I'm sure by now we’ve all seen the youtube video clip of the Chicago news anchor (Robin Robinson) that did the investigatory piece on how black women’s hair contributes to their lack of exercise. If not, then here is the link to watch the video:

Now….while this story focuses on why relaxed women don’t go to the gym, I’ve found that LOTS of loose natural ladies have some of the same concerns about going to the gym and how it will affect their hair. If you are like me, and you sweat BUCKETS at the gym…then this includes the scalp. So what’s a loose natural girl to do?

For some, the solution is easy…they wear twists and just rinse the twists daily after a gym workout. Now I must say, this does work EXTREMELY well. I would twist my hair every Sunday night, and when I left the gym, I would rinse them, toss in some leave in, and roll on out the door. It was HELLA simple, didn’t require a lot of time or me dragging a bunch of products to the gym. The only downside was that I got sooooo bored with my hair. Like seriously, I think I started going through withdrawal. I wore my hair strictly in twists for about 2-3 months…by month 1.5; I was fit to be tied! I’m sooo not a style maven, so my two little cute simple styles that I do with my twists were getting played. I was sick of doing them and I was sick of looking at them. I just felt sooo BLAH with them in constantly.

So I started back wearing my hair loose again. Originally, when I would go to the gym, I would just pull my hair back into a ponytail/puff and be done with it. But by the time I got through huffing and puffing and sweating, the puff had gone POOF! I knew that daily cowashing was NOT an option for me…my hair is extremely tangle prone and if you look at it wrong, will be covered in those dayum single strand knots on the ends. I needed to find a way to constrain my hair to keep it from turning into a poof, while also ensuring that my hair is able to achieve 2nd day hair. So here are some of my tips for preserving wash and go hair at the gym:

1) 1. Scarves are your friend! I tie my hair up with the $1 cotton scarves from the beauty Supply Store (BSS). Yes…I said cotton! The cotton helps absorb the excess sweat/moisture from your hair I know a lot of people think that wearing the scarves to the gym is hella ghetto. I go to the gym at 5:30am, and honestly, I’m doing good to have wiped the crust from my eyes and brush my teeth before I get there! Not to mention, my goal at the gym is singular….I’m trying to get my workout on, and roll out. I’m not socializing, or trying to pick up a dude (although there is this FINE brother with long locks that I make sure and smile at every chance I get!). Also, I’m in a very diverse neighborhood, so at my Bally’s the Hispanic and some of the Caucasian ladies are wearing scarves too.

3) Instead of pulling the hair back into one ponytail/puff, try putting it into 2 or 4 if your hair isn’t long enough for just 2. Also, don’t leave the ends of the puff out….tuck them under (sorta like doing little individual buns)...like these pictures


4) After your workout, mist your scalp with a spritiz that includes rosemary EO, tea tree oil and/or peppermint EO. Doesn’t matter what your recipe is, adding any of those three essential oils will help to cut down on bacteria and fungus on your scalp…which is the primary cause of the funky smell.