2020-05-01_Shape

bestrong+well / YOUR HEALTHIEST SKIN

48 SHAPE.COM MAY 2020

EVEN A MODEST DOSE of exercise

can have a spectacular impact on the

fitness of your skin cells. “Exercise

increases their oxygenation, which

leads to increased production of col-

lagen [the protein that gives skin its

strength and elasticity],” says Ron Moy,

M.D., a dermatologist in California.

“These higher oxygen levels may also

lead to production of DNA-repair

enzymes, which help maintain skin’s

youthful appearance.”

The great

skin workout

SWEAT EQUITY

After the working

muscles them-

selves, your skin

likely gets the

most blood flow

during exercise,

according to

research at

McGill University.

JOIN OUR WORKOUT

SESSION WITH TRAINER

KIRA STOKES

Follow along with celebrity

trainer Kira Stokes as she leads

you through her exclusive Stoked

Circuits in this month’s Shape

Studio workout. Simply hover your

phone’s camera over

this smart code to

unlock the video and

make your body

and skin stronger.

sha +

e

stu ıo

Meanwhile, the increase in an exerkine

known as IL-15 is helping re-energize

the mitochondria, or power center, of

your skin cells. “Mitochondria become

dysfunctional as we age—like a fading

light bulb,” says Mark Tarnopolsky,

M.D., Ph.D., at McMaster University

Medical Centre in Ontario. “Restoring

the mitochondria with exercise can

help rejuvenate the skin and other tis-

sues, like muscle.” In Dr. Tarnopolsky’s

research, former couch potatoes who

did moderate-intensity cardio for 30 to

45 minutes twice a week (the study

participants mostly cycled, but some

also power walked too) had significantly

more collagen and mitochondria in

their skin after 12 weeks—so much so

that their skin cells showed the health

of those decades younger. Although

any activity increases blood flow and

oxygenation of the skin, more vigorous

aerobic exercise—at the conversation

threshold, or intensity at which you can

speak in choppy sentences—may pro-

vide a bigger increase, he says.

To help you power up your skin

regimen, we asked celebrity trainer

Kira Stokes, the creator of the Stoked

Method, to design a workout that would

keep you solidly in the vigorous zone

as you strengthen muscles all over.

“These two Stoked Circuits, comprising

four moves each, are programmed to

challenge your entire body in terms of

strength and cardiovascular condition-

ing,” Stokes says. You’ll move through

a lower-body strength exercise into

a plyometric combo, followed by a car-

dio core move and then an upper-body

strengthener. “One move flows seam-

lessly into the next,” she says. “There’s

a reason and a purpose for each move

and its placement”—namely, to get you

science-backed results. Find Stokes’s

expertly curated circuits in this month’s

Shape Studio workout video, and repeat

each three to four times to experience

a peak skin treatment.

SHA0520SWOPN.indd 48 FINAL CONTENT 3/12/20 5:55 PM