How To Feel Better Before And After A Good Workout

Many people avoid working out because they believe it will cause them to break out or to avoid smelling and feeling sweaty. Meanwhile, for others, there might be discomfort once they think about just how many people they might have shared the machine with. Sure, some people probably had sanitized the machine after finishing their workout, but who’s to say the person right before did as well? And who’s to say they did it properly?

With all the sweating and dubious sanitization that happens when working out, all the surfaces in a gym is a great breeding ground for all kinds of microbes—common ones being bacteria and fungus. And when going in for a work out, it’s unavoidable that you would be touching these surfaces before, during or after. Then, in between all those instances, it’s natural to wipe the sweat beading up on your forehead, thereby transferring these potentially malicious microbes onto your vulnerable skin.

However, you don’t have to let this discourage you from going to a gym and getting or maintaining your ideal body state. There are multiple steps that you can take to combat these issues to feel better while protecting your skin. Here are a few tips that can help you get healthy while staying healthy, primarily focusing on your skin for this blog.

Protect Your Skin Before And After Your Workout

Don’t Wear Any Makeup - Even the best and lightest of makeup would clog your pores, trapping the sweat that is bound to appear in any workout. One of the natural reasons why you sweat is to cool off, trapping the sweat defeats that purpose and would only signal your body to sweat more. Excessive sweating can collect dirt and breed bacteria, both clogging your pores even more, leading to a massive breakout! 

So yes, while you may want to look as perfect while working out as you are everywhere else, staying bareface is the recommended way to go. Besides, exercising itself would already give you a natural, healthy glow!

Wear Your Hair Up - Or wear a good headband to keep your hair out of your eyes and face while you exercise. As you sweat during your workout, having hair plastered on your face can cause skin irritations from pollutants that may be in your hair, which would now stuff into your opened pores. Moreover, having stray hairs dangling around would prompt you to touch and move it or to dab and wipe the sweat that follow it to drip down, bringing any microbes that were on your hands directly to your face. 

So opt for an up-do, like a high ponytail, and you can go a step further by wearing an anti-slip headband for the small strands that might still hang down. There’s a solid reason why ponytails appear so often for a healthy, energetic look!

Use A Towel On Exercise Mats - If you’re a yoga or pilates person, or anyone that has exercised on a mat before, then you are sure to remember what happens toward the mind or end of the session. Specifically, all the sweat that would be on the mat making it all slippery. Exercise mats aren’t known to be absorbent, they’re there to cushion you a bit. Because exercise mats aren’t typically absorbent, they also aren’t typically washable, causing a good chance for the sweat to just stay hidden inside, breeding bacteria and fungi. 

So use a towel on top of your mat! It’s a great option to stay more hygienic and to help your mat last longer by protecting it from scratches and gouges.

Don’t Touch Your Face - Yes, it’s difficult bearing that dripping sweat. But think of all the surfaces you’ve touched before getting to that point! As mentioned previously how much of a hotspot for microbes the gym is, save your skin some trouble and avoid touching your face while your pores are all open from a good workout. Sometimes, it just seems as if touching your face is never a good plan. 

So limit your touching to when you’re washing your face! If you really want to do something about that sweat dripping down, hang a clean towel around your neck to catch the sweat and to dab.

Wear Comfy Clothes - Gym or athletic clothing are typically made from specific fabrics for their specialized purposes such as avoiding skin irritation caused by chaffing, proper sweat absorption, and good fitting for stretches and other necessary movements. So wearing the right clothes can make your workout more enjoyable, creating a positive cycle in building a good habit of exercising. But even in the best of sessions, there’s a good chance those clothes would be soaked by the end of the workout. 

So bring an extra change of clothing with you that you can change into after showering off! Remember to do a good full-body cleanse including your face as soon as possible.

Cleanse, Moisturize, And Hydrate - Give your face a good cleanse after your workout to remove the remaining sweat and any other particles from your skin. Applying a facial moisturizer or serum to the outside of your skin after the deep cleanse would be more effective since the pores would’ve been opened during the exercise session, increasing the absorbance of the products. And, of course, remember to drink plenty of fluids to avoid dehydration which will also help your skin look better and fuller. 

So cleanse, moisturize and hydrate to make the most of your workout for your skin! Though, do keep in mind to make sure that the products you use are hypoallergenic and are actually good for your skin and pores.

How airDefender Fits Into The Picture

Mentioned time and time again is how you should be careful what you touch but definitely don’t touch your face, this is where airDefender fits in. With the airDefender solution, a protective coating with both sanitizing and deodorizing effect forms on the surface of your skin, protecting you from any transfer of microbes between what you touch and you. 

The airDefender solution is a multipurpose solution that can be used on the whole body throughout your training session. 

• You can use it on your hands before reaching the gym to prevent picking up any germs.  
• You can use it on your body before starting the session to neutralize all the sweaty smell or any body odor smell.
• You can use it on your face after you finish cleansing and moisturizing to finish off with a protective layer, preventing any new contaminants from harming and clogging your skin and pores.

Working out has numerous advantages. It not only strengthens your heart, improves circulation, lowers blood pressure and triglyceride levels, but it also cleanses your body of toxins and negative energy. When you exercise, you also give the brain's reward center a low-dose punch—the system of the brain that helps you anticipate pleasure, feel motivated and maintain hope. Regular exercise improves the reward system over time, resulting in higher circulating dopamine levels and more available dopamine receptors. 

Let airDefender help you achieve that satisfaction.