My friend Bone did it in college when he was a competitive swimmer.
Cyclists are infamous for it. It was obvious to anyone who watched the Tour de France.
And yes, even runners have been known to do it.
No, I'm not talking about doping. I'm talking about shaving. Everything. Or nearly everything.
This can be a performance enhancement all its own.
"I shaved everything that my size 28 Speedo did not cover except my eyebrows," Bone told me. "The first time I did it, I PR'ed (set a personal record) in every event by at least two seconds."
Porn stars? Or just athletes?Athletes in various sports have been known to shave their heads, chests, legs, ankles, wrists and even go Brazilian style. For women, this tends to be a non-issue. But some guys do it too, and they feel the need to justify it with all kinds of reasons why it helps their performance, no matter how far-fetched some of them may seem.
In some cases there are practical reasons. Boxers, for example, don't want to rip out their follicles every time they take the tape off their wrists and ankles.
I've also read that shaving off body hair improves the effect of massage. I asked Gypsi, my own massage therapist, about this belief.
"The only thing that it would do for a massage is decrease any discomfort," she said. "If you feel the hair being pulled during a session, then shave. Just remember that stubble itches and can get caught on clothing. Hair always grows back."
(By the way, I got a second massage from Gypsi last week and felt fantastic afterward. I didn't have the wooziness of the first massage. And as another bonus, my vision suddenly seemed incredibly sharp, as if I just got a new high powered pair of contacts. Gypsi's theory is that getting work done on my neck extended all the way through my eyes, since fascia is connected throughout the body. Read this entry for more info on
myofascial release massage.)
Then there's the aerodynamics argument, which for swimmers might actually hold some weight. For runners and cyclists, the wind drag brought on by some extra arm or leg hair is probably miniscule at most.
I also found
this article that states that hairlessness (or at least not being covered in fur) was one of humans' adaptations to help them run long distances, and basically outlast their prey in the heat.
"We can run in conditions that no other animal can run in," the article stated.
So there's truth to all those justifications for shaving it all off. But my theory is that it's probably more psychological than physical. Just as facial hair is about fashion, going hairless is a statement of its own, saying as much about who you are as a dri-fit shirt. It makes you feel like an athlete.
Oh yeah, shaving also makes your muscles look more defined.
In high school, I had hair down to my shoulders and ran track. My coaches and teammates would tell me that I'd improve my times if I chopped the mop. I doubt it made much of a difference, but at least I felt sleek and fast when I finally buzzed it all off.
I was remind of this when I toed the line for a 5K race this weekend. It was a hot day and the first two rows of guys were all shirtless. And almost all of them were as smooth as a
Mexican hairless dog.
I like to generally keep a clean shop, but I realized that comparatively I was growing a Christmas sweater. I must have been getting lax in my upkeep.
They all just looked like front of the pack runners. Even though I was trying to take it easy on this run, I hung with them for at least the first mile to see what I could do. My first mile: 5 minutes 15 seconds.
Then they left me behind.
I went home later and shaved off the old chest Afro. It felt good to get rid off all that excess two ounces.
I then went for an hour and a half run. Even though I ran a race earlier, I still had to finish my long run for the weekend (don't try this at home).
I ran through the woods at Whitnall Park and encountered several furry wildlife along my path. Deer. Raccoons. Rabbits. They all ran away as soon as they spotted me.
Probably was my intimidating hairless chest.