4 Easy and Essential Haircare Tips for Active Women

First things first, I’d like to make a confession because I know without a doubt that this has directly played into why I’ve been able to maintain a full, healthy head of hair while also maintaining a very active lifestyle. And that confession is: I’m very low-maintenance when it comes to my hair.

Let’s now talk a little more about my “low-maintenance” hair lifestyle…

Thing is, I love working out and almost every single day of the week I’m either outdoors exercising for at least an hour, or I’m indoors in some type of fitness facility – and then on other days (if I’m feeling rather energetic 🙂 ) I may even throw in two-a-day workouts, one in the early morning and one in the evening. And this type of very active lifestyle is precisely why I like to wear my hair in more simple, carefree and low maintenance styles like twists (how you see my hair in the gym pic above), or sometimes I’ll simply wear my hair loose and curly fro-ish. Overall, these types of style fit my personality and lifestyle. And don’t get me wrong– I do like my hair to look nice just like the next woman, and I also love to primp and pamper myself in other girly ways from time to time *wink*, but even still that doesn’t change the fact that I’m a more low-maintenance kind of gal.

Which now leads us to my humble opinion on how to maintain a healthy, active lifestyle while also maintaining a healthy, beautiful head of hair – and my thoughts on the matter are very simple: “Put your health first, and your hair will follow.” And what I mean by that is, first and foremost you need to maintain a certain level of health and fitness in order to even have the capability to grow healthy, strong hair. So on that note, here are 4 very simple and essential haircare tips that I use on the regular while also maintaining an active lifestyle:

1. Loosen up on tight, protective hairstyles

Do you love tight buns and ponytails? What about tight braids? As we all know, hairstyles like buns, braids and twists are awesome and very cute protective styles for active women. That said, one should still recognize that pulling your hair too tightly into a protective style will put lots of tension on your hair follicles, which can then lead to hair loss, or a condition known as traction alopecia. Keep in mind too that after many weeks, months or years of tight hairstyling, traction alopecia can lead to permanent hair loss. Yikes! Now quite obviously I like to wear protective styles – as can be seen from my gym pic– but the difference is, if I choose to protectively style my hair I’ll always make sure that my hair is styled loose enough so that there is never tension on my scalp. And this is something I’d strongly recommend you do as well.

2. Scale back on shampoo− amp up moisturizing and conditioning

How often you wash your hair is a personal choice, and generally I think active women should wash their hair at the very least once a week.  That said, no matter how often you choose to wash your hair, I do recommend that you avoid washing with shampoos that contain sulfates because they can strip hair of moisture, ultimately leading to dryness and breakage. So when cleansing your hair you have two choices: 1) use a sulfate-free shampoo, or 2) forgo shampoo altogether and practice co-washing, which is simply washing hair with conditioner instead of shampoo. Personally, I’m a big fan of cowashing, and when I do fancy shampoo, I usually whip out a sulfate-free shampoo, or a sulfate-free shampoo bar.

3. Skip the heat and air-dry

Remember this always: While blow dryers, flat-irons and other heat styling tools may give hair that “sleek” look you’re looking for, they will all also come at a price − damaged hair. And the more often you use these types of heat styling tools, the more damage you’ll do. This is why I suggest keeping heat styling to a minimum and air drying your hair as often as possible. And trust me, I know how scary it can be to give up heat because I used to be a habitual heat-styler before I went natural. But once I saw how I was able to more easily maintain an active lifestyle without constantly worrying about straightening my hair with heat, that’s when I decided to permanently retire my curling iron– and I haven’t regretted the decision not once because it has enabled me to keep active, and stay fit, while also giving my hair the opportunity to grow healthier and stronger.

4. Eat a protein-rich diet

Fact: Regular exercise is actually good for hair growth because it promotes things like improved blood flow to the hair follicle, as well as hormone regulation.

In addition to that – and this is something many women don’t realize – our hair is over 90% protein, which is why it’s so important to maintain a healthy, protein-rich diet if healthy hair growth is your goal.

Now when most women set out and start exercising more or even dieting to lose weight, problem is they don’t get near enough protein (and other key nutrients like omega-3 fats) in their diet which can end up compromising overall health due to muscle loss, and can even result in stunted hair growth or hair loss! This is why it’s so crucial that you feed your body a healthy, protein-rich diet containing foods like meat, eggs, beans, seeds, and even nutritional supplements like my Beauty&Body Protein are a great option too – especially when you’re dieting and exercising more. And ultimately, by maintaining a protein-rich diet, you’ll help preserve and build more precious calorie-burning muscle, which will help you lose weight faster and it’ll also help you achieve that fit, toned physique you desire. Plus, you’ll also get the added bonus of growing healthier and stronger hair due to the fact that you’re feeding your body a regular, healthy dose of protein. Win-win!

How do you keep your hair healthy while also maintaining an active lifestyle? Share your pre and post workout haircare tips in the comments!

Peace, Love & Healthy Living!– Doc