This Popular Workout Can Cause You To Look Older—Here’s What To Do About It

Stephanie Osmanski
·6 min read
18

Dermatologists and exercise physiologists weigh in.

Sure, cardio workouts are instrumental to maintaining a healthy heart, and studies have long shown that running over time can do everything from lowering blood pressure and cholesterol to improving blood sugar control.

But one rather unfortunate side effect of running is that though it may make you feel young, it may make you look old.

Maybe you've heard of something called "runner's face" or "running face" before. While there are a few factors that could potentially contribute to this "side effect," there is also speculation over whether it's a fact or a myth.

Parade consulted dermatologists Dr. Lilly-Rose Paraskevas, MD, FAAD, of Rose Dermatology, Blair Hayes, CEO and Founder of Skin by Blair Aesthetics and Jacky Forsyth, an exercise physiologist at Women in Sport and Exercise Academic Network (WiSEAN) and associate professor in sport and exercise at Staffordshire University to find out more about how long-distance running affects facial skin.

What Is Runner's Face?

"Runner’s face is a lay term used to describe the gaunt and aged faces of elite athletes—namely runners," Dr. Paraskevas tells Parade. "Runners tend to have a thin physique and a lot of accumulated sun damage—both of which contribute to facial aging."

Hayes adds, "In simple terms, a full face is a young face. In general, runners tend to be slimmer and 9.5 times out of 10, I can tell who a runner is just by looking at their face. They just have a lot less fat on the face, there's obvious hollowing and sagging of the skin, which is sometimes known as 'runner's face.'"

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Does Running Make You Look Older?

Thanks to a perfect storm of factors, running may increase physical signs of aging. This is particularly prevalent among female runners due to lower body fat thanks to frequent training, sun exposure and collagen breakdown.

"As a former dancer, and now a doctor who regularly treats performers, I see this a lot in professional dancers who also train excessively and as a result, lose facial fat pads in the face as they age, leading to a more aged look," Dr. Paraskevas tells Parade. "Runners tend to appear even older than performers of the same age because of the sun damage accumulated over years and years of running outdoors."

Why Does Running Make You Look Older?

Also colloquially known as "peanut head," "runner's face" mostly describes a lack of fat on the face. (As Dr. Paraskevas explains above, excessive training can cause a loss in facial fat pads, which can contribute to an older-looking appearance.)

"When we don't have that fat, the skin falls," Hayes explains. "Also, the bouncing [from running] contributes to the breakdown of skin elasticity. Less fat plus less elastic skin equals signs of aging."

Lower body fat comes with a host of problems (more on that below) but the loss of facial fat pads isn't the only contributor to this look. Long-term sun exposure is also to blame.

"The sun-protective behaviors of runners are often inadequate," Dr. Paraskevas says. "Hours-long marathons and running long distances is not conducive to reapplying SPF every two hours as recommended."

Collagen is also at play. Unfortunately for runners who pine after young-looking skin, running is the perfect cocktail for an aged appearance.

"Increased metabolism and the bouncing [of running] can contribute to the collagen and elastin breakdown," Hayes explains. "Plus, sun exposure can also lead to this breakdown."

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Can Exercise, In General, Make You Look Old?

Exercise—specifically long-distance running—may cause a person to look older than they are, but that doesn't necessarily mean you should stop exercising.

"The positive effects of regular exercise on overall health is indisputable," Dr. Paraskevas explains. "I would never recommend a runner stop running because they had concerns their face was too aged."

That being said, it's worth noting that, specifically in female runners, exercise can sometimes cause body fat to get too low. This becomes a problem when it starts to affect female hormones and causes irregular menstrual cycles or struggles with fertility.

But Forsyth tells Parade it's not so simple.

"At one point, there was the advice given out that if a woman’s percentage body fat drops below 22 percent, then it is likely they will become 'amenorrhoeic'—or stop menstruating—but this is quite simplistic."

Each woman is different, she says, with a very different genetic profile, and it will depend on energy in/energy out, as well as other stressors in her life, Forsyth explains. "Becoming amenorrhoeic is something that women need to avoid because it has other health implications, such as infertility and low bone health (osteoporosis in the future), as well as a multitude of other performance- and health-related consequences as detailed as part of RED-S (relative energy deficiency disorder)," she says.

Runners need to understand the energy in/energy out bit of the equation. Without realizing it, a runner could be causing their body harm by not balancing their energy exerted with the energy (fuel) going into their body.

"For instance, a woman might be anovulatory (not ovulating) due to low energy availability (i.e., not eating enough to fuel their needs for running), but might not know that this is the case."

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What To Do About 'Runner's Face'

There are plenty of ways to "treat" runner's face or even decrease the effects it has on a person's appearance.

"If a runner came to me with those concerns, I would recommend lasers, light and micro-needling procedures to reverse skin aging and possibly filler injections to restore lost volume," Dr. Paraskevas explains.

In terms of preventative behaviors, frequently applying sunscreen is key for anyone who runs outdoors for long periods.

"I would suggest that they get into good sun protective habits and apply SPF before their runs, use clothing with UPF, and maybe try to run in the early morning when the sun isn’t so strong," Dr. Paraskevas adds. "Other protective measures would be to choose paths with shade and wear a hat."

All in all, the experts seem to agree: The risk of potentially looking older is not a reason to stop running altogether. Try preventative behaviors like applying sunscreen every two hours or seek the help of a dermatologist who will be able to tell you what kind of treatment procedures would help.

Next up, what's the best workout for heart health?

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