Do you suffer from gym face?

Your lifestyle could be having an adverse effect on your looks

Exercise is essential to a healthy lifestyle, especially now we are spending more time at home, but did you know that working out or going for a long run could also be talking their toll on your looks?

Yes, ‘gym face’ is a thing, and can range from runner’s face to acne and wrinkles.

Runner’s face is claimed to be the cause of continuous high impact training, which can lead to loss of volume and sagging of the skin.

“As we age, we may be keen to lose our middle-aged spread, however, losing fat in our faces makes us look older,” says facial aesthetician Dr Harry Singh.

“It’s the difference between a raisin and a grape—one is plump and smooth, the other is dried up and wrinkly,” he continues.

“It’s the same with our faces. As we age, we lose hyaluronic acid, the molecule responsible for binding and retaining water, and, as a result, we start to wrinkle. Exercise and fat loss in the face can exacerbate the effects of this.”

Lines and wrinkles can be caused by doing exercise that is physically challenging—the facial expressions that you pull while doing the exercise can cause more pronounced wrinkles.

These can be both ‘static’ and ‘dynamic’ in nature and it’s the ‘dynamic’ ones that are caused by our facial movements (think smile lines, laughter lines, smoker’s lines, frown lines).

“Excessively straining during gym sessions could be making your brow more furrowed,” says Dr Singh.

Acne on the face and body can be caused by breaking a sweat during workouts. Sweat flushes out impurities from your body, but hot, sweaty skin—and the towel you use to mop your brow—can become a breeding ground for bacteria.

Add to this the fact that your sweat glands can become blocked, and you have the perfect recipe for acne.

“Looking after your skin, protecting it from the sun, especially if you work out outdoors, and making sure you wash and cleanse it after exercise can all help to prevent and combat the signs of ageing and acne,” says Dr Singh.