You may have heard that only hair growth products like shampoo for hair loss for men can help someone prevent hair loss. But did you know that exercise too can help your hair grow fuller than ever?
Here, we’re going over a few ways that exercise can prevent hair loss to inspire you to hit the gym for the sake of your hair.
Stress-Relief
Interestingly, stress is a major factor associated with hair loss. An excess of cortisol, our stress hormone, can disrupt a huge number of processes in the body including the disruption of our hair’s natural growth cycle.
So, while shampoo for hair loss for men can work wonders, if your hair loss is caused by stress, you’ll need to find a way to relieve that stress. That’s where a healthy exercise routine comes in.
One of the most underrated benefits of exercise is that it’s known to relieve stress. More specifically, when you exercise, your body releases endorphins, otherwise known as your “feel good” hormone.
So, for this reason, if you want to do something about your stress-related hair loss, exercise can help.
Increased Bloodflow
Next, exercise increases healthy bloodflow throughout the body, including to your scalp. This extra bloodflow, in turn, can help stimulate your hair follicles and help to prevent hair loss.
In the same way that shampoo for hair loss men use every day often have ingredients like ginseng extract or peppermint that’s meant to stimulate bloodflow to the scalp, exercise practically does the same thing.
Overall, healthy bloodflow due to a healthy exercise routine can help improve all of your body’s vital functions and you’re likely to see those benefits in the health of your hair as well.
Healthly Lifestyle Factors
Finally, exercise can prevent hair loss due to the simple fact that a healthy exercise routine often comes paired with a healthy lifestyle in general.
Often, hair loss is due to a nutrient deficiency or some sort of lack of vitamins or minerals. So, if you’re serious about an exercise routine, chances are you also care about your diet. After all, it’s difficult to maintain an exercise regimen when you aren’t giving your body healthy fuel.
A diet that’s complete with plenty of protein, healthy fats and limited in refined sugars or processed foods are likely to have positive benefits for hair growth.
In the same way that a shampoo for hair loss for men can deliver these kinds of vitamins and nutrients directly to your hair, a healthy diet is key to fuller, thicker hair from the inside out.
So, since most people who exercise regularly also tend to eat healthier, ensuring they get all the vitamins and minerals their body needs, it’s just another way exercise can help prevent hair loss.
(READ: What are the best ways to prevent hair fall for men?)
Excess Exercise and Hair Loss
So, now that we’ve explored some reasons why exercise is a great way to prevent hair loss, we should also note that too much exercise can backfire in the hair health department.
While a regular amount of exercise can help to relieve stress, excess exercise can actually cause unnecessary stress which therefore can lead to hair loss. In other words, there’s a sweet spot when it comes to a healthy amount of exercise to prevent hair loss.
Stress caused by exercise usually happens for one of two reasons:
- Extreme amounts of exercise causing physical stress
- Exercising due to external pressure which causes emotional stress
First, when you exercise, the whole point is to put your body under a reasonable level of stress. But, when this stress becomes unreasonable, you can actually cause your body more physical stress than it can handle.
According to the CDC, 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise per week is the optimal level of exercise to prevent more stress than it creates. Anything more and you may be causing your hair loss from too much exercise.
And finally, if you’re exercising due to external pressures such as the pressure to conform to social norms or because you’re unhappy with how you look, exercise may be causing you more emotional stress than it’s helping.
You may consider working with a mental health professional to make sure you’re exercising because you love your body, not because you hate it.
All in all, hair loss happens due to a variety of factors. But, if your hair loss is caused by stress or nutrient deficiencies, there’s a good chance that exercise and a healthy lifestyle in addition to hair growth products like shampoo for hair loss for men can all help.