Workout acne anyone? No thank you! When you are spending a lot of time doing any type of sweaty workout, taking care of your skin is essential. We're here with some pro tips to help your skin feel 100 both on and off the bike. Written by YYC's very own, Kari Pedersen & Rachel Antony.
PRE SPIN
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PRE-SPIN CLEANSE: Before you hit the bike, it's wise to wash your skin with a gentle cleanser or makeup wipe to keep grime, dirt, and bacteria out of your skin from the get-go.
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SANS MAKE-UP: Sweat is a natural result of your body heating up and your pores opening in order to help cool you down. Wearing makeup can get in the way of this process and trap bacteria deep in your pores! Choosing to rock a fresh face is best to avoid those trapped pores!
POST SPIN
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BE GENTLE: Beware of harsher cleasers or serums that could strip your skin of essential natural oils and cause even more problems. Keep that good bacteria by choosing a gentle cleanser.
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HYDRATE: Re-hydrating your skin with a moisturizer is important since A) We live in Calgary, and it's dry! and B) Your skin just expelled so much of it’s on moisture!
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JUST ADD WATER: Drinking water post-workout is a huge factor to maintaining skin health. Not just for your skin, but for your entire physical recovery. Choose water over coffee after your workout and your skin will thank you!
TREAT YO' SELF
If you're able to, special monthly facial treatments can go a long way to get deep into the pores and detoxify your skin. If you're looking level up your spin game, here are a few treatments that we've found especially beneficial:
FACIALS are the mildest of the three and usually consisting of a steam, extraction process, a mask and other deep cleansing and hydrating products.
MICRODERMABRASION uses a machine to extract the toxins and oils from the skin while exfoliating in at the same time. It gets deeper and can help with smoothing out skin texture, removing toxins and anti-aging.
CHEMICAL PEELS are on the harsher side but there are different levels. The peel is applied to clean skin and sits for 5-10 minutes. It targets just under the skin surface and breaks down the old, dead and dirty skin while promoting regrowth of new skin cells that will replace the top layer as it flakes off after the treatment.
Ultimately, you don’t need to spend a ton of time on your post-workout skincare routine. Just investing an extra five minutes to care for your skin can be a game-changer.