Tips on how to avoid sagging skin

Sagging skin is caused by many factors, but the main culprit is weight changes and ageing. Here are tips to avoid sagging skin:

1. Exercise – Resistance training

Regular exercise keeps your skin tight and toned. Resistance training allows you to build muscle while burning fat. Avoid weights that are too heavy and endurance exercises such as running for long distances. Endurance exercises on their own are not sufficient, especially if you are over 40. In fact, endurance exercises may contribute to the wrinkling and sagging of skin if they are not paired with weight training.

2. Don’t gain or lose weight too fast

When this happens, your skin doesn’t have enough time to adapt to the loss of elasticity and connection with muscle. While you may want to lose weight quickly, a healthy rate of weight loss is one to two kilos per week. At this rate, you can lose weight while building muscle at the same time.

3. Have a healthy diet

Include plenty of fruits and vegetables in your diet, while avoiding sugar and processed foods. Sugar is bad for your skin as it causes inflammation, which breaks down collagen and elastin. This results in sagging skin, wrinkles and cellulite.

4. Invest in your skin care

As you get older, you need more than a basic routine of washing and moisturising your face. Look for products that contain Vitamins A and C, as they help retain elasticity and thus prevent sagging.

5. Protect your skin from the sun

The sun is one of the biggest causes of ageing. Ageing occurs when you lose elasticity and sun exposure speeds this process. Prevent this by limiting your sun exposure and by using sunscreen.

While you cannot completely prevent sagging skin, you can certainly do a lot to minimise it.