What is the effect of competing with shaved legs?
Has any research been done on the drag and time lost with hairy legs vs shaved?
As a hairy legged runner I’d be interested in others opinions (and hopefully some hard fact) before pulling out the razor!
From other hairy runners i have seen. Its just a mental thing. Makes them feel good, and due to what i think is a placebo effect, makes them run better. The other major benifit that people shave, Massage. Cut the oil down by up to a quarter. Easier to massage. More likly to get more massage. Massage’s now take longer. All this, = better running.
very good overlooked point about shaving for massage.
I absolutely agree, being southern italian we are very hairy people. I had gone through this same train of thought back when I was in high school. And, after years of contemplating, I finally had shaved and then eventually waxed (ouch!!) I would definetly say that it is more mental than physical, however, if the act of shaving/waxing makes it more of a positive placebo then so be it, use it in to your advantage.
Similarly, the best advantage of having hairless legs, is exactly what boldwarrior mentioned, it cuts down on the amount of massage oil used and it makes the massages pain free, especially after when getting deep tissue massages (painful stuff with hair).
This brings back some funny memories, I remember my masseur begging me to shave my legs b/c I was wasting his oil and b/c he would see me scream in pain during massage sessions. Finally, I gathered up the courage to finally do it and it was a weird experience. By this I mean, that you can actually “feel” the clothes (pants) when you put them on; with hair, the clothes simply run on top of the hairs and it is a huge difference in feeling from shaven to unshaven.
However, word of caution (I bet some of you are going to laugh at this). I guess you can call it a side-effect, after a while from waxing (not shaving), my lower leg hairs (inferior to my tibialis anterior) stopped growing. Basically their bald and haven’t grown back in the last 8-10 years and probably never will (must have been some harsh wax!). My girlfriends, of course, were jealous since they weren’t getting this effect which was much desired on their part, but for me, I was pissed!!
I say this because, it’s embarrasing in the summer when I get my picture take and if I didn’t shave you can see bald spots on my legs, which most of my friends tend to laugh at for hours.
Moreover, I also have another suspicion, and that it is also caused or at least contributed to the balding. This is socks. The contanstant rubbing form running and pulling them up when they slide down over and over may have caused this. My dad who wears suits all day including the hot summer months, the Gaberdean (spelling?) pant material, constantly rubs and creates heat and pulls the hairs right out of its follicle root. My dad has alot more bald spots than me, but his cover the entire leg so its always appears shaven (no biggy), mine are 3/4 hair and 1/4 bald lol very bad!!
I would say shaving them will help if the people you train/compete with do it, it makes you fit in ,if not it could be trouble if you don’t do well with the jokes that will follow.
…you can actually “feel” the clothes (pants) when you put them on…
What, you are supposed to actually feel your clothes? Not so with me.
I get my clothes from a really old danish guy who says he used to dress up an emperor or something. I can’t feel my clothes at all.
shaved legs and drag is a pure load of bull concerning sprinters and cyclists’.for sprinters the shaved legs looks good and gives better tone appearance plus the most essenial benefit is for messages.people with hairy legs willl find it tough if the therapist has to go deeper than usual leading to extreme pain with the constant friction on the hair.
for cyclists’ drag is bull but they also have messages which i explained above but cyclists’ main reason is hygene.hair and sweat goes together and if a cyclist was to fall off a bike and wound him/herself the wound would 1-be infected and 2-be very sore due to the sweat on the hair getting into the wound
i know a few baseball players who shave their arms!
i think shaved just looks better! (this coming from a guy who only has to shave once or twice a week) 
Legs are easy what about backs and chest.
One of my training partners got bored and plucked his chest :eek:
So what do you do for hairy back syndrome.
Just wax it, doesn’t hurt as much on back than it does on chest. At least, this is what I hear…lol
Being an aerospace student I could say shaving your legs is indeed plain bull…
Do you remember the strips used in speed skating (you know, the sport we Dutch people seem to dominate).
I once did some fast calcs if they would be beneficial in sprinting (100/200) and even these provide only marginal benefits in the order of 1/100s (would be pretty tough to run 9.77 with them won’t it?) and it would involve running in the suits like Flo-Jo and more recently Marion?
I always thought shaving my legs was kind of femine myself.
dr.sprint
Shaved legs = Gay boy Roy…
So - what about heads ? lol
what about shaving all your pubic?? :rolleyes:
Sounds like ur looking for a back crack and sac wax lol
wtf I’m away for 1 week and I return to the CF beauty salon
A bit of decorum please gentlemen.
I do know somebody who’s only hair is on his head.
all the cool kids do it 
A bit of decorum please gentlemen.
I do know somebody who’s only hair is on his head.
I know him to, goes by the name of Roy.
Shaving is for contact sports only 