Going to the gym means you have to wash your head more often? :(

[Dreamkitty]

One thing I hate about exercising and the gym is "Sweating". Of course I can just go home and wash my whole body easily.

But when you sweat, your scalp gets all sweaty and sticky too. I want to make exercise a regular part of my life from now on, but I worry that washing the hair too much will cause shedding. Also after a sweaty day at the gym, you do really feel like Shampooing your hair.

So to those who exercise regularly, do you shampoo or wash your hair everytime after you worked out?

[aenflex]

I must not work hard enough :) I go the gym a few times a week for cardio, and I just don't find myself having to wash any more than my normal 2 X per week?

[Jasperine]

For me - yes. I think that over-all health and exercise is more important though :) I still only was my hair 3 times a week :)

[phistash]

It depends on how much I sweat. If I go running, I usually have to wash my hair after, so I try to time my workouts to match washing days. I do other forms of exercise, though, like squats, push-ups, and yoga, and I find that a little sweating doesn't need to be washed out.

If I don't have time to wash my hair, and it needs it, I just wear a head wrap. Problem solved (plus, it's a perfect opportunity to apply whatever scalp or hair treatment you may use).

[spidermom]

No, I don't. I find that I can let the sweat dry in my hair at least once between washes. After that, I at least have to rinse it and use conditioner or my head will smell somewhat sour. I try to keep the length out of the water and rinse my scalp area unless my hair is wet from sweat all the way down the length.

I get tired of having wet hair so often, but exercise is important.

[Dreams_in_Pink]

I worry about this too. I hate washing my hair (actually, i hate the drying part because i'm likely to damage it AND get cold) Everybody says sweat might increase dandruff :(

I hope someone found a way through this :(

[GeoJ]

No, I don't wash my hair every time. I do intense workouts that result in sweat dripping down my face. After the sweat has dried my hair and scalp feel normal most of the time. If my scalp feels icky after it dries, then I just do a quick scalp wash before I go to bed (if I only wash my scalp my hair will dry by morning).

My DD ends up dripping with sweat on the playground in the summer. I will often give her hair and scalp a rinse with just water in the evening, and she does fine with that.

ETA: I read the above post just now, and at least for me, I get just as much dandruff when I exercise frequently as I did when I was sedentary. I don't know if matters that I have had dandruff since childhood that is not affected by anti-dandruff shampoos, so maybe it's not normal dandruff.

[Dolly]

I workout daily (ok, sometimes I will take one day per week off), and I MUST wash at least my scalp daily.....I have to do it, or I get a major case of the itchies....

[Schipperchow]

It depends on how intense my workout & how much I sweated:o I at least like to rinse my head & then put on a leave in conditioner. Yesterday I did a lemon-chamomile rinse after my work out....Loved it!:)

[TrudieCat]

I'm an exercise slacker these days but I used to run several times per week and I always had to wash my hair afterward. Not only did it keep my hair from being smelly, it also helped me cool down and feel much more fresh than just washing my body would.

For what it's worth, I find that I shed much less when I was my hair every day or every other day vs. stretching washes longer than that. I just have to make sure to keep my length well-conditioned.

[little_cherry]

I often oil my hair prior to working out with a coconut and EO blend..even when I wasn't oiling, I still washed 2-3 times per week, but spritzed between washings.

[Alix]

The point of me showering most of the time is to wash my hair. My body doesn't get to gnarly, so most of the time after a workout I'll wash my hair because it gets really oily real quick. If I don't have to be anywhere the next day I won't.

[hairobsessed1]

I can't go to the guy and not wash my hair :( I wish I could get away with it but i can't

[Unofficial_Rose]

I rinse in the shower, put on conditioner and go to the sauna and steamroom. Then shower off the conditioner.

Generally I have to shampoo the next day, though.

[CurlyTresses]

I work out quite a bit throughout the week and do mostly conditioning washes but not everyday. For me it depends also on what type of workout or how sweaty I've gotten.

