A recent foreign academic paper that studied the relationship between high-intensity exercise and hormones in men over a 12-month period concluded that at 3 months, moderate intensity exercisers had a 14.5% increase in DHT, and at 12 months, exercisers had a significant increase in DHT levels. It is not good news for people with androgenic alopecia, elevated DHT means you will also lose more hair and it will be difficult to control. Is it true that exercise can cause hair loss? And if it does, how should we find a balance between the two?

Why does exercising lead to hair thinning?

Hair growth and hormone is in relatively close relationship. Under normal circumstances, human hormone levels are in relatively calm state, but after strenuous exercise, hormone secretion will be more vigorous, muscle strength becomes stronger as well. At the same time, hormone secretion is too strong, androgen levels are too high, your hair may suffer a lot.

As we all know, most male hair loss results from seborrheic alopecia, or we call "male pattern baldness", caused by excessive androgen production. The cause of seborrheic hair loss is an overproduction of DHT (dihydrotestosterone).

Dihydrotestosterone is an androgen produced by the reaction between testosterone and 5α-converting enzyme in human body, which is widely distributed in the blood of the whole body and promotes the deposition of calcium and phosphorus and the production of red blood cells. Excessive amounts of dihydrotestosterone will produce pathological phenomena such as acne and hair loss.

However, you must be clear about the fact: only hair follicles under the control of DHT will lose hair due to androgens. That's why there are people who like to work out but also have thick hair. In other words, the most crucial factor depends on the individual's body type and the sensitivity of their hair follicles to DHT.

Can I still exercise as much as before?

As we all known, exercise is divided into aerobic and anaerobic two types：

Anaerobic exercise: refers to the kind of the muscle in the "hypoxic" state of high-speed, it is an intense exercise, such as sprinting, weight lifting, jumping, etc.. It is mostly high-intensity and instantaneous exercise.

Aerobic exercise: is physical exercise in which the body is in a state of full oxygen supply, such as cycling, swimming, jogging, etc., characterized by lower intensity, rhythmic and can last for a longer period of time.

According to the survey, high-intensity exercise is more likely to lead to elevated DHT. For people with a tendency to baldness, anaerobic exercise is more likely to cause hair fall; aerobic exercise has less effect on hair.

But it all depends on how sensitive your scalp is to DHT. If you do suffer from androgenic effects and develop hair loss, or already have a tendency to lose hair, you should try to still avoid high-intensity anaerobic exercise and do more aerobic exercises such as long-distance running, cycling, climbing and ball games, and do them in moderation.

As for those who are not affected by androgens at all, you basically don't have to worry about exercise causing baldness. What you should be concerned about is cleaning promptly after application to prevent sweat and stains from staying on the scalp for a long time, clogging the hair follicles and causing hair loss.

Stop being afraid that exercise will cause hair loss!

In conclusion, whether to take exercise still needs to be combined with your body type, and you should indeed be careful not to do too much too intense exercise.

The best advice is that you are not doing some aerobic exercise, not only for your own health, but it will actually help you relieve hair loss, for the reason that some people lose their hair due to excessive oil production in the scalp that clogs the pores.

Proper exercise can well dissolve and discharge these oils and increase the oxygen content of the scalp, thus allowing the scalp to get fresh breath. At the same time, exercise makes the body blood circulation faster, so that the hair follicle nutrients channel more smoothly, you can play a role in preventing hair loss.