How To Maintain Your Hair and Your Workout Regimen

For years, Black women have had to make the hard decision between working out and maintaining their current hairstyle. For my natural sisters and my fellow relaxed ladies, it is a struggle trying to figure out how to get a good sweat in without sweating out our hair. However, we can no longer put our physical health and fitness to the side, we have to figure out some kind of solution. We did some digging and here are some effective ways to maintain your hair and your workout regimen.

It goes without saying that you should always make sure your scalp is dry after working out and sealed with a light oil. The salt in the sweat accumulated during your workout can dry your scalp and your hair out if you let it so you’ll have to be diligent with your hair regimen. Don’t let the sweat linger in your hair, get it dry and keep it moisturized!

Low impact workouts may not seem like they work because you're not sweating as much, but they are just as effective! Next time you need to get a workout in but don’t want to sweat your hair out, try yoga or rowing. These kinds of workouts get the blood flowing and your body moving without sending you running to your stylist the next day.

You know the drill, grab your best doobie brush and get to wrapping! Secure your edges and lock it in place with a gym wrap to wick away moisture and keep your hair from trapping any heat or sweat inside of it. Wrapping your hair is an easy way to keep your hair out of the way and full of body.

Whether you prefer braids, faux locs, or twists, protective styles are always a good idea if you're planning to start working out more regularly. As mentioned previously, even with these styles you have to be sure to make sure your scalp is dry before taking them down and keep your scalp moisturized. So even though they still require effort to maintain, sprucing up these styles doesn’t require additional heat or trauma on the hair.

As someone who struggles with dandruff and oil build up, I already wash my hair weekly, but if you are someone who typically doesn’t have to, you will once you start working out. It is important to wash and condition your hair more often to keep your scalp clean and light after a week of sweating and drying it out. I also suggest leaving conditioner in your hair while you workout and rinsing it out once you're finished to kill two birds with one stone on wash day.