Many athletes incorporate sugaring and hair removal as part of their overall fitness, training and sports preparations. Not only does sugaring help athletes look and feel great, it can also add crucial advantages for those sportswomen and sportsmen who are focused on having that competitive edge.
In certain sports, a few tenths of a second can make a big difference between finishing first and second, and that is why swimmers often remove body hair before a big race. This is done to decrease drag in the water and can also increase the swimmer’s sensitivity to the “feel” or pressure of the water and improve overall coordination. In a study conducted by the American College of Sports Medicine, swimmers who removed body hair were clearly shown to swim further and faster with reduced active drag “decreasing the physiological cost of swimming.” In other words … more efficient and faster swimming!
A recent article reported by the British Cycling Federation gave the results of wind tunnel testing by a major bike manufacturer to show the measurable benefits of removing hair from the legs for cycling. The average saving over 40 kilometres was an impressive 70 seconds! They also tested hair removal from the arms only which resulted in 11 seconds of time saved. A whole body approach for sports preparation could certainly add to improved performance statistics for cyclists and tri-athletes.
Often you see sprinters with hairless bodies, and not surprisingly, there is a performance advantage involved. Research backs this up. An article in the Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise demonstrated that time savings ranging from 0.01 seconds in the 100 metres, to 5.7 seconds over the course of a marathon can be achieved by removal of hair. Seconds count in these sports, even fractions of a second.