• HOMEWORKIN.CA •
THE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO
FACE EXERCISE BY SUZANNE BECHARD
E
ver look in the mirror and wonder why no matter how much rest you’ve had, you still look tired? Where did all those droops and sags come from? Your sobering reflection may send you in search of the latest anti-aging miracle cream. After trying expensive moisturizers and serums, you watch helplessly as Father Time wreaks havoc with your jawline. What’s next? Botox? Injectable dermal fillers? Surgery? These days, media is filled with ads for injectable cosmetic treatments to reduce facial wrinkles and restore skin. This is no accident: the global facial injectable market size was valued at $13.4 billion US in 2020 and is expected to expand. COVID-19 has increased time spent on video calls, known as “Zoom Boom.” This has made us more aware of our appearance, which fuels demand for cosmetic procedures. Do you want to hop on this beauty bandwagon? Are you willing to commit to a lifetime where you entrust someone to re-engineer your face in pursuit of fuller lips and more sculpted cheekbones? Imagine how a muscle that has been repeatedly paralyzed “wears” on the face years later. Or the unnatural pouches that remain after years of injecting dermal fillers. Not to mention the expense. As a passionate fitness instructor, the concept of injecting or paralyzing a muscle to smooth out a wrinkle never made sense to me. I have spent 58 THE ART OF LIVING WELL
years studying and testing how facial muscles respond to exercise. I’m in my early fifties. When someone meets me, I frequently watch them puzzle over my age or try to spot cosmetic work. Through experience, I can confirm that enlarging a facial muscle through exercise will smooth the skin that lies over the muscle, reducing or eliminating wrinkles and restoring a youthful contour. While there’s still little clinical research, a 2017 study conducted by Dr. Murad Alam, professor of dermatology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, showed how a 30-minute facial exercise program sustained over 20 weeks improved the appearance of selected middleaged women. Participants notes significant improvement in many facial features. Besides a healthy diet, no smoking, and regular use of sunscreen, exercising the face is now clinically proven to be a natural way to correct droopy facial features. I designed the following face strengthening program as an essential workout for anyone new to face exercises. I hope you will find this to be confidence-boosting and effective. In the privacy of your home, in just eight to 20 weeks you can preserve your natural beauty and restore your face to the toned and lifted look you had when you were younger.
