Hello ladies
I hope May brings you good health, happiness and blessings from God. This blog post is the sequel and final part of the Exercise and Your Hair series.
Please see part 1 here in case you haven’t read it already.
In part one I discussed how to combine caring for your own hair whilst exercising regularly. As I noted in post one, sweat residue left on our hair and scalp can increase dryness and the risk of breakage. Not cleansing our hair after exercising can also lead to a smelly head. No one wants this however washing after every exercise session is not practical for most ladies.
In this post, I share tips for caring for your hair when wearing extensions and exercising. I hope it will help get more of us working out without worrying about its effects on our hair.
PRE WORK OUT
Braids, Cornrows and Weaves
Put the braids, the length of the cornrows or weave in a ponytail, high bun or pineapple (pineapple will help to preserve the curls).
Wear an exercise head band or tie an absorbent fabric over your hair to absorb sweat.
Optional
You can cover the entire style with an absorbent/breathable (cotton or exercise hair net) scarf to keep the hair in place as you exercise
Wigs
If you are wearing a wig for a week or more, your hair should be put into cornrows or box braids under the wig.
Prior to your exercise session, remove the wig and cover your hair with an absorbent exercise hair band/ scarf or cap.
POST WORK OUT
Remove the exercise band, cotton tie or scarf.
Clean the parts of your scalp that you can reach with baby wipes or dilute a mild skin astringent with water and use a cotton pad to clean scalp. It should only take a few minutes to do. This should be done after high intensity work outs to help remove/absorb some of the sweat residue.
You don’t need to complete this step if you did not sweat much during your work out ( ie, if it was a low intensity exercise session)
Your scalp will be a little damp after it has been cleaned. Allow it to air dry.
Combating Sweat Residue During the Week
Keep your hair within the braids/cornrows and under weave/wig hydrated and conditioned during the week by using a moisturising leave in hair spritz/spray.
- For weaves, simply lift up the weave hair wefts and spray the base of the weave.
- For Cornrows and braids spray the base and length of the braids
- For wigs, remove the wig and mist your hair.
This can be 2 or three times a week to help combat the drying effects of any sweat residue A mild protein leave in hair spritz may be used once a week to help maintain protein moisture balance. You don’t want your hair become over moisturised, too soft and weak within or under the extensions. Do not over saturate the hair, the aim is to mist the hair lightly, not to get it drenched.
You scalp can be oiled very lightly with light oil olive , coconut or jojoba oil mixed with a few drops of essential oils such as tea-tree or rosemary oil which are known for their anti bacterial and anti fungal properties. These will also help keep your hair smelling fresh. For easy access and to create less of a mess, bottle with a nozzle can be used to help apply the oils to your scalp.
Thorough Shampoo and Conditioning
You do not have to wash your weave and braids every time you work out but ensure that you do not keep the styles in for too long.
Braids , Cornrows and Weaves
Ladies who wear their hair extensions for long periods and exercise very regularly may need to wash and condition it every two weeks to three weeks using diluted shampoo and conditioner. How to shampoo and condition hair when wearing braids or weave can be seen here.
Wigs
After a week to two weeks, your hair should removed from the box braids/cornrows, detangled thoroughly, washed and deep conditioned. If your hair tangles very easily, you should consider washing it in sections or in braids. Please see this post on putting hair in big box braids before washing
I hope you have found this post useful. So now that your hair is taken care of, let’s get on with regular exercising.
Happy hair Journey
X
Lade
Learn | Change | Grow
