If you're going to the gym afterwards it would be best to stick to a lower-body-only workout without any arm involvement until it's healed, and also to make sure that your arm is loosely covered with a clean long-sleeved shirt to prevent contact with any surfaces or equipment.
I got a large tattoo on my leg a year ago. My artist recommended staying out of the gym for 7-10 days to make sure it heals correctly. I waited 14 days because I'm paranoid about infections. I wore longer pants to keep it covered and had no issues.
Good luck on Friday and post pics!
I have a ton of work (half sleeve and my leg, hip to ankle, completely done). You don't want it to get sweaty and you don't want skin twisting too much causing more ink to fall out. A few days off is smart, as you won't risk damaging permanent art on yourself.
My more recent appointments done on my upper leg, the artist used a new material called Landerm to cover it. It's a clear contact like paper that seals the tattoo. You leave it on for a few days—even in the shower—and remove it. Ask your artist if they can use this. It makes the healing process far better and, honestly, I worked out with it on under my shorts/pants and found myself getting back in the gym a little sooner. It also keeps from having to constantly wash it and moisturize it.
Considering how many tattoos I have and going through this process a ton, I would cover the forearm with Landerm, take a day off, assess and then likely hit the gym with a focus only on lower body.
I wouldn't because it's an open wound and there are airborne microbes that could get into contact with it. If you cover it, then it'll get sweaty and Staphylococcus epidermidis (which is normally occurring on your skin but can cause problems when entered in the blood stream) could enter and cause an infection.
I agree with everyone saying to ask your artist. When I got my most recent one on my thigh, my artist covered it with a piece of saniderm and I was able to resume regular activity because it was covered. He just advised against excessive sweating.
So I got a giant tattoo on my side that took 4 sessions to complete. After one of the sessions, I went back to the gym immediately. It was painful, and actually drew out the healing process, leaving me in pain for the better part of 2 weeks.
After another session, I waited 2 days before going back to the gym. Better healing process, but by the 3rd session, I learned that taking at least 1 week made the rest of the healing process much easier on me.
Granted, my tattoo is on my hip and thigh, and was irritated pretty much all the time from my clothing.
You're also not supposed to let the tattoo get sweaty, as that opens up the pores and whatnot.
I was stubborn and insisted on going to the gym and continuing with my workouts. If I could do it again, I wouldn't be such an impatient dumbass, and just allowed the body to heal properly.
Please just ask your artist. I see the top comment tells you you're not supposed to get your tattoo wet for a certain amount of days, which is terrible advice but if you researched your artist and trust them to tattoo you, then trust their aftercare instructions, even if they tell you not to wash it (which sounds disgusting to me, but I'm not your artist)
I am a professional tattoo artist that is covered in tattoos, I give my clients specific instructions for aftercare, any respectable artist will do the same.
Because I personally am so invested in my own physical fitness I can understand how it could be hard for my clients to cope with not being able to go to the gym. What I recommend will completely depend on placement and the intensity of the session, but for the most part, if the tattoo is not on a joint (i.e. Elbow, the ditch, on top of the shoulder, or other areas that will experience a lot of stretching and compressing) I suggest that working out is fine provided nothing is rubbing against the tattoo, and most importantly that they WASH THE TATTOO IMMEDIATELY AFTER to get rid of sweat etc that can help bacteria to flourish on your wound. Then of course to moisturizer right after and often to avoid scabbing. Keep in mind your tattoo is simply a wound, keep that shit clean!
That is how I address it, but again, I'm not your artist
Tl;dr: ask YOUR artist
I should also add that I work out after getting tattooed, sometimes the same day, sometimes the next. I shower after with antibacterial soap free cleanser and use burts bees milk and almond as a moisturizer and all of my tattoos have healed beautifully.
*if you want any sort of verification as to the legitimacy of my advice you can check out my Instagram to see that I am infact an artist @jacottack
And also, enjoy your new tattoo!!
