Skin needs to breathe. Seven per cent of the oxygen you take into your lungs is used directly by the skin. Breathing in supplies cells with essential oxygen, while breathing out removes waste, including carbon dioxide (which would poison your cells if left for long enough). If you don’t breathe properly, we feel less than well, and not only our skin but every part of our bodies ages more quickly.
In the high-tech, marble beauty-hall world, “oxygen” is a buzzword: it’s being incorporated into skin creams and body lotions, or facials that mist pure oxygen onto the skin. But there’s a better way to deliver oxygen to the complexion – exercise.
When you work out, oxygen rushes to every cell in your body, encouraging the whole circulatory and nervous system to perform more efficiently. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin have also established that the more oxygen you take in, the less likely you are to suffer free-radical damage, which is linked to premature ageing of the skin.
The key is to get the lungs and heart working, with aerobic exercise: brisk jogging, walking, running, cycling, dynamic yoga, rebounding, mountain hiking, ball games, spinning, rollerblading, skiing, skipping, swimming, or dancing. By making your heart work harder, exercise also raises the skin temperature, turbo-charging oxygen supplies to the skin, and allowing cells to regenerate faster and nutrients to be absorbed. It’s simple fact: exercise does more for your skin than any cream and can deliver many more physical benefits.
What does it take to make sure your skin and the rest of your organs are getting enough oxygen? Five 30-minute sessions a week, which sounds like a lot but isn’t that hard to achieve, once you get in the habit. Briskly walking at least part of your journey to work means you’re already incorporating regular exercise into your routine – and think of the transport fares or parking fees you’ve saved in the process.
If you are completely unused to exercise, start with eight minutes a day every other day for the first week, then add three minutes per session each week. Before you know it, you’ll be both slimmer and fitter, and your skin will positively glow with good health.
Of course, exercise does more than deliver a glow to the cheeks. Try to ensure that alongside your aerobic exercise you include weight-bearing or resistance exercises, such as swimming, to keep bones and muscles healthy. Above all, create a programme that suits your lifestyle and you will keep up.