natjtan I had a great energising total body strength/HIIT combo for this mornings workout. Lots of full burpees, plank deadlifts, resistance band woodchops and 1 arm rows, long jumps and more! Felt at lot more awake than when I woke! Cool down circuit of abs and handstands. I lead with my left leg today and found it easier to get balance at the top than when leading with the right.
My hair in the summer usually doesn’t fair well from all the havoc sweat, sunblock and salt water causes. This summer I think I’ve finally workout how to protect it. So with out further ado, here are my tricks:
1: Hair in a bun. I used to just wear a pony tail when working out and running, but all the sweat and sunblock dried the ends out. I discovered recently in Galeries Lafayette’s (the only department store in France) sale some no snag hair bands. These particular type also doesn’t leave tell tale pony tail kinks when my hair is down. They get extra points as they can double as bracelets! Previously, I was using knitted elastic bands, but found these leave kinks and break the hair shafts. I wear my hair down a lot and to prevent sticky sunblock ends before leaving, I put in a loose bun until the sunblocks’s absorbed.
2. Headbands: To keep all the loose hairs out my face, I’m currently using Claire’s Accessories elastic headbands (6 headbands for €4.50). They stay put and keep their elasticity well. It’ll take me quite a few months to work my way through these. When I run in the mornings or when the sun’s out, I wear a cap to help keep the sun and hair out of my eyes and reduce sun inflicted headaches.
3: Deep Conditioner: Despite my best efforts to keep my hair away from sunblock, saltwater and sweat, it still gets in and dries it out. I’ve received last month with my order from lookfantastic.com free travel size samples of Macadamia Natural Oil. For the past few weeks, once a week I’ve used their Deep Repair Masque and wow…I’ve never had such silky soft hair! Despite washing my hair everyday, I could still see the masque’s effect a couple of days later. Previously when the ends got bad I used coconut milk which is a great close second. This bottle should last a while as I only need to use a little and at a 100ml is full sized. 
4: Diet: I’ve made a big effort to eat as clean as possible this year. Our hair takes about a month to grow one centimetre and I’m seeing the pay off now from all my afternoon trail mix snacks, avocados and a teaspoon of flaxmeal in my salads. These contain a lot of Omega 3 essential fatty acids which helps keep hair strong, healthy and shiny.
5: SLS, Paraben and Phthalates free shampoo and conditioner: I’ve recently been using Alba Botanica Natural Hawaiian Body Builder Mango Shampoo, I purchased from bathandunwind.com and it looks like its doing well fighting all the sweat, sunblock and salt residue. Unlike other SLS fee shampoos, my hair feels moisturised when I wash it out. I’m also using Paul Mitchell Instant Moisture Daily Treatment/conditioner and these two seem to be working well together. The Instant Daily Treatment also gets extra brownie points as helps protect against sun damage.
6: Just because: My hibiscus had flowered in the night and all I need to do is pop one in my hair and dream of Hawaii! Aloha!
How do you keep your locks luscious while training the summer months?
Note: I wash my hair everyday as it gets dirty from training.