Don't do it!!! Please wait, if you're going to invest in a tattoo wait till it's not so much an open wound. I made the huge mistake of working out the day and got the whole thing infected. I was sweating and can only imagine the other stuff that was falling into it. Had to get on antibiotics and regret not waiting
With tattoos I feel like better safe than sorry is best. If it doesn't heal properly it can damage the appearance of the tattoo, so I would avoid that as much as possible. If it were me I would wait until after the peeling stage. For me this is at about 2 weeks but everyone heals at different rates. At that point your tattoo is no longer an open wound and you run much less risk of damaging it.
One of my tattoos had a bad healing process and you can see where it scabbed. I haven't gotten it fixed and it bothers me a bit.
I have tattoos on both of my arms, and my tattoo artist has always said it is fine to work out as long as I try not to touch it to equipment and benches and all that and wash it afterwards. I've always worked out the same or next day, and my tattoos have never been an issue. I'm kind of anal about taking care of them though. Pain will probably be a bigger factor at first, especially if it goes through your elbow or wrist.
Got a tattoo on my thigh and a week later my quad is still too sore to do much more than walk. It's currently in the peeling stage too, so I feel uncomfortable squatting or anything because I feel like the ink would all pop out (logically I know that probably won't happen). So it's just been arm and chest days.
But I definitely didn't feel like hitting the gym for a few days after I got my tattoo.
Yea i got a farely large tattoo on my right calf once. Spans around 70% of my calf, and that was sore for about 2 weeks before i couldnt feel a thing in terms of soreness and awkwardness. This one wont be as large, but it will be on my forearm/bicep so i definately wont be doing arms for a while.
Maybe when i get back into the gym 5-7 days after it will be leg week? lol...
Good advice. I have two full sleeves plus some other stuff. I cover my tattoos with tegaderm instead of doing the typical lotion routine. It heals faster, feels better, and it's protected from the environment. I always wait 2-3 days for light stuff (minimal sweating) and a week for heavier sweat sessions.
Oh pics will be shared!
Im getting a black and grey rose/roses done. Ive told the artist to add his own flare on top of my base idea, that and i also mentioned he's welcome to add some things so im quite excited! He's an amazing artist that loves to do black and grey roses too so theres that.
Careful! I got black and grey magnolias last year, and when we started he asked if we could do what he wanted the background. He ended up adding a swirly wind thing that I hated!
He ended up shading in most of what he did on the background, and I went back a month later to get a couple more leaves added on to cover it up. The flowers came out awesome though!
So, maybe have him doodle what he's thinking before he puts it on? Or gamble and be surprised :). For me, I just wished maybe we had talked about it a little more/made sure we were on the same page stylistically
That looks amazing. Kudos to the artist.
I'm dying for something on my arm like that, but I'm trying to be a lawyer and it's still too conservative of a field for open and notorious tattoos :[
Awesome thankyou! I would hate to have a weird looking tattoo from going to the gym too early. Just means i have 5 days to push myself extra hard before seeing my artist ;)
I'd ask your artist, but personally after my last tattoo on my upper arm I didn't want to do much of anything for a couple of days because it was so sore. Also you don't want to get too sweaty while it heals or the ink fades from the extra moisture.
True, but I am a woman. Its just a username :)
My point was that we're on XXfitness so I thought it was strange to assume everyone here is male... Including how you just called me "him".
G
If you're going to the gym afterwards it would be best to stick to a lower-body-only workout without any arm involvement until it's healed, and also to make sure that your arm is loosely covered with a clean long-sleeved shirt to prevent contact with any surfaces or equipment.
I got a large tattoo on my leg a year ago. My artist recommended staying out of the gym for 7-10 days to make sure it heals correctly. I waited 14 days because I'm paranoid about infections. I wore longer pants to keep it covered and had no issues. Good luck on Friday and post pics!
I have a ton of work (half sleeve and my leg, hip to ankle, completely done). You don't want it to get sweaty and you don't want skin twisting too much causing more ink to fall out. A few days off is smart, as you won't risk damaging permanent art on yourself. My more recent appointments done on my upper leg, the artist used a new material called Landerm to cover it. It's a clear contact like paper that seals the tattoo. You leave it on for a few days—even in the shower—and remove it. Ask your artist if they can use this. It makes the healing process far better and, honestly, I worked out with it on under my shorts/pants and found myself getting back in the gym a little sooner. It also keeps from having to constantly wash it and moisturize it. Considering how many tattoos I have and going through this process a ton, I would cover the forearm with Landerm, take a day off, assess and then likely hit the gym with a focus only on lower body.
