Does your hair get in the way of your exercise routine?

(thinkstock photos)

A little sweat may do a body good, but it doesn't do our hair any favors. The U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Regina M. Benjamin has just called out complicated hairdos as the great excuse for not working out. 

"Oftentimes you get women saying, 'I can't exercise today because I don't want to sweat my hair back or get my hair wet,' " she told the New York Times. "When you're starting to exercise, you look for reasons not to, and sometimes the hair is one of those reasons."

If you've ever dropped a fortune on akeratin treatment or even a professional blow-out (this girl, right here) you know it's more than an excuse, it's a dilemma. The question boils down to what's more important: Short-term beauty or long-term health? The answer should be obvious, considering the alarming new stats that 50 percent of Americans will be obese by 2030. But in 2011, the thought of blowing your hard-earned coif makes a persuasive argument for not getting off the couch.  

Vanity usually wins, so does money (which feels wasted if you've just returned from the hairstylist). But, according to Benjamin who first addressed the issue at a hair trade show in Atlanta this month, women have to remember to put their health before their locks. And so do their stylists.  

"When they have that customer in their chair they build up a rapport with them, they build up a trust," she told the Times. "We want them talking about health issues."

I'm not sure if I need to turn my haircut into a health consultation but I wouldn't mind if stylists spent more time concocting water-proof hair options. I also wouldn't mind if the computer would stop enchanting me when I'm preparing to go to a yoga class. Hair is definitely in the rotation of my gym class excuses, but it's not my only card trick. What about you: does your hair make it harder to exercise?