As you may know, about 3 weeks ago I stopped spending a ton of time arguing politics, and started focusing upon working out. I've been training about an hour each day, 5 days per week. I've also been doing cardio 4 times per week. My protein has increased to about 300 to 350 grams.
I'm getting a lot of acne suddenly.
I had bad acne as a kid, when I was a wrestler and worked out 4-6 days per week. I stopped working out at 19 or 20, and was fine for a long time. Zero pimples for about a decade. Suddenly, I'm working out every day consistently, and it's coming back just like it did when I was 16.
What can I do to solve this? mostly back and shoulders, but some on face and scalp as well. I thought it might have been an allergic reaction to something, but it came like clockwork with the nonstop working out (i used to train 3 days per week and no cardio). I shower immediately after working out, and in the morning and night. It doesn't seem like a cleanliness thing - skin just keeps producing oil all of a sudden. Help!
Your problem is kind of unusual, but I can see several plausible explanations for it:
- Your resuming of exercise might have triggered increased testosterone level, which stimulated and increase in the production of oil from your sebaceous glands.
- Conversely, the increase in exercise might have boosted cortisol and other coticosteroids excessively, putting you in a state of stress that resulted in epidermial eruptions.
- Maybe the increase in protein intake has caused an increase in toxic metabolites from protein, like ammonia and uric acid, which has overwhelmed your body's elimination capacity and forced it to eliminate them by whatever means necessary, making it go out from your skin.
- Maybe you have been shaving more recently or with duller blades, which is irritating your skin and leading it to have allergic reactions.
In any case, the best way to deal with your acne is by relying more on protein powders which get in an out of your system more readily, thus generating less toxic byproducts from metabolization, and to increase your intake of fiber which helps the protein and the cabohydrates pass though the gut faster and thus avoid being fermented by bacteria which causes constipation and skin eruptions. Two cups of vegetable juice a day will certainly improve your skin. You should complement that by washing your face 3 times a week with liquid soap. Don't overdo it otherwise you will dry up your skin and end up ageing the skin of your face faster. A last resort would be getting a prescription for Accutane, but that should truly be a last resort for obvious reasons.
SUCKMYMUSCLE
