January treat, guest blogger @JeNeSuisPasClem has been reviewing Body Glide, an anti chaffing solution for athletes. See how he fared on his hilly trail event.
I’ve never been asked to review anything before. Not even by Campari or Jaffa Cakes or Nike Running and I could provide a proper experienced review of all of their gear. When I agreed to write a review of a running product I thought about what my knowledge and experience would lend itself well to.
Here’s my review of lube.
Sports lube. The product is ‘Body glide’. It comes in a snazzy modern font plastic dispenser. The one I tested comes in blue, which I assumed through colour gender stereotyping was for men. I was wrong, it’s for everyone. However they have done a pink one which is just for women which has ‘extra moisturisers’. So there you go.
‘Body-glide’ http://www.bodyglide.com/products/ are an American company set up by a Californian surfer, Steve. I only tested the product on a dry day so take this as a ‘not used in rain’ review. It was developed originally for wet-suit rash so I’m guessing it must be good in wet conditions. Suppose it’s a bit difficult to teach Beagles to surf so must have been Steve and his surfer dude mates that tested it, which can’t be a bad thing for the Beagles.
I tested it out on the Longman 10 mile in Sussex. I normally lube up (for running purposes) for runs over 90 mins. Anything under that I’m usually okay. We’ve all seen the pictures of bleeding nipples and red raw chaffing so we all know that lube is a massive priority for runners.
I have a preference to begin preparation with two fingers full of Vaseline.
On my pasty, smooth, northern body I normally whack a bit on my nips, inside top of legs, under arms and toes. I once forgot to apply pre-race and had to go buy some from the supermarket. They only had ‘Early Bird petroleum jelly’ which was well watery. They let me wash my hands in the staff area after I’d applied it to my under carriage by the self-checkout area. Unexpected item in bagging area indeed.
This is why ‘Body glide’ is quite a good thing. It’s not oily or greasy at all. It comes in a 1980’s ‘Hai Karate’ style oval deodorant dispenser. It’s the same texture as deodorant however it is without any smell, it’s a neutral fragrance which is good.
Is it any better than Vaseline or other jelly lubes? Well I used it, had no issues and it was dead easy and clean to apply which I liked. Not sure how much more effective it is – it’s just miles more clean and convenient to use and has reportedly excellent waterproof abilities. It’s also easy to wash off unlike Vaseline which can take a good old handful of shower cream to remove.
It is more expensive though. On-line it’s currently retailing between £6 and £12. I’ll definitely use it again, it’s just much more convenient and you can take it with you, whack it on your nips near the start line and you don’t need to worry about washing greasy jelly off your hands.
Unless of course you already had greasy jelly on your nips, I know how weird you running boys and girls can be.
Happy lubing.
@JeNeSuisPasClem
As mentioned by @JeNeSuisPasClem there is a “for her” version of the product, which I’ll be testing in my marathon training…hoping to rid myself of the bra burn I often end up with after much longer runs. The glamour eh?!!
Watch this space!
LRG x
Little Runner Gal 