The truth is, shaving your legs will not directly make you faster. In the rest of this article, I will answer all the questions you may have, and hopefully, by the end of it, you will know whether or not you want to shave your legs. Let’s get into it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shaving your legs or not shaving your legs for a race is 100% your own personal preference. There is little to no performance benefit in almost all situations<\/strong>. Your leg hair doesn’t provide enough wind resistance to make any remarkable difference (unlike, for example, swimming). <\/p>\n\n\n\n Unless, of course, you have exceptionally hairy legs. <\/strong>It could be that shaving in that instance could actually make a difference. Not likely, though. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you are trying to shave off half a second over a marathon, it’s really a “why not?” scenario. It’s a bit of a drag, but there may be psychological benefits as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you are thinking about shaving your legs, here are some reasons people shave legs for running:<\/p>\n\n\n\n I was going through several images of the top marathoners that have ever lived (here<\/a> on Wikipedia), and the consensus is yes, elite runners shave their legs and arms. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Whether this is for performance, comfort, luck, tradition, or just to have better pictures, we’ll never know. But if you are an Olympian, there isn’t any reason not to do everything possible to shave off any potential source of drag. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For the rest of us, you can shave your legs for fun, but it’s not going to make much of a difference. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The most common sport where athletes shave their legs is swimming, cycling, and contact sports like football or rugby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shaving before swimming can actually make a difference in drag, so says this study<\/a>. Which makes sense. Water is denser than air and so it is possible that having that tiny bit more resistance could slow you down over long distances. Again, not likely to make a huge difference, but at least possible.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/decideoutside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/running-shaved-legs-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/picture>Should You Shave Your Legs For Running?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Do Elite Runners Shave Their Legs?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What Sports Is It Common To Have Shaved Legs?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n