Shaving the Legs and Chest as a Swimmer's Ritual Smooth, hairless skin also makes it easier to receive massages before each swim. Every part of the body that touches the water is shaved. From the legs, to the chest, to the arms and armpits, not forgetting the beard.
Shaving is the ritual swimmers perform before a big meet, removing all hair that cannot be covered by a swim cap or suit. (And, truth be told, a lot of the hidden hair will go as well.) The goal is to reduce drag (a small factor) and enhance the mental gain from a more streamlined sensation in the water (a big factor).
It has been proven that shaving the arms, legs, back and pretty much any other part of the body exposed to the water reduces frictional drag, improves streamline and heightens the swimmer's awareness and feel for the water (more on that in a second).
Shaving, waxing, or lasering hair off doesn't just reduce a swimmer's drag. Getting rid of body hair also removes layers of dead skin and gives these athletes a better feel for the water — something every talented swimmer attributes to their success.
“I'm not saying you've got to do complete hair removal, but trim down,” she said, suggesting men use grooming tools on the chest and armpit areas. Plus, less hair equals less sweat. The ocean's saltwater and the pool's chlorine will dry out your hair quickly.
Shaving Boosts Safety + Injury Recovery
Runners and cyclists typically shave because tight shorts plus body hair can mean painful tugs at the worst moments. Rock climbers and contact sport athletes also benefit from body hair removal, which can snag while active and tear the skin.
Swimmers maintain their bikini line and underarms on a weekly basis as they are practically living in a swimsuit 12 months a year. Shaving down is saved for the competitions where athletes are expected to perform their best. Such as the Olympic Games or World Championships. Generally this occurs only 1-2 times a year.
In fact, most professional swimmers remove all their body hair prior to a competition. This isn't all hearsay – research proves that removing body hair does actually reduce drag in the water. Removing body hair invigorates you.
Normal exposure to chlorine will NOT make you lose your hair. This myth was debunked after a study was published in the Journal of Dermatology.
Several research studies have proved that removing all body hair does reduce drag. The swimmers advanced further per stroke after hair-shaving, than they did before removing the hair.
The idea behind this was that our body hair—and the dead skin cells that accumulated from not shaving—would add an extra layer of "drag" (or resistance) in the water. Meaning, not only did we have to pull body weight through the pool, but also the weight of our body hair and dead skin.
When it comes to actually removing the hair, she suggests pulling gently on your skin before shaving in a downwards direction. 'I don't go over the same spot multiple times. I find that by pulling my skin and shaving, it gives me the closest shave,' she told her followers.
Swimmers are notorious for having broad shoulders and a rounded posture. The muscles in the shoulder and upper back are hypertrophied from repetitive motion. This additional muscle mass contributes to excessive curvature in the spine and a weak core exposes the lower back to more strain.
If you take attractiveness out of the equation, there are a few reasons to trim or shave your chest hair for your own sake: to lend extra definition to your muscles, streamline your body for swimming, to keep it from poking out of your shirt.
If a male is muscular and has a good body-shape, it may look more attractive to have a shaved chest/torso or at least trimmed chest hair. If a male is out of shape, even obese, then it's probably not to his advantage to shave his chest as it may appear that he has 'breasts' rather than pecs.
Wet hair thoroughly before swimming
Dry hair will soak up chlorine like a sponge, which is why you should thoroughly rinse and wet your hair with non-chlorinated water before diving in.
Swimming burns calories and can help people manage their weight, tone their muscles, and improve their overall health and fitness. This activity engages several different muscle groups and the cardiovascular system, and it can provide an excellent workout for a wide variety of individuals.
Just like your hair, your skin can end up dry and damaged with regular swimming. Chlorinated water removes your skin's natural oils and skin barrier, resulting in red, itchy, dry skin.
It can also be helpful in supporting athletic performance, because having a lot of armpit hair can cause chafing and rashes. Footballers like Christiano Ronaldo and swimmers like Michael Phelps are among the professional male athletes who prefer to shave their armpits.
Evidence suggests that normally, swimmers lose no more hair than their non-swimming counterparts, so any hair loss is likely to have a different cause.
Despite the obvious importance that competitive swimmers have placed on shaving down, there does not exist any published literature which either supports or refutes the notion that this technique can enhance the performance of competitive swimmers.
Shaving body hair is a ritual for most swimmers that is done before a big meet. The goal is to reduce drag and enhance performance both mentally and physically. The average female swimmer has probably shaved five times more than both you or I, making them what we believe to be shaving experts.
Overall, 40 percent of the women agree. However, 43 percent of the total women surveyed prefer men keep all their chest hair, considering it a sign of masculinity. And 17 percent want a smooth chest without a single hair. For the men, 83 percent said they have just let their chest hair grow.