Hair Over Health? The Surgeon General Talks Hair, Bacne and Other Reasons Women Don’t Workout

I bet people just fawn all over her…

“Oftentimes you get women saying, ‘I can’t exercise today because I don’t want to sweat my hair back or get my hair wet,’ ” said Surgeon General, Dr. Regina Benjamin. “When you’re starting to exercise, you look for reasons not to, and sometimes the hair is one of those reasons.”

The mostly male press core giggled at her logic – and Peter Stier of the National Center For Public Policy Research sniped, “I don’t know whether the surgeon general’s role is to engage in smaller issues like this. It strikes me as bizarre.” –  and she is taking a lot of flak for her opinion, especially when she mentioned black women and their extensive and expensive hair regimens specifically. But I totally understand where Dr. Benjamin is coming from and while I’m not saying that we girls should value our hair over our health, I think that if you want to encourage more women to exercise you do need to talk about some of the cosmetic issues.

Women are placed in a strange position in our society when it comes to exercise. We’re told that we should exercise to be skinny (health repeatedly comes in second in polls of why women exercise), that we should doll up when we go to the gym and that looking hot is equally as important as getting sweaty. (I once had a male friend tell me that women should only sweat in “sexy” places like our cleavage and face and that anything else, like our pits, is “gross.”) Once we’re there we’re cautioned not to get “too muscular.” And people are surprised when we are confused over these conflicting messages?

I’m very dedicated to my workouts but even I’ll admit to occasionally skipping or modifying a workout because of my hair. Just recently I skipped my usual evening workout because I didn’t want to show up to the first parent-teacher conference of the year looking like a drowned rat and there would have been no time to do my hair between the gym and the conference. And I’m not the only girl who’s done so. A good friend of mine refuses to swim because it will ruin her blowout. Another friend avoids working out because any sweat aggravates her terrible bacne. And who hasn’t heard a woman say that she’ll come to the gym… after she loses weight?

Just because these are “women’s” issues doesn’t mean they’re “small” issues.

Have you ever skipped or toned down a workout because of a cosmetic issue? Do you have any advice for working around “gym hair”?

Other places I am this week:

Kids in the Delivery Room: Family Bonding or Traumatic? (Shine!Yahoo)

Sisters and Weight: It’s complicated  (iVillage)

Baby Boomer Boob Jobs (iVillage)

Rules of Civility (BlogHer Book Club)

10 Creative Alternatives to Time Out (Shine!Yahoo)

The Surprising Thing That Working Moms and Stay-at-home Moms Have in Common

39 Comments

  1. I’ve totally done that before. When I had longer hair (boob length), it was okay because I could have it in a ponytail while I worked out, then when I showered, I could stick it in a bun (in a different spot than my ponytail was to avoid lines) and, thanks to having wavy/curly hair, I was able to let it out after my shower and tousle it around a bit and go. I did have to wash and re-straighten my bangs, though.

    Now with short hair? It depends on how much I sweat. If I just get the bangs sweaty, no big deal, I can wash those. I can even leave my hair down during a workout. But a big sweaty workout requires that I wash my hair afterward. If I have someplace to be, I’ll make sure that my workout means I can get away with just a body shower.

    Growing my hair out again. Partly because I miss long hair, and partly because I’m tired of my hair getting in the way of my workouts.

  2. OK, I’ll cop to the whole swimming and my hair bit….not only do I find swimming laps completely and utterly, mind-numbingly boring! But I have also colored my hair since I was 24 and just don’t like to abuse my hair further by dunking it into a chlorine pool!

    That being said….loved, loved, loved your “Boob job” article at iVillage! At 53 I’ve recently made the decision to just let the silver and white show 😉 After almost 30 years of coloring my hair, I’ve had enough and truly feel that it’s time to start my ‘graceful aging’ LOL! This whole attitude of “It’s better to look marvelous than to Be marvelous” grates on my nerves….I prefer to Be marvelous 😉

  3. French braiding saves my life. Of course, when my roots are grown out (like now because I totally forgot my hair appointment last Saturday and was slogging through a swamp with my offspring rather than sitting in my stylist’s chair getting my foils put on like a civilized woman) it only emphasizes the fact that I have dead white streaks over each ear and a not-so-charming iron grey covering the rest of my hair. But at least it beats the drowned rat look.

