Does Exercise Help Your Skin? What the Studies Found

Two small studies found changes in the deeper layers of skin after weeks of regular exercise. Neither measured how skin looks.

So the honest answer has two halves: what the research saw, and what it did not measure.

The popular version

You will see it said that exercise gives you better skin. That is a loose claim. A flushed face after a run is blood flow and heat, and the studies below are about something slower and a good deal less visible.

What is actually going on

Skin has an outer layer, the epidermis, and a deeper layer, the dermis, where collagen sits. Both studies looked at structure in those layers, using biopsies in one and imaging in the other. The authors of the 2015 paper also studied a signalling molecule called interleukin-15, which muscles release during exercise. In their cell and mouse experiments it affected skin cells' energy machinery. That is a lab finding about a possible route, not a finding that a workout changes a face.

What the studies found

The 2015 paper, by Crane and colleagues in Aging Cell, had two human parts. In the first, they compared habitually active adults with sedentary ones across ages 20 to 86, with 11 to 19 people per age and activity group. Active meant at least 4 hours a week of high-intensity aerobic exercise, and sedentary meant 1 hour or less. The active adults had a thinner outer layer of dead surface cells at every age, and the oldest active group showed less thinning in one of the living epidermal layers. Collagen loss in the deeper dermis was no different between active and sedentary adults. The authors noted that comparisons like this can be influenced by unknown differences between groups.

In the second part, 10 previously sedentary adults aged 65 to 86 cycled twice a week for 12 weeks, with intensity and duration building up. Collagen in the deeper dermis increased afterwards. One epidermal layer got thinner, which the authors called unexpected and suggested might reflect the short intervention. The experiment had no control group.

The 2023 trial, by Nishikori and colleagues in Scientific Reports, was randomised. It enrolled sedentary middle-aged Japanese women, 56 of whom were analysed: 26 did aerobic training and 30 did resistance training, twice a week for 16 weeks with trainers supervising. Skin elasticity and the structure of the upper dermis, measured by imaging, improved in both groups. Dermal thickness increased only in the resistance group. These details come from the Dermatology Times report on the trial, as the full paper was not available to us.

The authors of that trial linked the dermal change to lower levels of some circulating inflammatory factors, and said animal studies are still needed to confirm the mechanism.

What it cannot tell you

• How skin looks. Neither study reported how skin looks to the eye.
• How much exercise is needed. The programs differed, and one used cycling and the other used trainer-led sessions of both types.
• Whether it holds for people outside the groups tested: adults over 65 in one, sedentary middle-aged Japanese women in the other.
• Whether the changes last once training stops.
• Whether it works as a skincare step. Exercise is not a topical, and these studies did not compare it with one.

What to do about it

If you already move, you do not need to change anything for your skin. If you do not, the better reasons to start are not on your face. Either way, the American Academy of Dermatology's advice for looking after skin around a workout is practical:

• Shower after exercising to clear sweat, oil and bacteria from the skin.
• Pat sweat away with a clean towel instead of rubbing.
• Wear a broad-spectrum, water-resistant sunscreen of SPF 30 or higher on skin your clothes do not cover, and reapply every two hours or after sweating.
• Wash your face before a workout, so sweat does not mix with makeup or oil.
• Choose loose, moisture-wicking clothing that will not rub.

Sun protection matters most if your workout is outdoors. A 4.5 year trial of daily sunscreen is covered in our sunscreen piece. Other habits that people ask about are in our pieces on sleep and drinking water.

Who to talk to

If you are starting a new exercise program after a long break, or have a health condition, ask your doctor first.

Frequently asked questions

Does exercise make your skin look better?

The research has not shown that. The studies measured structure in the deeper layers of skin and skin elasticity, not appearance.

Is aerobic or resistance exercise better for skin?

In the 2023 trial both improved elasticity and upper dermal structure, and only resistance training increased dermal thickness. It was one trial of 56 women, so it does not settle the question.

Does sweating clean your pores?

Not according to the studies above, which did not test it. The AAD's advice is to shower after exercising to clear sweat, oil and bacteria from the skin.

Should I wear sunscreen for an outdoor workout?

Yes. The AAD recommends a broad-spectrum, water-resistant sunscreen of SPF 30 or higher on skin your clothing does not cover, reapplied every two hours or after sweating.

The short version

Two small studies found changes in the deeper layers of skin in people who trained for 12 to 16 weeks, and neither measured how skin looks. Exercise is not a skincare step, and the dermatology advice around a workout is about sweat and sun.

koppā, who publish this journal, make the GHK-Cu 2% High Potency Serum, a fragrance-free serum with 2% GHK-Cu on the label.