Your face is the first thing people notice about you. And the more attractive you look, the more positive their first impression is. That’s why your face must reflect a healthy and fit lifestyle – if you want to feel better about yourself. A masculine, defined jawline is preferable by some. Its strong appearance can make you more confident and convey an image of a man who takes care of himself. While this feature comes down to genetics, you can still improve the appearance of your jawline to enhance your imagery. This is where face exercises come into play. They can help you tighten muscles, reduce wrinkles, and improve overall facial structure. Let’s look at how you can get that strong jawline with the help of exercises.
Why Does Your Face Change As You Age?
Your facial features are determined by your bone structure, which may not change much with age. However, changes in skin and fat levels can cause some noticeable differences over time.
As you age, your face begins to lose fat and firmness. This causes wrinkles around the mouth, cheeks, eyes, and forehead. Your jawline may also become less defined due to sagging skin that hangs loosely from your head (9).
Gaining weight can also affect your appearance. After a certain age, maintaining a low body fat percentage becomes extra harder (4). Fat around the neck and jawline areas will begin to accumulate through time if you don’t watch your diet or exercise regularly.
Both sagging skin and excess fat can lead to that “older” look that some people try to avoid. Fortunately, a few face exercises can help reduce these effects and improve your overall appearance.
Face Slimming Exercises For Men
Like all other muscles, facial muscles can be toned with consistent exercises (3).
Here are a few workouts you can do to beat the effects of age on your jaw:
Eye Squeeze
This workout targets muscles surrounding the eye region. It can strengthen your cheekbone muscles to improve the overall structure of your face.
- Get into a comfortable position, whether sitting or standing. Take a deep breath in to prepare yourself.
- Pull your lips down to tighten your face, then pull them to the right.
- Squeeze your eyes closed for a second, then open it. Do this repeatedly for ten times.
- Repeat these movements with the opposite side of your face.
Neck Curl Up
This workout targets the saggy skin in your neck region. It activates the neck muscles and helps the skin resume its natural position.
- Lie on your back with your tongue pressed on the roof of your mouth. This activates the front neck muscles
- Bring your chin to your chest and lift your head off the floor. Keep your neck muscles contracted as you do this.
- Lower your head and chin slowly to the starting position, then repeat 12 times.
Tongue Twister
This workout targets the muscles under your chin and tones them for a better jawline appearance.
- Press your tongue against the roof of your mouth, directly behind your teeth.
- Tense your tongue and hum a single note.
- Repeat your humming and clenching to activate the muscles.
Read More: Exercises For Office Workers That You Can Do Sitting Or Standing At Your Desk
Jaw Clench
This workout targets muscles on the jawline area. You will need a special mouthguard made by your dentist with soft plastic that protects your teeth and joints. Do not use a sports mouthguard.
- Wear your special mouthguard.
- Clench and hold your teeth together for three seconds.
- Repeat ten times.
Vowel Sounds
Using loud vowel sounds such as “A” and “O” for this exercise targets the mouth muscles, lips, and area between the nose and lips.
- Purse your lips together without letting your teeth touch.
- Say “OO, EE” in exaggerated movements and in a loud voice.
- Repeat “OO, AA” also in exaggerated movements.
Chinup
This workout targets your face and chin muscles. When performed consistently, it can help lift the muscles in these areas.
- Sit down comfortably.
- With your mouth closed, purse your lips while pushing your lower jaw slightly forward and lifting your lower lip.
- Feel that stretch build just under your chin.
- Hold this position for at least ten seconds; relax and repeat.
How To Lose Face Fat?
While these exercises may help, the only way to get clear muscle definition on any part of your body is through a calorie deficit that burns away stored fat. You lose this fat through regular exercise, which you should combine with a healthy diet for best results.
Here are some diet tips worth considering:
Portion Control
A calorie deficit means eating fewer calories than you burn (10). The best way to do this is through portion control, which may mean eating less of what you currently eat (19).
Portion control can be a confusing topic since many of us are not sure what a proper portion size is.
For this reason, we recommend using visual references that can help you estimate food portions. The hand is a common unit of food measurement.
- A closed hand resembles a fist and is used to represent the serving size for carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, and cereal.
- The palm of your hand is the recommended serving size for proteins such as meat, chicken, and fish.
- A cupped hand is used to represent vegetables and fruit servings.
- Your thumb can be used to represent fat sources such as butter.
With these visual measurements, you can better estimate the right portions for your needs.
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Increase Fiber Intake
Fiber is a nutrient that your body does not digest or absorb. You may be wondering why fiber matters then, but it has many benefits that provide added health benefits to those on calorie-controlled diets.
Fiber helps you feel full longer (8). A diet rich in fiber can also help your body absorb fewer calories from the foods that you eat, which is a good way to lose weight.
For best results, aim for a daily intake of at least 25 grams of fiber from fruits, vegetables, and whole grains (7).
Always Go For Whole Over Processed Foods
Whole foods are always better for you than processed foods. This is because whole foods provide a healthier balance of nutrients, whereas processed food often contains extra sugars and unwanted ingredients that add calories to your diet (18).
A good rule of thumb to follow is that if you can’t identify its source, you probably shouldn’t eat it.
Eat The Right Fats
A calorie deficit means your body will need less energy than before, so it will burn stored fat for this fuel. During this process, toxins are released into your system and must be flushed away through sweat or urine. As a result, you may not feel very well when creating a calorie deficit (14).
To avoid this feeling, you need to eat the right types of fat that will help your body run more effectively during its fat-burning process.
You should aim for monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, these are healthy fats found in olive oil, flaxseed oil, canola oil, nuts, and seeds.
Exercise
Creating a calorie deficit through diet alone can be challenging. You may have to cut back drastically on what you eat to achieve this goal, which can lead to short-term results that are difficult to maintain.
Adding regular exercise is a great way of speeding up the calorie-burning process (17).
When creating your workout plan, make sure that you include both resistance training and cardiovascular activities for best results.
For example, you can lift weights three days a week, and follow each session with a 10-minute cardio workout.
Weight-bearing exercises help build muscle mass, which will strengthen your bones and increase your base metabolic rate (15). For this reason, resistance training is an important part of any exercise plan for weight loss.
Read More: 10 Family Exercise Ideas That Are Fun And Effective
How To Improve Saggy Skin?
As we had mentioned earlier, being overweight is not the only reason why you may lose facial definition and develop sagging skin. Aging can also lead to a loss in facial volume, which is one of the main causes of wrinkles.
As we age, our skin loses its natural elasticity because it becomes harder to retain moisture (11).
This leads to the thinner, more delicate skin that is susceptible to developing fine lines and wrinkles.
Wrinkles and sagging skin can also be exacerbated by the loss of facial volume that occurs naturally with age.
As we grow older, our fat pads shrink and cheekbones recede. The thinning of our skin becomes more apparent in these areas, which is why you may notice your face becoming flat or looking gaunt as time goes on.
Here are a few tips for preventing and improving saggy facial skin:
Moisturize Frequently
Men might overlook their skincare routine, but keeping it simple is essential.
A moisturizer will help your skin retain its natural moisture, which can reduce wrinkles and sag in the long run.
Choose those with special ingredients that target aging skin, such as:
- Peptides. Scientific studies show that peptides can help promote the production of collagen, which is essential for reducing wrinkles, fine lines, and other signs of aging (1).
- Retinol. This is the best ingredient to reduce sagging skin because it speeds up cell turnover rates (16). When this process takes place more rapidly, your body rids itself of old cells more quickly and produces healthier, younger-looking skin in its place.
- Tretinoin. This vitamin A derivative is a great ingredient for improving sagging skin. It helps promote collagen production while increasing cell turnover rates at the same time, which improves the appearance of aging skin (16).
Avoid Smoking
Smoking is one of the most harmful habits you can develop for your health.
