....but have no clue to do with your hair.
Happy Tuesday lovelies! I hope all of you have had a very productive day. Me? I'm currently laid out on my couch...kinda sore. I went to this Cardio Strength class and let me tell you-that instructor plays NO games! I almost died y'all. I felt like my heart was going to beat out of my chest and I was feeling like I was not gonna make it! Lawd. I will never fall off the working out wagon again (SN: I haven't worked out since July. Not consistently anyway. I wound up putting on a few pounds and THEY MUST GO!)!
I got through it though and it was definitely a good workout for me. I hope to have a good workout tomorrow when I go to CRUNK. Anyway, all that working out got me thinking about hair (of course!). How many women do you know (especially women of color) echo the sentiment that they would work out but they don't want to mess up their hair? Now as a disclaimer, I have to say that your hairstyle should NEVER EVER EVER.....EVER trump your health. I'd rather have good health and jacked up hair than to have poor health but have the flyest hair ever. That's just me. However, I do understand you want to look good when you leave the house and when your hair is not on point, you don't feel on point. Trust me, I totally understand.
Why can't we have both though? Why can't we have awesome hair and a banging body to match? When I'm working out, my hair is the least of my concerns because I follow a few steps (which are super easy..I promise) which makes my hair the least of my worries.
So let's start with what I do during the workout:
-Keep your hair up and away. Yes. It's that simple. I can't tell you how many times I have gone to the gym and see ladies with their hair all out. Just flowing. I can't help but chuckle when I see this. You aren't coming to the gym to look fresh to death. You're trying to workout. And with working out comes sweat and increased body heat. Therefore, you should dress accordingly. Usually when I work out, I put my hair in a high bun. That way my hair isn't on my back making me hotter, getting bathed in sweat, or getting in my face. Also, since I sweat primarily along my hairline, I will put a headband on for good measure (just to keep the sweat from running down my face). You don't have to do it that way though. Some of you many have straightened hair that you want to keep straight for awhile. For that, you can wrap your hair pre-workout. Others may want to put their hair in a french braid or two. Whatever works for y'all. I've just found that keeping your hair up and off your face it the easiest way to keep your hair together during a workout.
See? That wasn't so bad. However, I know most of you guys are worried about what you do after a workout. No one has the kind of time to go through their entire regimen every.single.day following a work out. I know I don't. However,the possibility of having to do that keeps a lot of women from working out because it is just that time consuming. I've found that this part really takes some planning so that it is not so overwhelming. First there are some things you have to consider:
-How often are you working out?
-What is your workout schedule?
-How do you sweat?
I think these things are crucial in planning for post workout hair styles. Let me explain. Take me for example. I'm going to be working out 5 days a week and those 3/5 of those classes are cardio. In a good cardio class, I sweat a lot, especially in the center of my hair. So, for me, that means I will have to co-wash (conditioner wash) 3 times a week (b/c I'm not sitting around w/ sweaty hair. Gross.). The other 2 days are low intensity so I will have little, if any, sweat in my hair so I can take it easy on those days. I just keep my hair as is, let my hair dry along my hairline (if I even wind up sweating), and keep it moving. So I say all that to say, it's a lot easier to plan for 3 days out of the week than to feel like you have to do your hair every time you work out(I hope that makes sense).
Once you have that all figured out, it's time to figure out what to do for your hair. Following a really good workout, I will co-wash my hair with HE Hello Hydration. The co-wash is just to get rid of the sweat that is in my hair. I only apply it to my hair (and not my scalp. Shampoo is made for your scalp, conditioner is not. Plus you don't want to get yucky buildup on your scalp). Following that, I will then put a leave in on my hair and let my hair air dry. From here it can go a variety of ways.
I can:
-prep my hair for a phony pony (put hair into high bun, slick edges down with gel, and tie with scarf. I can put the phony pony on when I get dressed in the morning)
-plait my hair for my half wig
-put hair into a bun (high bun, low bun, chignon, etc.)
-plait hair for braidout (may require sitting under a dryer for a bit so it can be dry in the morning)
...the list goes on and it is only limited by your imagination. When my hair was in a short cut, however, I did wash my hair (shampoo+DC) after every cardio workout, wet wrapped it, and sat under the dryer. I would then bump the ends in the morning. I didn't mind that so much because it really didn't take a lot of time. Point is, have a style in mind that you want to do. In my experience, the quick and easier styles work best. I mean, you could want to flat iron your hair after every co-wash but if your flat ironing process takes forever and a day, it may begin to seem like a burden. I'm just sayin.
So the point of this long post is this: Working out doesn't have to equal a lifetime of walking around looking like Buckwheat's sister. With some careful planning, you CAN have a banging body and equally awesome hair!
