We’ve all seen the pictures. The before-and-after shots of people who have gone from flabby to shredded, from out of shape to ripped. And in many cases, their faces seem to have changed as well.
So does bodybuilding actually change your face?
Today we’re looking at how improving your body can improve your face, how it does it, and what the limitations are for such a life-changing difference.
Where Did This Question Come From?
There are a lot of examples of people showing complete transformations before and after taking up bodybuilding. In pursuing better bodies, many people note that their face was one of the places where they saw the most change.
The change from overweight to muscular and lean is a significant change to how you look – one way or another. This is also paired with a major change in the face, which few people were expecting but has round to be some of the best benefits of changing body composition.
There are – particularly – a lot of ‘enhanced’ transformations that show off this kind of change.
Whether from a skinny kid to a jacked guy or a chubby guy to a lean one, the result is typically a more attractive face, and this has led many people to ask – does bodybuilding change your face?
Does Bodybuilding Change Your Face?
The answer is a mixture of yes and no. Typically, bodybuilding will make you more attractive in the face as it changes the way that your existing bone structure is visible, as well as potentially changing the health and complexion of the skin.
It’s also impossible to miss the confounding factor: people who start to take more interest in their appearance are likely to improve other habits. Bodybuilding can open people up to better skincare and concern for hairstyles.
Bodybuilding will change the soft tissues of the face, but it will not change some of the hard, underlying stuff. Remember: bodybuilding will make the most of what you have but won’t change the genetic stuff.
Changing Face Composition: How Bodybuilding Changes Your Face
Bodybuilding can definitely change how your face looks – especially if you come to bodybuilding with unwanted body fat.
One of the most effective ways to improve your facial appearance is to reduce body fat and water retention, making a face look soft and pudgy and even leaving you with jowls.
The focus on improving body composition in bodybuilding is one of the easiest ways to unveil a hidden jawline, cheekbones, or even a neck that was obscured.
Reducing body fat is one of the most important ways that men, in particular, can improve their appearance -a s the most attractive masculine traits are associated with these changes.
This is one of the reasons why the most attractive people typically display well-defined features. The appearance of the face is hard to see with too much body fat, and burning this body fat in the pursuit of a better physique also reveals the finer – more attractive – features of the face.
Not only does it reveal the most important features of the face, but it also codes for health and athleticism when other people look at you.
These changes are all deeply personal. They are going to bring out the best in your face often.
Regular activity also contributes to things like hormonal environment – where diet, exercise, hydration, and sleep all help improve other factors like skin quality and complexion.
Changing Your Hormonal Environment With Bodybuilding
If you’re young enough, lifestyle changes will show up physically in how your features respond. This is not likely to be a bodybuilding-specific change, but exercise, diet, and sleep hygiene contribute to healthy development.
For those under 21, developing healthier habits may well involve a higher level of free testosterone, improvements to nutrient deficiency, or simply the impetus to grow more healthily.
This involves any form of exercise, as well as the improvement of dietary factors like hormone-regulating compounds, removal of deficiency (such as Zinc or Vitamin D deficiency), and bone health, all contributing to how you grow – both in height and in the face. As above, this also involves skin quality and complexion.
Bone Structure: Bodybuilding Can’t Change Your Features
There are some things that none of us can really change. As adults, we must deal with our major facial features, except for a broken nose or severe, invasive surgery, which are probably set forever.
Things like the jaw and cheekbones, the position of the eyes, and their setting in the skull, happen at the level of bones. You can’t train those, unsurprisingly.
This means you’re always going to be working with what you’ve got – which is why the severe impact of fat gains and fat loss are so important. If you can’t do much to change your face, then anything that does work (like changing body composition) is even more noticeable.
Transformations around the face are typically the fat and water retention, and the way they make your face look ‘soft’ – again, more of a problem for guys, where strong and defined features are typically more attractive.
FAQ
Does Gaining Muscle Change Your Face?
Gaining muscle will not usually change your face – unless you’re doing lots of jaw exercise. There may be mild secondary gains in your face muscles, but not enough to see significant differences.
The main changes to your face will come from fat loss, not muscle gain. However, this may not apply equally to people using anabolic drugs since they promote whole-body muscle change and may include face muscle development.
Does Bodybuilding Change Your Face Shape?
Bodybuilding won’t necessarily change your face shape, but it will change how you present that face to the world.
Losing fat is one of the most reliable and effective ways to change your appearance. Reducing facial and neck fat significantly improves the definition of facial features like the jaw and cheekbones. These are typically the most important for attractive faces.
There are other ways bodybuilding may change your face shape – especially by using anabolics, long-term hormonal change, or just improving your diet and sleep habits. These indirect effects can add another layer – but won’t necessarily change face shape – just appearance.
Does Testosterone Change Your Face?
Possibly – testosterone can significantly increase the resting muscle mass of your face even without direct training. This may increase the size and density of facial muscles – especially around the jaw.
Other anabolics like trenbolone which reduce subcutaneous water and fat, will also significantly change your face, producing a “tren jaw,” where the jawline looks very cut and defined.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, bodybuilding definitely affects your face – but whether or not those changes are desirable is up to you! If you’re looking for a more sculpted look, then bodybuilding could be a good option for you. However, if you’re looking for clear skin and a youthful appearance, you might want to consider another form of exercise!
