I haven't used anything on my skin before i swim except maybe once or twice some icy hot. I was at a marathon a week or two ago and saw a lot of people putting body glide all over but they were not wearing wetsuits. Does BG off any benefits to swimming aside from getting wetsuits on/off easier?
As a guy who doesn't race OW longer than 5K, if I'm not wearing a wetsuit, I don't use glide. My daughters will almost always put glide on for their suit straps and arm holes/seams for OW races >1 mile. I imagine if you've got more muscular development and will have a lot of rubbing of your upper arms, it would help with potential chafing on longer races, but I've never experienced a need when not wearing a wetsuit.
however i guess i was wondering if it had any water repellant effect or similar effect so that someone would want to lather up with it before a race.
Like a tech suit, you mean? If it did, I'd think the pool swimmers would have figured that out by now.
Grease is to prevent chafing, nothing else. I seem to recall a thread a couple weeks ago...
I can't see that glide has any beneficial effect for swimming beyond reducing the potential for chafing (I'm not even sure it helps all that much with getting the wetsuit on and off either). I usually don't bother with it unless I'm wearing a wetsuit or swimming in salt water.
But of course chafing can be really painful and if you have to swim for a long time the chafing would eventually slow you down. Also, I've noticed that different people tend to have different problem areas. My main problem area is the back of my neck. I have friends who get chafing on their elbows and others who have it on their armpits. It wouldn't surprise me to find that some people get it in all of those locations or even some others. As PWB mentions, straps on women's suits can cause problems as well, or so I've heard. Not sure this really explains what you saw, but it's possible that the people you saw were just hitting all of their potential chafing spots.
Former Member
thanks for the quick reply!
that was what i was thinking too. however i guess i was wondering if it had any water repellant effect or similar effect so that someone would want to lather up with it before a race.
Former Member
For longer (i.e., 2 mile) swims, I use it on the back of my neck and under my arms without a wetsuit, especially in salt water. Anywhere where there's skin on skin runs the risks of abrasion
Maybe helpful like new golf clubs for golfers....
Won't ensure the score but makes you feel better.
Former Member
BG is great for chaffing. I usually use it in swims over 2 miles - especially in ocean swims. Hot spots are under the arms and between the thighs.
FYI: I recently used BG that has sunscreen in it. It worked better than my waterproof sun screen.
I did a 5K in Cyprus in my grape-smugglers and my pits were raw. So in my wetsuit-required 10k I applied BG all over where the suit would rub, and I came out of the water raw all over my neck, back and chest. So I'm really confused.
I'm a fan of body glide, especially under the pits. In longer swims it really prevents chafing, with or without a wet suit.If you just don't bother building up your lats or triceps, you won't have to worry about chafing ... distance swimmers don't need muscles anyways ...:bolt:
