When it comes to achieving fresher, younger-looking skin, many people rely on serums and lotions.
However, a recent study published in Scientific Reports has revealed a surprising and effective method for improving skin health: weight training.
Japanese women of a moderate age participated in the survey, which was controlled by researcher Satoshi Fujita and his gathering at Ritsumeikan School in Kyoto, Japan.
The experts discovered that intense exercise and power lifting had a significant impact on the quality of appearance and managed the enigmatic growth of facial skin cells and tissue.
However, compared to persistence practise alone, resistance exercise, specifically weight training, produced fundamentally more significant benefits.
Fujita stated that the participants' skin became "more youthful at a cellular level" following the initiation of their exercise routines, with weight lifting showing the most pronounced effects.
The Benefits of Endurance Exercise on Skin Health
Contrary to common belief, the skin is not excluded from the benefits of exercise.
While we can easily observe how physical activity reshapes our muscles, heart, and other organs, Fujita suspected that exercise could also impact the health of our skin.
Previous research, including a study led by Mark Tarnopolsky at McMaster University, demonstrated that physically active individuals had younger-looking skin at a cellular level, featuring a thinner outer layer and a thicker dermis.
Their skin cells also showed an abundance of healthy mitochondria, the energy centres of cells. These differences are associated with youthful skin.
Additionally, when sedentary older adults started engaging in endurance exercises such as jogging or cycling for three months, their skin showed desirable changes. The outer layer of their skin became thinner, and the inner layer grew thicker, while skin cells increased their mitochondria count. Overall, their skin exhibited signs of rejuvenation and youthfulness.
The Unique Contributions of Weight Training to Skin-Care Routines
While the positive impact of endurance exercise on skin health is evident, Fujita wanted to explore whether resistance training, specifically weight lifting, could offer even greater benefits for skin health.
For their study, the researchers gathered 56 sedentary, middle-aged women and examined the elasticity, thickness, and structure of their facial skin using various measurements, including ultrasound. Blood samples were taken to analyse a range of substances, and drops of blood were added to isolated facial skin cells in Petri dishes for further assessment.
Half of the women were assigned to a 30-minute cycling routine twice a week, while the other half performed 30 minutes of weight training twice a week. After 16 weeks, all the tests were repeated.
The results showed that both groups experienced improved skin elasticity, denser extracellular matrix (the biological scaffolding of skin tissue), and increased activity of genes responsible for skin collagen production—markers of skin rejuvenation.
However, only the resistance training group saw an additional benefit: an increase in the thickness of the dermal layer, attributed to the activation of specialised genes that produce proteins to build and strengthen connective tissue.
Future Implications and the Call to Weight Training
While the study provides valuable insights into the effects of exercise on skin health, it has some limitations. It was relatively small, short-term, and exclusively involved middle-aged, sedentary Japanese women without a control group.
Nonetheless, Fujita hopes that the findings will encourage more people to adopt exercise habits, especially weight training. He even shared his own experience of being a 53-year-old male who regularly engages in strength and aerobic training and is often complimented on his smooth skin for his age.
While further research is necessary, weight training's potential skin benefits are intriguing. Combining both resistance and aerobic exercises could lead to additive improvements in skin health.
Before starting any exercise routine, it is essential to protect the skin from harmful UV radiation by wearing sunscreen and appropriate clothing during outdoor workouts.
In conclusion, if you're seeking healthier, more youthful-looking skin, don't forget to include weight training in your exercise regimen. The evidence suggests that it may be a surprising yet effective addition to your skincare routine.
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