  4. I stopped swimming in the fitness center pool because the chlorine was frying my hair!!

    No cap or shampoo could save it so I gave up after the triathlon was over.

    Yes, my name is Dr J and I am a hair-aholic!

  5. I admit I’m digging having longer hair for this very reason. I can do the quick shower rinse off after and ponytail thing if need be, but when I have extra time can leav i t down. I just trimmed my bangs up too from longer and stylish to shorter and not in my face when I sweat – it’s helped with this too…for the first time in many years I’m at the point where I can french braid and do a bunch of things, so I can start varying it up a bit. When it was shorter it took less time to dry, but also way more work to not look like a drowned rat who’d just come from the gym at work. It’s a toss up. I wear a ponytail probably more than I’d like to at work now, but I manage to get in a solid workout.

  6. I seem to have the opposite problem of Michelle’s – I’m trying to grow my hair out from a pixie cut but I loved my short hair. The mixed message I get about my appearance is to strive to “soften” my look (as in: get a more feminine hairstyle by growing it out) while still maintaining a height/weight proportional look. I like to exercise in the morning before I do anything else (as in: before I can talk myself out of it) plus, a morning workout means my day will only require one shower (I do not “glow” or “perspire” – no matter the exercise, I sweat and my sweaty hair is always a telltale; a shower is always necessary), one makeup application, one blowdry, one change of clothes, etc. My pixie cut fit right into this – I could usually even skip the blowdry. Now that my hair is getting longer, it requires actual attention every morning. I’m still adjusting.

  7. Yup, happened yesterday! We were going out with some friends in the evening and I knew I would have to do my hair again if I worked out. In my defense I have very long, curly hair so doing it is a major process and blowing it dry more than once a day fries it. It’s why I normally work out first thing in the morning before I shower or late at night so I can just leave my hair wet.

  8. Gah! This is such an issue with me. I have shoulder length hair, and prefer to pull it all up and out of my face for a workout, so if it’s the first day after a wash, I am immediately stuck with wonky bangs and a ponytail crease if I don’t wash it. I only like to wash my hair every 2-3 days, so, yeah, hair issues can put a cramp in my workouts. One thing I have found is dry shampoo! I spritz a little in my roots, brush it out, re-blowout my bangs, and I am good to good for a till the next workout!

    • hmmm.. i have long hair. I always try to get my workout in the morning because i HAVE to shower after. Usually only blow dry for a couple of minutes so my bangs aren’t weird. I’ve tried just a body shower, but hate the way my scalp feels when it only gets wet around the edges and not washed.
      Maybe i’ll try some of that dry shampoo.. as many camping trips my kids have been on, there must be some around here somewhere.

  9. That’s “good to go till the next workout.” Geez!

  10. If horses sweat, men perspire, and women glow, then I am a puddle of bio luminescence. It doesn’t really bother me, in fact I am glad that my sweat-I mean, “glow” glands work so well. The thing is is that my hair, while short and easily maintained in the gym, is a deep and effervescent blue. So as I “glow” my way through a workout, I get these fabulous blue rivers rivers that run down my face and neck. I stain the gym towels, and there are blue spots on the walls of the multi-purpose room from practicing my handstands. I just hope the gym owner hasn’t put two and two together.

    But I haven’t modified a workout due to this or any other issue I have. I’m too ornery. So I bring face wash and my makeup with me and do my best to scrub it off.

  11. I am so low-maintenance and my hair is stick straight, that working out doesn’t make a difference to my hair. Its usually twisted into a loose bun and clipped with one of those small butterfly clips (wait, not the kind that I used to wear in the late 80’s, or maybe that’s called a banana clip?)
    But now I have bangs and it is going to screw things up for me. Bangs require maintenance. I guess I should have thought about this before I got them cut 😉

  12. I kinda convinced my husband to stop going to the gym in the morning because I had zero time to do my hair and still be on time for work. I rather work out at night so I can get my hair messy, but not worry about anyone seeing me afterward.

