A Man's Guide to Shaving Legs for the First Time for Athletic Purposes

Take a look around, and you'll probably see that men with shaved legs are becoming more common. The gym, professional sports, magazines, the beach - guys everywhere just want to be free from hairy shanks. Athletes in particular have many reasons to choose smooth skin: aerodynamics, taping, fitted athletic apparel, etc. For competitive body builders and fitness models bare legs give greater exposure to the muscle tone they want to show off. Whatever the reason, there are steps and precautions a guy can take to make that first shave easier. Once you start there's no going back, so here's a guide to taking the plunge.

Before you begin you'll have to decide that this is what you want and that it's worth the effort. Sure you can try it once and let your hair grow back, but that first shave takes a good amount of effort. You'll spend at least an hour dealing with shaving cream, globs of hair and dexterity issues. Also, you'll need to consider who else you'll affect with this decision. While it's perfectly obvious to you that your toned legs will look über-manly when you ride your first century, you might be surprised at your wife's reaction, so be sure to clear that up first. Or not, you could just do it and see if anyone notices, just be sure to have a good idea of what the consequences might be.

First, you'll need to gather your essentials: razors, shaving cream and a good body lotion. If you're going to shave 'em, you gotta take care of 'em. Your hair is most likely coarser than a woman's so you'll want to go ahead and use a men's cream, but don't wince at the sensitive skin variety. This will be the first time you're taking a razor to this skin so you don't want to end up with razor burn bumps on your freshly buzzed beauties.

For the razors either buy a whole bag of disposables or have at least four of your regulars. You'll want to change them before they pull or scrape (see previous paragraph). Likewise for the lotion: get the good stuff. Be sure to get a moisturizing body lotion - vitamin E or aloe additives might prove useful in your decision as well.