Why Do Runners Shave Their Legs? Understanding Athlete Hair Removal

Anybody who loves to watch the Olympics or any other competitive sports must have wondered why athletes are more prone to shave their legs. Are you one of those? If yes, we will feed your curiosity by giving you a deep understanding of athlete hair removal.
There is a Plethora of sportsmen who remove body hair, but they don’t know about the effective methods of hair removal. So, when runners shave legs, they might come across with the problem of ingrown hairs, which result in red bumps.
To avoid this problem, we will provide you with a complete guide to athlete hair removal. That will help you to seek out the best method of shaving off your legs or any other part of the body.
Now without further ado, let’s first get to know why runners shave their legs.

 

Why Do Runners Shave Their Legs?

The moment you wear a pair of sneakers, you can consider yourself a runner. Just like cycling, this is a sport that needs to be done with comfort. So, if a runner has hair on his legs, then it can be a hindrance as hair helps to keep in the heat. Besides, here are the real reasons why runners shave legs:

– Gravel rash wound heals quickly without pesky hairs.
– Taking off the bandage is less painful when runners shave their legs.
– Shaved legs are less likely to become inflamed after injury.
– Compression suits work better and slip on and off smoothly.
– Runners shave their legs to enhance muscle definition.
– It helps to cut down on chafing.
– Smooth legs help the runner to feel less hot in summer.
– Without hairs, one can easily remove dirt and sweat.
– Runners shave their legs to facilitate deep tissue massage.

A Complete Guide To Athlete Hair Removal

From Olympic athletes to beginners, many athletes opt to remove hair to enhance their performance. Even swimming, cycling, and racing are few sports that use hair removal to reduce water and wind resistance. After getting to know these benefits, you might be curious to know the options for athlete hair removal. Then let’s see what we have here:

Shaving
Shaving is the most common method that is used in the community of athletes. It is quick, easy, and cheap. However, you must take caution when the razor blade becomes dull mid-shaving as it can leave rashes on your skin. Moreover, shaving must be done frequently as it only keeps your hair away for 8- 10 days.

Epilating
Today, epilating is the best all-around hair removal method for athletes. It is relatively cheap, and you can efficiently do epilating at home. Unlike shaving, it pulls the hair from roots and gives a smooth hairless skin.
Besides, the hair growth rate will be slow and thinner once you epilate your legs. In addition, you don’t have to remove the hairs often as it will be more aerodynamic due to thinness.

Waxing
Being an athlete, you must consider waxing as it is an excellent hair removal method. Also, waxing can be done at home or professionally. If you are going for professional waxing, it can cost you a lot compared to home waxing. The method works similarly to epilating.

Laser
If you want permanent hair removal, then doing a laser is the best option. It is the only method that is scientifically proven to reduce hair growth permanently. The light energy in the laser targets the melanin present in hair follicles. It heats the hormone and burns the hair. Moreover, it’s an expensive method, especially when you go to a professional.

Depilatory Cream
Depilatory cream is the easiest method among all as it can cover large areas of your skin. Besides, it’s a popular choice among athletes because they don’t need a professional to apply this cream.

Triathlon Hair Removal-What You Should Know?

The triathlon consists of three sports that include Swimming, Cycling, and Running. When you are a triathlete, it gives you the green signal to shave your legs. However, if you still don’t understand why triathlon hair removal is necessary, then you should know the following facts:

Aerodynamics
When you shave your body hair, it reduces the effect of drag from the air during cycling or running. Initially, shaving to become an aero was applied to swimmers only, but now it is revealed that it can also be applied to cyclists and runners.

Easy Wound Care
While cycling, if you fall from the bike and get injured, then the caretaker can easily tend to your wound if there is no hair. Besides, there will be a low chance of infection.

Rub Down
You know it is easy to do a massage on hairless legs. Besides, it is more effective as the cream doesn’t stick to the hair follicles and is properly absorbed in the skin.

 

Swimmer Hair Removal- Getting Started

If we talk about the importance of swimmer hair removal, then you will be astonished to know that competitive swimmers are known to shave their entire bodies. They do it because it makes a direct impact on their performance. Moreover, there are few benefits of being hair-free in the aquatic world. Such as:

Reduce The Drag
It has been observed that swimmers often remove body hair before a competition as it helps to reduce drag in the water. Moreover, many people believe that it gives a physiological boost to swimmers.

Swim Suit Removal/ Application
Shaving down has been a tradition for swimmers. However, they also do it because a tight-fitting rubber suit is easy to take on and off when a swimmer has a hairless body.

Wrapping Up

Lastly, we can’t deny that all sports and athletes come in different physiques, but many share the passion for body hair removal. Besides, the advanced and effective methods allow the athletes to choose the way according to their suitability.

You know whether a person is a swimmer, cyclist, or runner, removing the hair always makes a difference in winning their game. So this was all about athlete hair removal. We hope that this article has given you an insight into the world of hairless athletes!