  13. None of this stops me. My hair looks like a crazy thing anyway when it is done pretty so that does not stop me PLUS I just pull it back or a headband so no to that. I have all kinds of age hormone stuff with acne & hair on the face & more so nope – does not stop me. I workout out no matter what. I sweat like no tomorrow anyway so even if I showed up looking good, I would look like crap by 15 minutes in! 😉 Even when I was younger, still the same…

  14. Your posts are super interesting.
    And yes, I keep my hair braided or in an Afro because any other style has no chance of survival against my 5 days a week Yoga practice.
    Notice too that its 5 days a week. One day off because I am serious about having one day off a week where I rest and do nothing. And the other day off because its the day I use to let my nail polish completely dry!
    As for the guy who made the comment about women and their sweat…pssht NEXT!!!!!!

  15. I can honestly see how hair and sweat factor into a woman’s decision to work out sometimes. I just made the move to short, easy hair. In ten minutes, I can shower, (mostly) dry my hair, moisturize, put on minimal makeup, get dressed, and get going! I get frequent compliments on my short hair too, I think a lot of women are afraid to part with long hair but I found it very freeing!!

  16. Honestly, my hair/looks is never the reason I don’t work out- I’m pretty happy with my hair in a ponytail or otherwise pulled back in a chignon or whatnot, and no makeup (since I generally only wear mascara anyways). Plus, I think I look adorable with my post-gym rosy cheeks. It’s like natural blush!

    The main reason is my chest- I’ve tried so many different sports bras (seriously, name a brand, I’ve tried it), and they either hurt my shoulders a lot, or don’t give enough support, or are so ‘compressing’ that I can’t breath, or they chafe, etc.

    So, some days, I just can’t bear to pull on a sports bra (or two…), or worse, workout with an excessive amount of bounce. It seems like such a trivial reason, but it’s a huge impediment to my gym activities. I’ve always wanted to be a runner, but….running has the most amount of bounce of any average gym activity, so I stick to spin classes and ellipticals, and yoga and sculpt classes. Sad, but…obviously the boys in middle school and their teasing had an effect, because I absolutely hate the feeling of my boobs moving at all.

    My gym just introduced a kettle bell class, but the description is clearly aimed towards men trying to ‘bulk up’. If you hadn’t done your kettle bell experiment, I doubt I’d be bold enough to try the class, but now, I’m totally in! 🙂

  17. My hair absolutely affects my workout. I have long (past shoulder blade) naturally curly hair that I blowout straight. It is a process and a lot of time there just isn’t time for everything.

  18. Actually, my hair actually behaves *better* after I’ve had a workout. A little steam/sweat seems to give it more body and make it more co-operative with styling. And having a little sweaty dampness at the roots softens and reduces whatever crazy bed-head I woke up with. So, to be honest, sometimes my exercise-bike-ride before breakfast is not so much prompted by a burning desire to improve my health and fitness, but by the loudness of the “Gaaah!” I let out when first seeing myself in the bathroom mirror that morning.

    When freshly washed, my hair is annoyingly silky and straight and floppy and completely indifferent to any attempts at styling. Lots of the styling mists and other such products on the market are (as a hairdresser once explained to me) just to help people with clean hair immediately achieve the manageability of two-days-unwashed hair!

  19. I grow my hair every few years- then realise that I keep it short because I can swim and sweat without worrying about my blow-wave/ straightening schedule.

  20. I had my hair cut short on purpose because it looks awful after swimming. Sadly,my goggles give me SKULL eyes and the water irritates my chin so my hair is the least of my problems.
    When I go out running,I wear a baseball cap so whatever my hair looks like,it is hidden.
    I had a childhood friend who swam on a team, who’s hair had gone green because the chlorine in the swimming pool ‘bleached’ her brown hair.

  21. LOL I know exactly what you are talking about. Sometimes you just have to consider what’s going on later in the day and then decide when or if you want to squeeze in your workout. I usually try to do my workouts first thing in the morning. I will have to take a shower after I get up anyway, so why not sweat before that and just use a little bit more soap afterwards 😉

    Jen

  22. I have to say I really cannot relate to this much more than a man can. I have never worried about my hair when it comes to working out. I get gross smelly and wear mens clothes at the gym because it is what I am most comfortable with. I don’t look good there and don’t care. I try to be neat and hygenic but compared to most of the women there I look like a homeless woman who wandered in off the street. If I have to go somewhere after that I have to be clean for I take a shower, what is the big deal, the gym even provides hair dryers but I have to say, haircicles are the funnest.

  23. If I get my hair straightened. I won’t work out. I mean it only lasts for a couple of days…okay really only 3 days at the most. So I miss a work out or two when it happens. But in reality since I chopped off all my hair unless I’m really going to die because of a terrible cold I have no excuse not even the little person growing in my tummy.

