Black Women Avoiding Exercise To Maintain Hairstyles: Study

toshi89

because the point of the article isnt whose hair is more difficult to deal with, it's who is using hair as an excuse not to exercise.
and sorry to say, that is majority black women.

The survey was on 103 black women, now in your world this may be a majority but not mine!

Natural or weave, black or white, theres always an excuse not to exercise. I look a hot mess at the gym but when my body finally looks tight nobody's gonna be looking at my head!!

Not what she saiiidd. A majority of the people who use it as an excuse are black women. (Not that a majority of black women do it) That's it. It's true. We see it all the time. How often have we seen other black females use their hair, or their weave as an excuse, not to sweat or get wet. This is sadly an old & odd truth

tj1376

Vanity crosses all color lines!

This is so true!!! I know many women that dont want to work out to hard for fear of messing up their hair.

lizzybethclaire

I'm whiter than white bread and I have thick curly hair that is a pain in the *kitten* to deal with. It is detrimental to curly hair to wash it everyday, so I find I am wearing it up more now on those in-between days because it is too frizzy from working out. I admit I have skipped a work out if I washed my hair earlier in the day.

TR0berts

Because it easier to talk about hair rather than other things..........just saying. This is interesting although I've experienced more of "my" female black friends avoid working out..., especially with weights, out of fear of looking like Serena Williams or losing their booty, more than messing up their hair.

Your friends need to pay better attention - Serena has quite the booty.

johnsonB2

I workout 2-3 times a week running 3.1 miles and I sweat very bad in the head. I purchased the Save your Do gym wrap created by Nicole Ari Parker and it helps a little my hair is still wet, but I will never let hair come between my working out because I have come to enjoy it too much and love how I always feel after a good run. I am planning on getting braids next month to see how well this will work out for me.

monkeymomof3

I only wash my hair once a week. I wear a sweatband to keep my bangs and the hair at the back of my neck from getting damp. My forehead and neck sweat but not my scalp. Do many people have sweaty scalps??

Oh yeah... and I sweat a lot. For running I had to switch from a basic ponytail to a bun because the ponytail would be literally be dripping sweat down my back and then swishing it around.

I know, I'm pretty much super sexy when I workout.

You just described me after my run last night...intervals...I was a hot mess. This is why I no longer workout at our work gym and do most of my stuff at home - after work. And then I shower before bed, blow dry my hair straight, then straighten it in the am before returning to the real world. HOT MESS.

Sweet_Potato

I only wash my hair once or twice a week so I have to be strategic about when I do certain exercises. Bikram yoga completely ruins my hair, so I have to do it on a day when I have time afterward to wash and dry it. Same goes for swimming (my hair won't fit in a swim cap so it always gets wet). Usually after a spin class my curls are stretched out and frizzy but I can revive them with a ton of gel so I'll spin more often.

msaestein1

I did not want to comment at all on this topic since I'm a white guy. I thought just to post it and let it be food for thought. I guess what you say is true for all woman. LIke to see a survey about this topic for all woman and I wonder why they singled out black woman.

"They" singled out black women because the author of the study is herself a black woman and noticed that among her and her friends it was an issue. She was curious to see how wide spread of a concern it was.

It clearly states that in the first few sentences of the article.

No need to bite his head off. Its not that serious.

I guess from his perspective the article could have included a discussion about women of other races and not just focused on this one study which was exclusively limited to black women. The study itself could have also included non-black women. Would have been interesting to see a comparison. Especially since we have so many comments here from women of all ethnic backgrounds having the same issues. Don't think he was trying to imply anything about the "They".

I personally admit that I when I get my hair freshly done I am not overly eager to do Jillian MIchaels for an hour. i will do pilates or something that won't make me sweat as much for the first couple of days. But I try to get something in.

Sweet_Potato

I'm whiter than white bread and I have thick curly hair that is a pain in the *kitten* to deal with. It is detrimental to curly hair to wash it everyday, so I find I am wearing it up more now on those in-between days because it is too frizzy from working out. I admit I have skipped a work out if I washed my hair earlier in the day.

Same here! I'll either work out before washing my hair, or do something non-intense like yoga that probably won't screw it up too badly. I also won't ride my bike (because of the helmet) unless the curls have already been smashed or stretched and can't be revived without washing again.

GoldenGirl1979

i workout hard regularly, but i will NOT walk around with my hair looking crazy!!!!! call me vain if you want to, i don't care, my hair HAS to look nice all the time... i'm 100% natural and sometimes i wear protective styles (like the weave pictured)... & sometimes i'll wear a natural do... either way, my hair must be on point... i have a standing biweekly hair appointment and i maintain it myself between salon visits...

having said ALL that... i don't let my hair get in the way of working out, la la la

oh, & my fitness pals get regular updates of how my hair is doing ((they just got one today)) :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

jeannate52

Wrap it, put a hat on it and Workout!!! No excuses!

meshashesha2012

because the point of the article isnt whose hair is more difficult to deal with, it's who is using hair as an excuse not to exercise.
and sorry to say, that is majority black women.

The survey was on 103 black women, now in your world this may be a majority but not mine!

so not what i was saying. but you are free to project whatever you want on to what i can honestly say i typed in plain and simple english.

since you and some others are clearly confused about what i typed i'll repeat it simply :

i said nothing about whether or not the majority of black women in general are using hair as an excuse. what i said was that the majority of women using hair as an excuse to not work out are black. these are not the same things.

BeautifullyHuman123

True!! LOL

losing5555

This article is interesting but in any low-socioeconomic region, I'd think white or black women would want value for money. It's stupid that a standalone race/gender is focused on when statistics of white women and black men are marginalised... Thus, the article focus (black + women) cannot be justified. My white gym-rat guy friends complain about their hair because they feel the pressure to be perfect and it's not just black women. I wear natural, waist-length hair in a loose ponytail for workouts. If my hair were expensively styled, i'd probably avoid style-damaging workouts too.

dafoots0911

As a younger 20-something black female, it stopped me from swimming but never dancing, or working out. Now, as a 50-something black female I wear cornrows most of the time and while I am trying to go natural in between the cornrows, I still find a way to make my hair work. But the workouts will never stop because of hair. NO EXCUSES!:happy:

roxierachael

Washing with just conditioner (aka co-washing) works surprisingly well to remove sweat and oil. I do this everyday and only shampoo, maybe, every third day.

chivalryder

Black women have the best hair styles ever. That being said, they entire sense of style is generally better than most other women.

NCchar130

I'm white but honestly, I have thought twice about working out because of my hair :laugh:

My hair is long and extremely thick and washing it/drying it/styling it is an ordeal. If I don't get all sweaty I can make it last at least 2 days. Working out daily means washing it daily and I admit, it's a consideration though I've just sucked it up and done what I had to do.

babsholmes1

I am a Maori living in Australia. In my part of the world I am considered black too. Hair is such a big problem. I just tie my frizzy hair back in a bun on top of my head. So getting hot and sweaty no problem...till I want to go out and look nice. I plan on getting a chemical straighten in 2 months cos I'm going on vacation to the USA. That will keep hair in line for about 3 months. Wash n wear. I would love to hear from anyone who can recommend a "black" hairdresser when I get to LA. African American women aren't the only ones with Black hair....

Byrdsong1920

I have not tried yet, but actree Nicole Ari Parker (wife of the fine actor Boris Kodjoe) invented this sweat headband for women dealing w/this issue: check it out http://frugivoremag.com/2012/02/nicole-ari-parker-invents-headwrap-that-saves-your-hair-from-sweat/

This is an issue for most women, but we can't let it hold us down!

Happy journey, shan