It affects not only your internal organs but also the appearance of your skin. Studies have shown that smoking contributes to increased facial wrinkling by reducing blood flow to the skin and causing it to thin (6).
Avoid Sun Damage
Sun damage is a major cause of premature aging in men. It can lead to increased wrinkling and sagging, as well as the development of brown spots (12).
If you must be outdoors, make sure you protect yourself with sunscreen with an SPF of at least 30. You should also wear sunglasses that filter out UVA and UVB rays to reduce the risk of long-term damage.
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Swap Those Drinks For Green Tea
Alcohol consumption has been linked to an increased risk of premature aging and a variety of health conditions, including heart disease and liver damage (5).
In addition to cutting back on your alcohol intake, you should also swap your drinks for green tea. Green tea has been shown to delay skin aging in both animal studies and human clinical trials. It can even help reduce the appearance of wrinkles (2).
Include Fish In Your Diet
Fish is a great source of anti-aging nutrients, including omega-3 fatty acids. Studies have shown that omega-3 fatty acids play an important role in the prevention and treatment of skin conditions, such as psoriasis and eczema (13).
They can also reduce facial redness and irritation by controlling the production of inflammatory compounds in the body. Omega-3 fatty acids can also help keep your skin hydrated and moisturized.
The Bottom Line
Having a muscular and defined jawline is not only up to genetics. As men age, their facial muscles tend to shrink and recede, creating a more gaunt appearance.
Aging skin also becomes thinner and less able to protect the body’s soft tissues, leading to sagging skin in these areas. Luckily, there are several simple anti-aging skincare steps men can take to improve the quality of their facial skin and prevent sagging.
Furthermore, because weight gain can worsen facial appearance, doing facial exercises and eating a healthy diet go a long way in maintaining a youthful appearance.
DISCLAIMER:
This article is intended for general informational purposes only and does not address individual circumstances. It is not a substitute for professional advice or help and should not be relied on to make decisions of any kind. Any action you take upon the information presented in this article is strictly at your own risk and responsibility!
SOURCES:
- Anti-Wrinkle Benefits of Peptides Complex Stimulating Skin Basement Membrane Proteins Expression (2019, mdpi.com)
- A Review of the Role of Green Tea (Camellia sinensis) in Antiphotoaging, Stress Resistance, Neuroprotection, and Autophagy (2019, ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
- Association of Facial Exercise With the Appearance of Aging (2018, jamanetwork.com)
- Body composition changes with aging: The cause or the result of alterations in metabolic rate and macronutrient oxidation? (2009, ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
- Chronic Diseases and Conditions Related to Alcohol Use (2014, ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
- Cigarettes Smoking and Skin: A Comparison Study of the Biophysical Properties of Skin in Smokers and Non-Smokers (2019, ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
- Closing America’s Fiber Intake Gap (2016, ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
- Dietary fat, fibre, satiation, and satiety—a systematic review of acute studies (2014, nature.com)
- Facial aging trajectories: A common shape pattern in male and female faces is disrupted after menopause (2019, onlinelibrary.wiley.com)
- Fat loss depends on energy deficit only, independently of the method for weight loss (2007, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
- Loss of skin elasticity precedes to rapid increase of wrinkle levels (20007, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
- Natural and Sun-Induced Aging of Human Skin (2015, ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
- Omega 3 Fatty Acid and Skin Diseases (2021, frontiersin.org)
- Popular Diets: A Scientific Review (2012, onlinelibrary.wiley.com)
- Resistance training is medicine: effects of strength training on health (2012, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
- Retinoids: active molecules influencing skin structure formation in cosmetic and dermatological treatments (2019, ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
- Role of Physical Activity for Weight Loss and Weight Maintenance (2017, diabetesjournals.org)
- Ultra-processed Food Intake and Obesity: What Really Matters for Health – Processing or Nutrient Content? (2017, ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
- What is the role of portion control in weight management? (2014, nature.com)