#WORKOUTWEDNESDAY: THE UPDO YOU CAN WORK & WORKOUT IN
I love a good updo. Especially when I’m working on third and fourth day hair because it starts to fall flat and lose volume no matter what I use in it. But when I’m working out regularly, I hate anything that puts a bump at the back or near top of my head. Super high topknots work, but those also put so much stress on my hair and can be a bit of a headache. SO, I love undo’s that look pretty for what I’m doing during the day, but that are also flat against my head so it’s comfortable when I’m laying down on a mat at the gym. This simple braided updo is my absolute favorite work to gym style.
UNDER ARMOUR TANK (SIMILAR) // UNDER ARMOUR SPORTS BRA (SIMILAR)
Another nice thing about an updo like this is you can go straight to the gym and there’s one less thing you can make an excuse about (“Ugh, but I don’t want to redo my hair just to go to the gym…”) and, if you don’t sweat much like me, this style holds itself really well during a medium-to-low impact workout so you can wear it after the gym, too!
BRAIDED WORK TO WORKOUT UPDO
ONE. PREP YOUR HAIR WITH TEXTURE SPRAY OR DRY SHAMPOO.
My hair is very fine and soft so it just doesn’t stay up. I always prep my hair before an updo with a texture spray or dry shampoo to encourage the hair to stay in place. I’ve also found that it gives me a bit of volume.
TWO. MAKE A DEEP PART TO ONE SIDE OF YOUR HEAD.
Pick whatever side you feel most comfortable with. I always part on my right side, so I just pushed that part about 1.5 -2 inches to the right of the center of my forehead.
THREE. PART FROM THE DEEP SIDE PART TO YOUR EAR ON THE HEAVY SIDE.
Take your comb about four inches back from your forehead and part down to just behind your ear. Tie this piece apart from the rest of the head for a moment.
FOUR. TEASE THE REMAINING HAIR AT THE TOP OF YOUR HEAD.
Go ahead and tease all the rest of your hair within about 1.5 inches from your part and the crown. When you start pulling in pieces going around your head, this will help weird parts from showing up and keep the whole look full and pretty.
FIVE. BEGIN A DUTCH LACE BRAID INCORPORATING HAIR ON THE HAIRLINE SIDE.
Working with your separated chuck, start at the part and dutch braid along your hair line until you run out of hair. ONLY incorporate hair when you’re braiding the strand closest to your hair line. This will allow you to hide any part that may have appeared on your head when you separated this chunk. It will also make pancaking the braids easier later.
SIX. BEGIN INCORPORATING HAIR FROM THE REST OF THE HEAD AND FLIP THE SIDE YOU INCORPORATE INTO.
So this is the hardest part. Once you run out of the section of hair, you need to start braiding around the base of your head and you should start adding pieces of hair not into the side closest to the skin, but the side that would be covering your hair. This is the best way to ensure the hair on your head stays smooth because it essentially will fall straight down into the braid until it’s been twisted in place by the next stitch and reincorporated. If you were to continue adding hair along the skin/hair line, you might see your hair start to pull and tug in weird directions as opposed to moving smoothly into the braid. Continue this pattern around your head until you run out of hair.
SEVEN. CONTINUE THE BRAID UNTIL AS CLOSE TO YOUR ENDS AS POSSIBLE, THE TIE OFF.
This one is pretty simple right? Just keep braiding until you can’t anymore.
EIGHT. PANCAKE THOSE BRAIDS.
Moving around your head, gently tug at the edges of the braids to make them a little fuller. Start at your forehead and go all the way down to your elastic.
NINE. PIN THE BRAID CLOSE TO YOUR EAR.
Pull the braid out and start to tuck it under, then pin it. You want this to be as close to your ear as is comfortable, especially if your hair is a little longer than mine. Since the point of this style is to keep the bulk off the back of your head, the closer you move the braid to your ear, the more comfortable it will be at the gym.
TEN. FOLD THE BRAID BACK AND UNDER THE DUTCH BRAID.
This is where flipping the side you incorporate into will definitely come in handy (besides just keeping the back smooth). Because that side is not pulled to the head, you can tuck the remainder of the braid under the previous one. Just make sure to pancake it as much as you can to keep it smooth. Add a few pins all around to keep it in place. Press your hand against where you’re pinning to make sure they won’t poke you when you’re laying on a mat.
ELEVEN. SPRAY IT DOWN.
Mist a layer of hair spray all over and tuck a mini one into your gym bag (if you don’t have one in there already) to touch it up again before you start working out.
And that’s it! What do you think? How do you like to wear your hair to the gym? Let me know in the comments!
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