Can You Exercise After Getting a Tattoo?

New tattoos. Sensitive skin. Gym bag is just sitting by the door. For every new tattoo, this moment comes. Does a gym session break your tattoo? Your new tattoo is an open wound. The way you take care of it after these next couple of weeks will make the difference between your tattoo staying vibrant and crisp or it staying scabby and dull.

So you don't have to stop working out at all. You just need to be smart about when to do certain things, know which exercises are okay right away, and keep in mind that the two worst things for a healing tattoo are sweat and friction.

The Healing Timeline: When It Is Safe to Exercise

The initial 48 to 72 hours must be completely inactive: your wound is weeping excess ink and plasma and will be inflamed with heightened infection risk. Just even a fast-paced walk raising the pulse rate can open the pores and potentially pump contaminants into an already-raw, open wound. Rest for three days. Nothing more, nothing less.

Days 4-7, things get more relaxed, depending on the placement and size of your tattoo. So, let's say you have a forearm tattoo and now it's leg day, and you can probably go for something light. By week two, most tattoos are peeling and itching. This means they're closing up on the top layer. It's usually a 2-4 weeks before you can do full-intensity workouts, and that's when all peeling is gone, and your tattoos look healthy, smooth, and not sensitive anymore, flaky, or sensitive.

Exercises to Avoid With a Fresh Tattoo

HIIT, CrossFit, heavy lifting are the types of activities that leave you dripping sweat and sweating over gym mats full of strangers’ germs are the most likely to negatively affect your healing tattoo. In addition to the heavy sweating that occurs during these workouts, repetitive push/pull/stretch-type exercises can put stress on your skin and put strain on your tattoo when it’s still healing. If you do participate in contact sports (basketball, football, martial arts, wrestling, etc.), then even more caution is needed. One hard elbow to your fresh tattoo can cause scrapes and even damage to your skin.

Swimming also receives a recommendation. A 2 to 3 weeks minimum is advised by many artists; many recommend even one whole month. All pools (chlorinated or not), lakes, oceans etc. have microbes which will love an open skin, while hot tubs are full of bacteria which is very unhealthy for a healing skin.

Yoga could also be an issue. Imagine doing a deep backbend on your fresh back tattoo; you’re stretching the top layer of your skin to its limit and causing it to split open. You know that open or split skin equals lost color. Don’t get fooled by the gentle yoga class, as long as your tattooed skin is stretched, it’s not doing you any favors.

Sweat, Bacteria, and Infection Risk at the Gym

Sweat by itself doesn't ruin tattoos, but it can make healing harder. The sodium, ammonia and urea in sweat sitting on open wounds will soften your healing skin and draw ink particles out of your dermis before they can become stable. It can sting a bit like a skater's knee and your body is basically telling you not to push yourself. But if you touch it, try and scrape it, or wipe it, you're making a bad situation worse.

But what about the gym? Staph is on the bench press, methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) on the cable handles, fungi on the mats. It’s all been documented. If you go in with a fresh tattoo and any one of these organisms makes contact, infection becomes a real possibility, not a hypothetical one. Covering it with a shirt will help, but only so much. Once you’re sweating through it and then take the shirt off, you’ve just peeled off any scabs and ink.

Returning to Exercise by Tattoo Location

It can really depend on where you got the tattoo. Arm tattoos, from your bicep down to your wrist, can get irritated from all the pushing, pulling and gripping that comes with going to the gym. If you have a new arm tattoo, you'll want to focus on working out the lower part of your body for at least the first week or two. Conversely, if you have a new tattoo on your thigh, calf or ankle, you won't be able to squat, run or ride your bike, so focus your workouts on your upper body while the tattoo heals.

Torso tattoos are by far the most limiting. Whether it's your chest, ribs, back, or stomach, just about any compound lift will tax that area. I've been lifting heavy for years and I can't touch a fresh back piece, no rows and deadlifts are going to be off the list. Ribs too are out. It'd be really hard to do a twisting motion, and if I got hit in my ribs during that time who knows what would happen. Foot and hand tattoos are also the trickiest to navigate. Constant friction from shoes would get the foot tattoo. Any gripping you have to do with the hand to perform an exercise means no tattooed hands for you. Two weeks full rest from the gym seems reasonable for this.

Gym Hygiene Tips for Tattoo Owners

First, you’ll want to cover your tattoo with a thin coat of aftercare product before you even touch a weight. You don’t want the ink coming into contact with any sweat, after all. Wear loose, breathable clothing as well, and stay away from compression gear as it can encourage the heating up of the skin, which can be bad for healing skin. Bring your own towel and cover any benches, mats, etc., with it.

Wash the tattoo post-workout with lukewarm water, antibacterial soap (no fragrance), and a clean paper towel. Don’t rub. After it’s dry, apply moisturizer. If you see redness that radiates past the edges of the tattoo, your skin feels warm to the touch, you’re seeing pus, or you’re experiencing a fever, do not train; notify your tattoo artist and seek medical attention. An infected tattoo is a nightmare to treat. It’s far better to prevent infection altogether.