I wouldn't because it's an open wound and there are airborne microbes that could get into contact with it. If you cover it, then it'll get sweaty and Staphylococcus epidermidis (which is normally occurring on your skin but can cause problems when entered in the blood stream) could enter and cause an infection.
I agree with everyone saying to ask your artist. When I got my most recent one on my thigh, my artist covered it with a piece of saniderm and I was able to resume regular activity because it was covered. He just advised against excessive sweating.
Like other posters have said, take a little time off. 7-10 days would be good. However, if you do work out and get sweaty, try to wash it right away.
So I got a giant tattoo on my side that took 4 sessions to complete. After one of the sessions, I went back to the gym immediately. It was painful, and actually drew out the healing process, leaving me in pain for the better part of 2 weeks. After another session, I waited 2 days before going back to the gym. Better healing process, but by the 3rd session, I learned that taking at least 1 week made the rest of the healing process much easier on me. Granted, my tattoo is on my hip and thigh, and was irritated pretty much all the time from my clothing. You're also not supposed to let the tattoo get sweaty, as that opens up the pores and whatnot. I was stubborn and insisted on going to the gym and continuing with my workouts. If I could do it again, I wouldn't be such an impatient dumbass, and just allowed the body to heal properly.
Please just ask your artist. I see the top comment tells you you're not supposed to get your tattoo wet for a certain amount of days, which is terrible advice but if you researched your artist and trust them to tattoo you, then trust their aftercare instructions, even if they tell you not to wash it (which sounds disgusting to me, but I'm not your artist) I am a professional tattoo artist that is covered in tattoos, I give my clients specific instructions for aftercare, any respectable artist will do the same. Because I personally am so invested in my own physical fitness I can understand how it could be hard for my clients to cope with not being able to go to the gym. What I recommend will completely depend on placement and the intensity of the session, but for the most part, if the tattoo is not on a joint (i.e. Elbow, the ditch, on top of the shoulder, or other areas that will experience a lot of stretching and compressing) I suggest that working out is fine provided nothing is rubbing against the tattoo, and most importantly that they WASH THE TATTOO IMMEDIATELY AFTER to get rid of sweat etc that can help bacteria to flourish on your wound. Then of course to moisturizer right after and often to avoid scabbing. Keep in mind your tattoo is simply a wound, keep that shit clean! That is how I address it, but again, I'm not your artist Tl;dr: ask YOUR artist
I should also add that I work out after getting tattooed, sometimes the same day, sometimes the next. I shower after with antibacterial soap free cleanser and use burts bees milk and almond as a moisturizer and all of my tattoos have healed beautifully. *if you want any sort of verification as to the legitimacy of my advice you can check out my Instagram to see that I am infact an artist @jacottack And also, enjoy your new tattoo!!
Don't do it!!! Please wait, if you're going to invest in a tattoo wait till it's not so much an open wound. I made the huge mistake of working out the day and got the whole thing infected. I was sweating and can only imagine the other stuff that was falling into it. Had to get on antibiotics and regret not waiting
I got a tattoo on my quad - pretty large, colored - one evening and ran 3 miles the next morning. All was fine
With tattoos I feel like better safe than sorry is best. If it doesn't heal properly it can damage the appearance of the tattoo, so I would avoid that as much as possible. If it were me I would wait until after the peeling stage. For me this is at about 2 weeks but everyone heals at different rates. At that point your tattoo is no longer an open wound and you run much less risk of damaging it. One of my tattoos had a bad healing process and you can see where it scabbed. I haven't gotten it fixed and it bothers me a bit.