  24. I actually breathed a sigh of relief when I read the post title.. I thought I was some bacne getting freak.. Always literally in the outline of a sports bra… (and only when I’m running a lot)

    I don’t, however, use it as an excuse though… I do use an abundance of excuses when it comes to exercise while on vacation… once I’ve ran in that place I say things such as, “I only packed that one fitness outfit…” “I don’t have time before I’m supposed to go out” etc

  25. As someone who’s taking 4 days off of working out to let my Keratin treatment take, THIS IS MY LIFE. My only consolation is that my break will let my slightly irritable right hip flexor breathe…

  26. “Just because these are “women’s” issues doesn’t mean they’re “small” issues.”

    THIS is the most important point in this post, I think. Casting women’s issues as inherently small is called chauvanism. Why is it assumed that men don’t also have “petty” reasons for not working out? Perhaps women are just more willing to admit to them, which gives us a key to open that door for everyone. Either way, the Surgeon General should absolutely be concerned with any and all barriers to healthy decisions. Mocking her for that is chauvanist icing on the sexist cake.

  27. Amen to what Lauren said!!!!!!
    Are bone density and osteoporosis major health concerns? Yes. Have we not been beaten repeatedly over the head with the message that obesity is a health crisis? What about Diabetes? High blood pressure? Heart disease? All of these can be prevented or managed with exercise. If people are not exercising, that’s a big deal. If they’re not exercising for cosmetic reasons, that needs to be addressed. Bravo to Dr. Benjamin for having the, well, ovaries to address this.

  28. No. In the gym I don’t care what I look like, I’m there to work hard and dripping with sweat to me is prove i’m doing the right thing. Actually I find women who dress up to go the gym pretty ridiculous.
    As far as what happens after the gym: I live close by so am home in no time to shower and I have a low maintenance hairstyle that I don’t even blow dry unless it’s very cold outside. Yes, I like to look good but I believe women can be beautiful without spending hours (and a fortune) on their hair or nails ect.. Women should be considered strong and beautiful without fake hair, nails, lashes and so on that keep them from living their live.

  29. I am a runner with long, thick hard to manage hair. To get it to look decent, it takes at least 45 minutes to blow dry. I do not like to wash it every day because it dries it out but I sweat a lot so do need to wash it often.

    I have yet to let my hair interfere with my workouts but it sure is a pain to spend so much time on my hair. Would much rather spend it doing a million other things but look awful with short hair, so here we are.

  30. The only time I’ll skip a workout because of my appearance is because I don’t feel like walking all the way around the other side of the house to use the shower and deal with the inlaws. I swear I never use to sweat in my workouts but since I had my daughter I sweat. I don’t worry about my hair I just pull it up and I’m all set, I sometimes determine if my workout was good by how much it caused me to sweat too lol.

  31. This was my mom’s biggest hang up on cardio because she hates to wash her hair alot. She would schedule her workouts around her hair washing schedule. Now she’s like me and has just given up trying and sweats till the cows come home.

    I have a coworker with a pixie cut and I envy how she can shower and just go back to work like the guys. Runs a towel over her head and thats it. I at least have to partially dry it and throw it back. Seriously, if I did have such a huge scandinavian jaw I would be all over the pixie cut…

  32. I have long hair, so I can do a ponytail while working out and then afterward, I’ll rinse my hair (shampoo and condition depending on time) and throw it into a braid while it’s still wet. Low maintenance is the utmost importance!

  33. I didn’t swim for five years because of my dreadlocks. When I shaved my head, the first thing I did was add swimming laps to my weekly workout repertoir. Other than that, I’ve never made a workout concession for ‘vanity’. I show up at a lot of events inappropriately sweaty and still in gym clothes.

  34. I’m lucky this way, my hair is long and curly and I can tie it in a knot on top of my head, and there it stays. The rest of me may get sweaty, the hair stays dry, except possibly the bangs. When I have 10 minutes between the shower and dinner, I just leave it on top of my head, rinse the rest of me.

  35. I hit on a variation of the hair excuse this morning when it was raining- I couldn’t take the dog with me because my boyfriend only washed her the previous night- and I couldnt leave her behind- so I didn’t run! It sounds lame now, but this morning that was a valid excuse.