The body care routine to prevent acne from workouts

Have you noticed more frequent breakouts when you become more active. You are not alone. Many users on Reddit have also reported a "very weird condition" where they noticed acne flare-ups every time they started working out more consistently.

One Soft Services customer also shared, "My 15-year-old son is an athlete, playing football and wrestling. He is covered in shoulder pads and full uniforms in football, but when wrestling and he started wearing singlets, his back acne was evident and extremely embarrassing for him.”

The irony of maintaining an active lifestyle is that while your body gets healthier, your skin might get stressed. Those hot, humid environments underneath your favorite stretchy synthetics create the perfect breeding ground for acne-causing microbes and fungus.

Why does working out cause body acne?

1. Friction and pressure: Caused by tight clothing, backpacks, or sports equipment rubbing against the skin.

2. Sweat and bacteria: The hot, humid environment created by sweating during workouts provides an ideal breeding ground for acne-causing bacteria.

3. Not showering immediately: Not changing out of sweaty workout clothes can create clingy bacteria that clogs pores. And staying in sweaty clothes right after exercising allows bacteria to thrive on your skin in that humid environment.

4. Workout clothes: Synthetic workout clothes can trap sweat and bacteria against your skin, leading to irritation and breakouts. Especially if not washing workout clothes frequently enough.

Steps to prevent workout-related acne

During your workout:
1. Use a clean towel to wipe away sweat from your skin regularly.

2. Avoid sports equipment rubbing against the skin, and remember to give the equipment a wipe down before/after use.

Post-workout:
1. Change out of sweaty clothes immediately.

2. Shower ASAP using a gentle, pH-balanced cleanser like Comfort Cleanse. Its unique water-gel formula grips onto grime, gently cleansing the skin without stripping it.

3. Hair products can clog pores. If you use leave-in products, avoid letting hair come into contact with bare skin, and try to rinse conditioner while bending forward so the water streams away from your body skin.

4. Use an acne-bacterial & anti-fungal breakout tonic, such as Clearing Mist. Spritz it onto clean, dry skin after showering—namely your chest, back, and butt. The quick-drying formula disappears immediately, and the ultra-fine mist covers hard-to-reach body parts. Bonus: the mist won’t bleach your clothes or towels.

5. Follow up with a lightweight, non-comedogenic moisturizer like Speed Soak. It's perfect for those who hate the feeling of lotion but need hydration, absorbing quickly and leaving no greasy residue behind.