What am I going to do with my hair?

“Nikki! What am I going to do with my hair?” is what I hear from many of my African-American female clients when it comes to working out. Is this a great excuse or is this a real hindrance that African American women face when considering their workout plan?

My fitness classes include women of a variety of races, ages and fitness levels. However, when there is a special activity that many women of color can attend, their presence is scarce in my class. For example, I will say to my clients that I will see them the following Tuesday and they respond by saying “I’m going to see Mary J Blige in concert,” or “I have dinner plans with my sweetie.” I usually respond by saying “Yeah, but it doesn’t start until 8:00 pm, class is at 8:00 am.” Then I get the number one excuse “I can’t mess up my hair.” And guess what? I can relate because I face the same issue.

For many black women, getting your hair done is not cheap. And sometimes our turn around time from working out to going out is not a sufficient amount of time, to break out the flat iron, smooth down the fly a ways and look fabulous. Therefore we opt not to workout. So are we sending a message that we rather forgo our health for beauty? According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, four out of five African American women are overweight or obese which increases the risk of diabetes, heart disease, cancer and many other aliments. Wow! I think it’s time for us to find alternative methods to preserving our hairstyles while maintaining our health.

My African American female clients have a range of hair textures. Some of us have more hair maintenance than others and in order for us to stay consistent in our workouts we must create a plan. Here are a few hair stories, and remedies that have worked for me and some of my clients; I hope they help you as well.

One of my clients Adrienne wears her hair in this fly, sassy natural afro that turns heads as she walks down the street. “I used to let my hair keep me from going to the gym because once I started sweating, my hair would shrink and get all ratty so I didn’t want to workout,” says Adrienne. Adrienne chose to get her hair braided with extensions because she could workout, sweat, put her hair in a ponytail and then afterwards bring it back down. My other client Kimberly also wears a blown out, stop traffic afro. “When I’m working out I braid my hair in cornrows or I wear my hair in a curly fro,” says Kimberly. “Then when I’m finished, I unbraid my hair, comb it out and go about my day.”

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My other client, who I affectionately call Nelly, wears her hair in a shoulder length wrap style. She doesn’t like to wear her hair in braids or weaves, so Nelly structures her wash-and sets around her exercise and training classes. “I have a weekly routine that I try to stick to. Monday through Fridays, I workout and hair appointment on Friday evenings, so my hair looks fresh for my weekend activities,” says Nelly. However, once Nelly gets her hair done on Friday, she likes for it to last until at least Wednesday. Therefore she structures her weight lifting sessions and cardio sessions on different days because she knows she tends to sweat more on cardio days. “I usually do my longer, sweat wrenching cardio days on Wednesday afternoons and Friday mornings,” she says. During those other times, she maintains her hairstyle by “pin(ning) my hair in neat pin curls, so I look presentable at the gym or I brush it in a nice neat ponytail in an elastic holder and put a sweat band on my hairline. And if I’m at home working out, I wrap my hair and put a scarf on my hair to keep things in place,” she states. Don’t let Nelly fool you though, sometimes she comes to the gym with her hair wrapped and a scarf on her head…shhhh. But at least she’s working out.

Then there is Reese, who has loose curly hair where most days she has a wash-and-go hairdo; nevertheless, she runs into problems. “When I workout, my hair gets puffy and I have problems when I want to wear my hair straight instead of curly. I found myself going to the gym less when my hair was straighten, because I didn’t want my roots to curl up.” But eventually Reese found a remedy for working out while keeping her roots straight, she either wrapped her hair like Nelly or pulled it back into a neat ponytail and touched her roots up with a mini flat iron that she carries with her in her gym bag.

As for myself, I opt to wear a weave or my hair in braids because my lifestyle is so on the go. Some days I have to teach from 7am to 4 pm and turn around in an hour or two to attend an event or perform on stage. Working out makes me feel good and I enjoy helping others reach their goals, so not working out is not an option for me. On the days, I wear my natural hair, I either wear it in nice cornrows with extensions, a neat ponytail or I opt to wear a bun and rock the latest hat trend. I still sometimes struggle with the hair issue, however, I find creative ways like the ones my clients use to continue to exercise and turn around and look fabulous. Don’t let beauty get in the way of your health. My clients are examples that there are many ways that exercise and maintaining your hairdo can be done. So rock a natural, wrap or pin curl your hair, work out and continue to be fabulous!

© Nikki Kimbrough for Get Fit w/ Nik, All Rights Reserved