Should I shower before or after a workout?

Let’s be real for a minute. Every last one of us is constantly looking for better ways to be active and healthy. We all struggle with different aspects of a healthy lifestyle. You might be great about working out but have a sweet tooth. Or, you could be someone who gets most of it right but doesn’t sleep enough.

This isn’t to shame you. Absolutely everyone comes up short on something, and it turns out that one of the best ways to make positive changes is to shake up your routine.

Even something as simple as changing when you shower can have a positive impact on your daily life. That’s why we’re looking at showering today, and it’s why you might be underestimating the power of a shower before you work out.

Should you shower before a workout?

It’s easy to dismiss the idea. Why would you shower before a workout? You’re just going to get sweaty and smelly and have to shower again.

That’s absolutely true. Not a single one of you smells like roses when you’re done with a workout.

But, showering before you hit the gym actually comes with some benefits. It can help the quality of your workout in a few ways, and if getting a good workout is something that you sometimes struggle with, then the new shower routine might help you slide into a more effective routine.

Showering before the gym is going to offer you a few key advantages when you work out:

• More confidence when you roll up to the gym
• Relaxed muscles that have an easier time getting going
• A lower heart rate that lasts longer in endurance settings

Smelling better

Ok. We all assume that we’re going to need a shower after we go to the gym. That’s normal. We’re all on the same page. Right?

What’s weird about this assumption is that it can convince us to put off a shower until after we get back from the gym. Even if we’re a bit smelly, we’ll wait until the workout is over to do anything about it.

It’s a nice conservationist point of view. Putting off that shower saves water. It’s actually easier on your skin (more on that later). It’s an easy viewpoint to fall into.

The problem is that some people don’t want to go to the gym when they’re already feeling a little gross. Maybe you run into a gym crush on a regular basis, and you’re afraid to let them smell you coming.

If you have any of these issues with feeling self-conscious, then go ahead and shower before your workout. It’s actually not illegal, and if you’re worried about conservation, then make it a quick shower. You don’t need to exfoliate and deep clean before a workout. Just freshen up enough that you feel confident again, and save the deeper cleaning for your post-workout shower.

This allows you to go to the gym with more confidence, and it breaks one of the biggest excuses to put off a workout.

Relaxing muscles

Outside of the mental game, there are physical benefits to a pre-workout shower. If you take a warm shower, then the warm water will relax you. This is actually why a lot of urologists and experts recommend peeing in the shower.

You know what? It’s time for a quick segway.

When you pee in the shower, the warm water relaxes your bladder, and it makes for an easier experience that can actually be good for your bladder and the muscles that help control it. Also, this saves a full flush of water, which can help if you have any guilt over taking an extra shower.

We can take that idea and run with it a little bit. A warm shower relaxes more than just bladder muscles. It relaxes all of them. So, they’ll be primed to jump into a warm-up a little easier. Especially if you’re doing weight training, the warm shower can help you get a better workout.

There is one word of warning, though. If you take a steaming hot shower, that can raise your body temperature. Going from a hot shower straight into a workout can cause you to overheat, which is not good. So, stick with a warm shower that isn’t blisteringly hot, and you should be fine.

Lowering heart rates

Then again, not all showers are warm. Some guys like a nice cool shower, and that can be good for your workout, too.

A cool or cold shower does a few things to your body. It can tighten your skin. It can stimulate improved blood flow. On top of that, it can help lower your heart rate.

Why do these things matter when you want to exercise?

Tighter skin won’t make a difference for most of you, but it can help if you’re going to do exercises that test your grip. Tightening the skin a little reduces friction and the risk of blisters.

Improved blood flow is obviously good. If your muscles get better blood flow, they can work harder and longer.

Lowering your heart rate is especially helpful before an endurance or cardio workout. Starting from a lower heart rate means it will take longer before you are fully gassed.

Also, a cold shower can help wake you up and make you feel more alert. That’s a good mentality for an intense workout.

Once again, there’s a little disclaimer. When you take a cold shower, it can tighten up some of the muscles and ligaments. That means you should put a little extra care into your warm-up before you go full power on anything.

Should you shower after a workout?

We’ve established that showering before a workout can be very positive. Should you just reverse your routine? Shower before you exercise and then go about your day?

No.

It’s fun to experiment with routines and explore new ideas, but you’re still going to smell like a sweaty dude when you finish up at the gym. And, being the smelly guy is still a bad idea. It can hurt personal relationships (who really wants to date the smelly guy?). It can also mess things up for you at work. It’s not something you play with.

If you’re really looking for a simpler routine, you don’t necessarily have to shower before every workout. You can play around with it and see what you like. But, you’ll need to shower every time you’re done with a workout. That isn’t changing.

Because you still shower when you’re done, there’s a chance that you’re going to spend more time in the shower than you used to, and that comes with some consequences. So, let’s go over a few things to avoid any negative outcomes.

Hydrate in the shower

The biggest thing is skincare. Showers dry out your skin. That’s inevitable, and extra showers dry your skin out even more. If you want to avoid feeling like sandpaper or being called Ashy Larry, then you need to counteract the drying effects of your shower.

The easiest way to do that is with a hydrating body wash. UltraPremium Body Wash by MANSCAPED™ has aloe vera and other natural ingredients that infuse your skin with hydration. Use it every time you shower, and you won’t suffer the worst effects of taking too many showers.

If you stay on top of lotion and the rest of your skincare routine throughout the day, you’ll be fine. And, you don’t need to go through a full skincare regimen between showering and hitting the gym. You can keep all of that as is.

Use better deodorant

Another thing to keep in mind is deodorant. Deodorants are compelling because they literally help you smell less. If you’re worried about smelling bad, that seems like a no-brainer.

The problem arises when you use antiperspirant alongside an intense workout. Let’s not forget that your body sweats for a reason, and that reason is to keep you from overheating. An intense workout generates a lot of body heat, and if you aren’t sweating enough, it can get dangerous.

At least when you’re planning to exercise, use a deodorant that doesn’t include aluminum. Our premium deodorant will keep you smelling fresh throughout an intense workout, but it won’t block your sweat glands. That means you won’t overheat, and you can have a good, safe, effective workout.

Don’t be afraid to experiment

Let’s wrap this up. The point of this whole conversation is to convince you of one thing. You can break away from your norms. You can try to shake up your routine to find something that works better for you. For some, showering before a workout will make a world of difference. For others, it’s just extra steps that get in the way.

It’s ok to take a journey of self-discovery and figure out which applies to you. This isn’t limited to showers either. Really explore some different ways to go about your day. You might find that a subtle change is all it takes to build a better life.