One of the big reasons why a lot of men worry about male hair loss, especially if they are relatively young, is that it often compounds one of the root causes of temporary hair loss.
There are many causes of hair loss, some of which are permanent and down to genetics, whilst others are side effects of medications, extreme dieting, a deficiency in iron and stress.
Stress, in particular, is a big cause of hair loss amongst young men, and unfortunately can sometimes cause a cycle that makes the temporary situation much worse than it needs to be.
However, could there be solace from a somewhat unlikely source?
Three Pronged Attack
There are a lot of superstitions and outright falsehoods about fitness, and one of them is that exercise can itself cause hair loss when in three important ways it has the absolute opposite effect
The first part is that hair loss is often connected to general health, and a good general tip for people on diets is not to focus on the scale but on the mirror. Your skin and hair will often look distinctly clearer and more healthy.
As well as this, aerobic exercise that boosts the oxygen in your blood and increased circulation in general will often be felt in the scalp, where a lot of body heat dissipates.
This, in turn, helps give the anagen phase of your hair a boost, meaning that your hair will grow for longer thanks to healthier and happier hair follicles.
Finally, exercise releases a lot of endorphins that can offset the effects of cortisone, the stress hormone, and less stress means that the catagen phase of the hair cycle will not cause hair to thin.
This is why on rare occasions, some people notice they have slightly thicker hair that is also less brittle, although others might not get this and it does depend on many different factors.
Angel Or Demon?
Not all exercises are created equal, however, and some exercises are much better than others at helping battle hair loss.
Aerobic exercise, yoga and cardio exercises are the best ones for building up improved blood circulation, but be wary if you are planning to do strength training.
If your fitness goals are purely focused on building muscle and hypertrophy the body will produce more testosterone, which is directly connected to shorter hair cycles, shrunken hair follicles and premature baldness.
However, resistance training’s effect on hair loss is relatively low, so whilst you will have increased testosterone, this will typically be offset by the reductions in cortisone.
One obvious piece of advice is to avoid taking testosterone medication with the aim of building muscle such as steroids, human growth hormone or improperly used testosterone replacement therapy.
Whilst not necessarily illegal to possess, anabolic steroids have a lot of negative health effects, including accentuating genetic hair loss, as well as fertility issues, acne and an increased risk of serious health concerns such as heart attacks, blood clots or strokes.
Ultimately, exercise can help with hair loss, in no small part because a healthy lifestyle often benefits the whole body.