This episode of DNews is brought to you by Harry’s.
Body shaving is a tradition in some sports…
Maybe I should try it out… you know… for sports.
Shaving in sports is a big deal, cyclists do it to reduce road rash, and cut drag; swimmers
do it to feel slicker in the water, and cut drag, and body builders do it… well… to
look like this[a][b].
Wowza.
Whew…
Anyway, you can see that speedy sports shave their bodies to CUT DRAG.
They're saying, cleaning off these follicles are going to help you win a race!
How do you feel about leg shaving for swimmers?
Meh?!
Yeah…
That's how I felt about it.
Kind of just like, okay, go ahead!
As long as you feel better!
But science says I might have been playing down a SIGNIFICANT advantage without knowing
it!
Drag reduction in speed sports is a huge deal.
Cyclists have been doing it for over 100 years.
But it wasn't until 1987 that a study was conducted for Bicycling Magazine by an engineer
in a wind tunnel.
This study determined the speed savings were 0.6 percent.
Which is just sad.
That's SO small.
Maybe enough to save five seconds over an hour at 23 mph (37kph).
The results were so piddling, and wind tunnels so expensive to use, no one ever repeated
the experiment…
until now.
A special bicycle-specific wind tunnel was built by the Specialized cycling company,
and the researchers had free use of it for testing!
Coincidentally, one of their riders had shaved that day, so they figured, why not?
Don't cost nothing, and they found the shaving had reduced the cyclists drag 7 percent!!
SEVEN.
This meant, a cyclist in a 25 mile (40km), one hour race could save 79-seconds by simply
shaving their bod!
These findings were revolutionary, so to double-check they tested five more cyclists.
They all saved 50-82 seconds over 40 km.
WHAT?!
They also tested different helmets, different positions and long-sleeved racing gear finding
significant power savings here and there.
They were shocked.
Shaving works, at least in cycling.
In swimming, the jury is still in over its head.
Common wisdom is shaving is mostly psychological.
HowStuffWorks says, "Razors strip dead skin cells off the body in addition to hair, exposing
a fresh layer of sensitive skin cells."
Because of that, the swimmer FEELS better in the water.
Though a 1989 study, the only one I could find, tested the physiology of shaved and
unshaved swimmers while also testing their drag reduction.
Turns out, physiologically, there were no differences in heart rate, oxygen use, or
lactic acid buildup (which is what makes your muscles burn during exercise).
There WERE, however, noticeable drag reductions.
Mentally, swimmers probably believe themselves to be slicker and more powerful in the water,
even without science, but we're here to back them up.
Ladies and dudes, you're totally slicker.
Some runners will also get into the habit of body shaving, expecting that over a long
race they might reduce drag, but more often the clothing worn will produce more drag than
the lack of hair could ever make up for.
So instead, most Olympic runners today wear computer-designed, NASA influenced running
suits, designed to help them glide through the air.
Or so they say!