Facial Exercises: Your Key to Looking Younger

Summary: Many people exercise but even avid fitness buffs tend to forget one important area: The face. The face is made up of several muscles that need to be worked out, too! In this article, you'll read about the importance of facial exercises and what you need to know to start a facial exercise routine.

The inexorable march of time can wear down our skin. Over time, our once taut and lovely skin stretches, sags, fades, and becomes wrinkled. One day we find ourselves gazing into the mirror wondering "when did I start to look like my mother?"

It's funny that we exercise our bodies to stay fit and toned but we completely ignore our face as if that's the one part of our bodies that we have no control over. But nothing could be further from the truth! Like the rest of our bodies, our faces are made up of muscle and skin and those can be worked out to improve our appearance. Our skin may lose some of its elasticity but if the muscles in our face are in good shape then the effect is less noticeable. Ironically, the only part of our body that we don't clothe is the part that we tend to skip when exercising!

So, how do you do facial exercises? You can't attach dumbbells to your eyelids or do lip presses like leg presses.

Obviously, facial exercises look slightly different because the work of the muscle isn't a lifting muscle like our arm or leg muscles are. But all exercises, no matter where they are on the body, are designed to force the muscle to do additional bursts of work to get the blood moving, to increase oxygenation, and to get lazy muscles to activate.

And that is no different for the face. By intentionally activating those muscles, we get blood flowing through them and they can take on a toned, balanced appearance. Some of our face muscles are used in talking and smiling but others are ignored completely so a facial exercise regime that works all of the muscles in the face is necessary. It should be a vigorous workout that ensures that all muscles are activated.

With as many as 16 or more muscles in the face (there are more if you also count the neck), you may not be able to do 16 different facial exercises, but you should do exercises that hit the major points around your forehead, eyes, cheeks, nose, and mouth and those will help to activate a majority of the muscles (since more than one muscle will be activated during workout). And don't forget the neck! The neck should get a workout, too, to help eliminate the double chin and to help our posture.

Facial exercises are important to do to help you maintain a youthful appearance.

Imagine: Five simple facial exercises that reverse the effects of aging to help you achieve a younger looking face. Jener Jones is the creator of the iPhone application FiveIn5, which can empower you to look younger in only 5 minutes a day. Visit FiveIn5.com for more information and to invest in a younger you.