[pepperminttea]

I find a water-only scalp wash (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=85) (not the length) sorts things out for me, until my next proper wash. :)

[AreWild]

Sweat is water soluble if I'm not mistaken. Even if you don't want to just let it dry in your hair (which I don't because the salt makes my hair weird and curly) you can just rinse your hair and not have to actually wash it. That's what I do. Usually a quick rinse even rejuvenates the scent of my henna or conditioner, so it's more refreshing than you'd think. If your hair is on the dry side you may benefit from using a little conditioner on the ends, or just a few drops of oil (scented if you're worried about your hair not smelling clean) worked into the ends after it dries.

[CherrySilver]

I workout regularly and sweat profusely when I do -- to me it's not worth it otherwise. Afterward I'll take down my topknot bun and rinse with about an ounce of conditioner in a bottle of water. If I have the time, I'll use my eo scalp blend and sit in the sauna for a while before washing. Took me a while before I figured out the hair part -- what would stay in and result with the fewest tangles, but I just can't deal with sweat on my hair or body.

[lundmir]

I do water only washes, sometimes scalp, sometimes all of it. Depends on my mood! Keeps my head fresh and itch free.

[CherrySilver]

It's best to always wash sweat off your body and scalp -- sweat contains the same waste products as urine. When you sweat, you're getting rid of toxins -- defintely best to wash them off rather than being reabsorbed!

[Carolyn]

If I get real sweaty, I wash my hair. My sweat doesn't dry nice. It always makes my hair look lank and piecey. If I was going to be home the rest of that day or the next day, I might leave it. But sweated upon hair is gross on me and it often smells bad.

[<3OnHerSleeve]

I do get sweaty at the gym, but I've recently changed my hair routine. So we'll see when I start going back to the gym whether it affects my washing or not. I don't actually worry too much about sweat in my hair.

[Shany]

I wash my hair 3 times a week and I workout at the gym 3 times a week (but 2 days in a row). I don't want to wash my hair twice in 2 days so I rinse my hair (WO). I won't exercise less because of my hair, I love working out (cardio and weight training)!

[torrilin]

But when you sweat, your scalp gets all sweaty and sticky too.

Uh... no, not really. Not all exercise works the same way, and it doesn't work the same way for all bodies.

If I'm hiking or walking, generally my head and face don't sweat tons compared to the rest of me. Especially if I'm a good girl and wear a hat. Having my own portable shade helps a lot. Doing my ballet-for-noobs class doesn't involve much head sweat either.

If I'm biking, I'll tend to mostly sweat on my head. Helmets are made of styrofoam, which is a great insulator. I'll only start sweating on the rest of me if I'm overdressed or it's hot out. This is actually a real problem, since you can give yourself a nice case of hypothermia if you bike in the winter and start soaking yourself in sweat. The constant and portable 10-25mph wind is a real problem.

For swimming, it doesn't matter how much I sweat. I'm soaked in water!

I'm not very strong, and my bodyweight exercises mostly don't work up a sweat. This will change eventually. I hope. (I'm not particularly concerned since I can easily work myself hard enough that I am incredibly sore the next day, so it's not that I'm skimping on the hard.)

So I can pretty easily tailor my exercise choices to suit my desired level of sweat, and thus my desired level of personal grooming. If you really dislike the sweaty feeling, try playing around some to see if there are things you like that are more comfortable. A big part of staying active is picking things you actually enjoy... and hating the sweaty feeling is not helping you. Don't feel compelled to stick with just one thing either. No one exercise will be the magic fat burner.

[Sundial]

I workout daily (ok, sometimes I will take one day per week off), and I MUST wash at least my scalp daily.....I have to do it, or I get a major case of the itchies....

Me too. I have to wash it daily but I do alternate with CO. It doesn't help that it is hot and humid here, so my hair gets stringy anyway if I don't wash it.

[charalito]

My gym workouts don't make me sweat much, so I just put my hair up before exercise and jump in the shower afterwards without wetting the hair. I do this 3 times a week. On the days I swim, I do "wash" (WO is still washing) to get the chlorine out.

[LisaMonster]

If my hair feels icky after a workout, I'll just rinse with cool water if it's not a wash day.