Their hair!?!?!?!

I want to start exercising more but I feel my hair will suffer.

I work out about 3 times a week and that's the days I plan on washing my hair and I don't mind getting really sweaty. But I want to exercise more but I can already feel my hair turning to straw and breaking off at the ends.

I wash and condition my hair, and usually don'y blow dry it but I do straighten my hair almost everyday.

Anyone have any suggestions?

I have leave in conditioner and use that almost everyday as well.

Thanks Mindy

I use shampoo without sodium laurly sulfate -- that seems to have helped.

oil, oil, oil!! My hair is down the middle of my back and has been for the past 15 years. I had to start dying it because it is so gray and after that it just kept breaking off and I had to keep cutting it shorter and shorter. I started oiling last year and haven't needed a haircut since. Any oil works..coconut, olive, grapeseed, but jojoba seems to be the most popular. Oil and then braid your hair at night. Wash it out in the morning. Detangles and conditions better than anything else. Just don't apply to your roots.

Buy some "CHI - silk infusion" silk therapy. cost me $22 for a bottle, but the stuff is heaven in a bottle. My hair was TOTALLY dead a week ago(because I use the flat iron pretty much everyday), bought this stuff last Thursday and my hair is now soft, silky, and looks very healthy!.
You have to get it at a beauty supply store.
You just put a little bit in your hand(about the size of a quater), rub it in your hair while it's still wet, then blow dry it (or air dry).
wonderful product!

I have to ask, why do you think that exercising more is going to affect the condition of your hair???? Is it because you feel the need to wash it more often, if you exercise more often?

I am actually a licensed cosmetologist (I did this before becoming a dancer) and here is my input:

~If you want to increase your exercise, alternate cardio (sweaty) days with strength training or yoga or Pilates days...things that might make you sweat a bit LESS. Wash your hair on the cardio days.

~How are you straightening your hair every day? With a hot iron? If so, THIS is what is causing most of your straw like damage...not the washing. I HIGHLY recommend that you not straighten your hair with heat this often. My hair is color treated...and it is also currently almost waist length. I do not have straw like ends at all...

My hair is naturally wavy (not curly, and not straight) and I "go with it" for 4-5 days out of the week. I try to style my hair in ways that do not require irons or blowdryers on a daily basis. Through the week I use lots of fancy headbands, clips, or throw my hair in a loose french twist. Only on days where I have to perform do I actually use heat on my hair. (2-3 times a week average) Even then, I usually try to use mousse and a diffuser, and scrunch my hair into being wavier, rather than straightening it with an iron. Now that I think about it, I have not used a heat iron on my hair in over 2 years.

~Make sure you are using a shampoo and conditioner correct for your hair. If it is long, Pantene has the new one for long hair. If your hair is color treated, use one for that, etc.

~If you need to get rid of a little oil or sweaty residue at the roots of the hair, but don't want to wash it yet-sprinkle some baby powder (cornstarch kind) on your hands, and massage it through the roots. It will absorb some of the excess oils, etc. on the scalp.



I personally recommend anyone who has hair shoulder length or longer to avoid heat on the ends of the hair as much as humanly possible.

Also - make sure your diet isn't too low in fat. Really lowfat diets can cause hair loss and dry hair (brittle nails, too).

Exercise won't ruin your hair
I exercise every day, and get really sweaty. My hair is shiny and soft. Of course, I do have shorter hair, so I don't have to worry about long lengths getting brittle.

fiberlover-

When you get into long hair, it's a different story. I used to have short hair like Jamie Lee Curtis, and I could color it every few weeks, and wash it twice a day if I wanted to with no damage. But, the very ends of my hair were only at most, a year old. My hair now, at almost waist length, is probably 5 or 6 years old on the ends. It makes a huge difference...especially because the oils from your scalp (meant to moisturize the hair naturally) really never reach down that far. That is the reason they used to have the old wives tale about brushing your hair every night with 100 or 200 strokes for healthier hair-the purpose is to get the scalp oil down the length of the hair shaft.

i have really short hair. I swim. I color it. I was coloring it red and it was like straw even with deep conditioning every other day...

now i've switched to brunette and my hair is softer... weird to me...

i keep it really short because even without heat used on it, it just SHREDS below my ears. I wish I could have very very very long hair.....

I have pretty short hair (between ears and chin) and I color it once every 6 weeks or so. I also exercise 4x a week, and sweat a lot.

Two things that have made a huge difference to my hair in the last 6 months:

1 - Condition it every morning when I shower. The first thing I do is wash my hair and apply conditioner. Then I wash the rest of my body and face and let the conditioner sit for a bit. THEN, the last thing I do before getting out is rinse the conditioner.

2 - I oil my hair once a week and sleep with it oiled. I alternate between using olive oil and coconut oil and I haven't decided which one I like better. But once a week I dampen my hair, apply oil and sleep with a towel over my pillow.

My hair has never looked better - it's shiny and thick and actually does what I want it to.

Oh, and I do blow dry my hair every morning and use a styling brush on it when Im' drying it.

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JoJoba oil works wonders I agree Marms!
Jojoba is also a fabulous natural and inexpensive moisturizer for skin.
Try to avoid hairsprays and other styling products with lots of alcohol in them, the alcohol dries your hair out.
Like Aphil said-the flat iron is very damaging. If you flat iron over bleached hair (eg.highlights) on a regular basis, forget about keeping it long.
Tout de Suite is right IMO, use shampoos without Sodium Lauryl Sulfate-especially if you colour. There are a ton of brands easily available. Pureology is great! Minty smell with tingles and use a great daily conditioner.

Has anyone tried oiling their hair at night, and wearing a shower cap to bed? I am apprehensive about oiling my hair at night, because I have EXTREMELY sensitive skin. Literally, if someone touches oil and then my face for 2 seconds, I have a pimple almost immediately. I would hate to wake up and see what happens to it after a night of tossing and turning in oil.

Hm. I think a shower cap would make me a little crazy - all crinkly and plastic. But what abotu one of those "wrap" towel type things that they sell at Bed Bath and Beyond and places like that? It might be softer and easier to sleep in.

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Might not solve the problem, really, but I would think you'd only oil the ends, not up around the face.

I use almond oil, but I oil while my hair is wet after showering, not at night. I just oil the ends.

Also, since my hair is dry, under no circumstances do I use shampoo on my hair everyday. As far as I'm concerned a water rinse and conditioner is enough after exercise. When I do wash my hair (every other day), I put conditioner on the ends before shampooing to protect them, then I condition all my hair and leave it on for a few minutes before rinsing.

My hair is curly, so I let it go natural most of the time. If I need it dry in a hurry I'll use a diffuser until it's mostly dry (if I go all dry it gets frizzy.) I use my straightening iron for special occasions only.

i would wrap in saran wrap first

also a headband around the hairline and no oil under the hairband...