Both cardio exercise and certain yoga poses can help you achieve a glowing complexion by improving circulation, reducing stress, and enhancing skin cell health. The key benefits come from increasing blood flow, which delivers more oxygen and nutrients to the skin, and regulating hormones that affect skin conditions.
Best exercises for glowing skin
Cardio
Exercises that get your heart pumping boost blood flow, nourish your skin, and help flush out toxins through sweat.
- Brisk walking or jogging: A 30-minute daily routine can improve skin tone by boosting circulation and removing impurities.
- Swimming: This is an excellent cardio workout that hydrates your skin, leaving it soft and supple.
- Jumping jacks and rotational jacks: These full-body movements increase your heart rate and promote sweating, which helps cleanse the skin.
Strength and toning
Strength training helps build and repair muscle tissue, which also benefits your skin’s firmness and elasticity by stimulating collagen production.
- Pilates: This low-impact exercise improves circulation and helps your body produce collagen, which keeps skin firm and youthful.
- Strength training: Lifting weights or using bodyweight exercises like squats and push-ups can boost circulation and regulate hormones that contribute to skin issues like acne.
Facial exercises (Face Yoga)
These targeted exercises tone and relax the muscles in your face, which can reduce sagging and improve circulation for a more radiant appearance.
- The Cheek Lifter: Smile widely with your lips covering your teeth, then place your fingers on your cheeks and gently lift the skin upward for a toned look.
- The Lion Face: Inhale deeply, then exhale forcefully while opening your eyes and mouth wide and sticking your tongue out like a lion’s roar. This stimulates all facial muscles.
- Forehead Smoother: Place your fingertips at the center of your forehead and gently glide them outwards toward your temples. This can help release tension that causes wrinkles.
Best yoga poses for glowing skin
Inversions
Inverted poses increase blood flow to your head and face, delivering a fresh supply of oxygen and nutrients to skin cells.
- Downward-Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana): This pose sends blood rushing to your face, giving your cheeks a rejuvenated flush and helping to relieve stress.
- Shoulder Stand (Sarvangasana): By improving circulation to the face, this pose can help fight acne, wrinkles, and dullness.
- Plow Pose (Halasana): This inversion enhances circulation and helps with detoxification, contributing to a more radiant complexion.
Heart- and chest-openers
Poses that stretch the chest improve breathing and oxygen intake, which supports healthier skin.
- Cobra Pose (Bhujangasana): This pose helps open your chest and improves breathing, which increases oxygen flow to skin cells.
- Fish Pose (Matsyasana): Often done after a shoulder stand, this pose opens the throat, which helps balance hormones and improves circulation to the face and neck.
- Camel Pose (Ustrasana): This deep backbend increases blood circulation to the face, providing a fresh supply of oxygen and nutrients.
Stress-relieving and detoxifying poses
Since stress is a major contributor to skin issues, poses that calm the mind and aid digestion are essential.
- Child’s Pose (Balasana): This restorative pose offers deep relaxation, reducing stress and its negative effects on your skin.
- Seated Forward Bend (Paschimottanasana): This pose is known for reducing stress and helping to detoxify the body.
- Corpse Pose (Savasana): A restful pose that allows the body to fully relax and repair itself, minimizing the effect of stress hormones like cortisol.
Maximizing your workout for skin health
To get the most out of your exercises and yoga, remember these best practices:
- Cleanse before and after: Always wash your face to remove impurities and again after exercising to prevent clogged pores from sweat.
- Hydrate: Drink plenty of water before, during, and after your workout to keep your skin plump and hydrated.
- Protect your skin outdoors: Apply broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of at least 30 to protect against sun damage.
- Maintain consistency: Regular practice of both exercise and yoga is key to experiencing long-term benefits.