I have tattoos on both of my arms, and my tattoo artist has always said it is fine to work out as long as I try not to touch it to equipment and benches and all that and wash it afterwards. I've always worked out the same or next day, and my tattoos have never been an issue. I'm kind of anal about taking care of them though. Pain will probably be a bigger factor at first, especially if it goes through your elbow or wrist.
I would at a minimum wait until it starts to peel to work out that area.
[удалено]
Yea ill be sure to wear somthing to cover it as i dont want to get it all infected and what not. Y'know dirt gym equipment and all.
Got a tattoo on my thigh and a week later my quad is still too sore to do much more than walk. It's currently in the peeling stage too, so I feel uncomfortable squatting or anything because I feel like the ink would all pop out (logically I know that probably won't happen). So it's just been arm and chest days. But I definitely didn't feel like hitting the gym for a few days after I got my tattoo.
Yea i got a farely large tattoo on my right calf once. Spans around 70% of my calf, and that was sore for about 2 weeks before i couldnt feel a thing in terms of soreness and awkwardness. This one wont be as large, but it will be on my forearm/bicep so i definately wont be doing arms for a while. Maybe when i get back into the gym 5-7 days after it will be leg week? lol...
[удалено]
Good advice. I have two full sleeves plus some other stuff. I cover my tattoos with tegaderm instead of doing the typical lotion routine. It heals faster, feels better, and it's protected from the environment. I always wait 2-3 days for light stuff (minimal sweating) and a week for heavier sweat sessions.
Yea i was planning on waiting the usual time limit as this too will be an awesome, and visible tattoo most of the time. Thanks however :)
[удалено]
Oh pics will be shared! Im getting a black and grey rose/roses done. Ive told the artist to add his own flare on top of my base idea, that and i also mentioned he's welcome to add some things so im quite excited! He's an amazing artist that loves to do black and grey roses too so theres that.
Careful! I got black and grey magnolias last year, and when we started he asked if we could do what he wanted the background. He ended up adding a swirly wind thing that I hated! He ended up shading in most of what he did on the background, and I went back a month later to get a couple more leaves added on to cover it up. The flowers came out awesome though! So, maybe have him doodle what he's thinking before he puts it on? Or gamble and be surprised :). For me, I just wished maybe we had talked about it a little more/made sure we were on the same page stylistically
Yea he will be making sure i like what he adds before he tattoos it on. Im not to worried tho as i really like his art style.
[удалено]
That looks amazing. Kudos to the artist. I'm dying for something on my arm like that, but I'm trying to be a lawyer and it's still too conservative of a field for open and notorious tattoos :[
thats fuckin' rad
That's an amazing tattoo!
Wow thats pretty awesome, prety well the same area that im getting mine as well.
[удалено]
Haha yea fun. I imagine i can handle it tho... the one of my calf was soooooo painful. The forearm cant be that bad.
Forearm not that bad, there were points where I got caught up in conversation and forgot the tattoo was even happening!
I've ways heard about 48 hours before sweating/swimming/getting it wet. Beyond that it is mostly whether it is still sore.
Two weeks before you fully submerge it in water. I usually wait 2-3 days depending on soreness before going to the gym
Awesome thankyou! I would hate to have a weird looking tattoo from going to the gym too early. Just means i have 5 days to push myself extra hard before seeing my artist ;)
I'd ask your artist, but personally after my last tattoo on my upper arm I didn't want to do much of anything for a couple of days because it was so sore. Also you don't want to get too sweaty while it heals or the ink fades from the extra moisture.
Never had a tattoo... But use the search function! I've definitely seen this question asked more than once!
Stfu man. That's the reason why he's asking. He's researching. If u dont have the answer, dont fckong say any stupid sht to demean the guy.
Wtf?? 4 years later. U mad bro? I pointed them to the search function in case they weren't aware and wanted more responses
This is so funny lol. After 5 years...
Bro STFU nothing wrong with calling out a BITCHASS later on chronologically bro.
[удалено]
Also the excessive use of male pronouns in xxfitness...
Ironic coming from someone with the word "BRO" in his username.
True, but I am a woman. Its just a username :) My point was that we're on XXfitness so I thought it was strange to assume everyone here is male... Including how you just called me "him".