A great skin-care routine isn’t the only way to get clearer, younger-looking skin. In reality, it’s all about a healthy diet, a stress-relieving routine, and exercise.
You may have only considered physical activity as a way to keep your heart healthy and maintain a healthy weight, but the regular movement also benefits skin health and appearance.
Exercise increases blood flow to the skin and lymph flow, which reduces eye puffiness, says Miami dermatologist Leslie Baumann, MD, author of The Skin Type Solution. You get a more radiant glow if you don’t have an underlying skin condition. (Exercise can worsen symptoms of eczema and rosacea, according to the National Eczema Association and the National Rosacea Society.)
But exercise has many anti-aging benefits for the skin.
Exercise May Change Skin Cellularly
Let us examine skin cells. The mitochondria are the cell’s engines. “They produce ATP, which powers all cell functions. In addition to skin repair, ATP helps create collagen and hyaluronic acid, according to Dr. Baumann. (According to Nature, ATP is adenosine 5′-triphosphate.)
“No medications or therapies have yet been shown to increase the number of mitochondria or restore their younger functional abilities,” says Baumann.
Except for one thing: exercise. She cites a 2019 Annual Review of Physiology paper that concluded exercise can reverse mitochondrial changes in muscles. Another study, published in March 2018 in Aging Cell, found that the muscles of older male and female lifetime cyclists had the same qualities and functions as the muscles of people decades younger.
While these studies looked at muscle appearance and function rather than skin, their findings suggest what exercise and aging might do to our complexion. Exercise improves mitochondrial function, particularly in skeletal muscles. “We don’t know if it affects skin mitochondria, but it’s possible,” Baumann says.
In an August 2015 cross-sectional study in Aging Cell, active people and couch potatoes had different skin functions. “Older athletes had healthier skin than older sedentary people,” says the co-author and director of the Neuromuscular and Neurometabolic Clinic at the McMaster University Medical Center in Hamilton, Ontario. The dermis (second layer of skin) was thicker, which is associated with sagging and wrinkles, according to the American Academy of Dermatology. What’s going on? IL-15, an immune system component, is released during exercise. Increasing IL-15 “helps skin health,” he says.
It’s all about cellular energy. According to Tarnopolsky and his coauthors, “these findings suggest that exercise can slow skin aging in humans and improve skin mitochondria.”
Exercise Improves Sleep and Reduces Stress, Which Reduces Skin Aging.
Do you know how you feel after a good workout? Not only is it likely a result of your joy at being off the treadmill, but also of endorphins, the feel-good hormone. Endorphins also communicate with the skin. It is found in skin cells. “Endorphins seem to benefit skin cells in ways we don’t fully understand,” says Baumann. According to Harvard Health, previous research shows that exercise reduces the stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline. While stress is inevitable, it is not good for your skin.
A study published in June 2014 in Inflammation & Allergy Drug Targets confirmed skin as an immediate stress perceiver and a target of stress responses. Stress has been linked to psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, and acne flare-ups, as well as compromising the skin’s barrier, which keeps allergens out and prevents irritation.
Stress causes the body to release cortisol, which raises blood sugar, says Baumann. High blood sugar causes glycation, which damages proteins like collagen. “Aging skin results,” she says.
Consider that getting enough sleep (seven to nine hours per night for adults) is a proven technique for managing stress, according to a study published in April 2018 in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Calmness benefits your skin.
Exercises for Better Skin Health
This can be seen in two ways. Weight and endurance training is the best way to change your skin at the cellular level, according to Baumann.
Dr. Tarnopolsky believes HIIT can produce similar adaptations to endurance exercise. “I believe the skin effects would be similar,” he says.
Consider what exercise helps you relax and sleep the best. Yoga may come to mind, and it can help reduce stress, but according to Baumann, there is no evidence that it helps improve skin. One thing is certain: the best exercise is the one you enjoy.
Ultimately, it may not be about one specific exercise, but about having a regular routine that makes you excited about sweating. ” I notice tighter skin in my patients who exercise a lot. “It’s just an impression, and more research is needed,” Baumann says. Wait for the research. The benefits of exercise are well known, so get to the gym or lace up your running shoes today.