If you follow the wonderful world of bodybuilding, fitness, and physical culture long enough there will come a day when you realize that all the fit muscular dudes that grace the magazines, the competition stage, and who strut their stuff down on the beach with sculpted 6 pack abs and ripped muscles glistening in the sunlight...



You'll notice that they all have one thing in common... They have NO body hair... How can this be? They don't actually shave... do they?

Nah, not these guys... there is no way these massive mountains of muscle, the same ones you'll see bench pressing compact cars as a warm up set, will ever stoop to the level of bending over the edge of the bathtub with a can of shaving cream and razor in hand scraping away the hairs on their legs like a little school girl...!?!?

But the harsh reality of bodybuilding is that they DO!!!

Yes, my friend even the biggest and the burliest of bodybuilders will pay their dues, with razor in hand, shedding unwanted body hair in order to reveal the muscular physique that was carved from blood, sweat, and tears in the gym.

I can remember the first time I "shaved my legs". It was during summer break of 1995. I was 16 years old and planning on competing in my first bodybuilding competition in a few months time. My folks were both gone to work and I was home by myself. So I basically had the house to myself, what better time to experiment with shaving my legs...

To make a long story short... 4 worn out razors and 3 hours later I was sporting silky smooth legs, along with several nicks, cuts, and scabs to boot. Then to show off those freshly shaven white pillar's of power, I put on a pair of gym shorts... It's actually scary to see how white you are underneath all that hair.

In a strange sort of why I felt like this was a critical milestone that just I overcame in my bodybuilding journey... yes I admit this sport of ours is a bit weird.

Anyway, later that afternoon when my parents came home from work we had the usual routine chit chat:

Dad: "Hey Lee, we're home... How was your day?"

Me: "It was ok, I shaved my legs today."

Dad: "You did WHAT!!!"

Me: "I shaved my legs... you know... to get ready for the bodybuilding contest."

Dad: "You're not serious...?!?!"

Me: "Yeah, I really did shave my legs... all the bodybuilders do it before a bodybuilding contest."

Dad: "How on earth did you do that?"

Me: "With a razor... several razors actually."

Dad: "ahhhh, Lee... I gotta tell you something... normal guys don't shave their legs... you just don't do that... it's... well, it's not natural."

Needless to say, I didn't feel too confident in myself at this stage and I certainly wasn't gaining the approval of my old man. I think he was questioning my masculinity at this stage and he was having some doubts about his boy's future...

But he eventually overcame his fears and concerns about my "manliness". And now, over a decade of bodybuilding competitions later, the thought of men shaving their legs is just another household chore... just like taking out the trash :-)

So for all my fellow brothers of iron who are ready to take your bodybuilding game to the next level and... "Shave Your Legs" this article is for you!

This is what I call the A.B.C's of shaving body hair... Trust me this is not something you will learn from your dad...

Shaving body hair is a pain in the butt for everybody. And depending on how hairy you are will determine how much of a nuisance removing that hair will be.

In my case I'm pretty lucky because I don't have a very hairy back or chest, just the few odd hairs here and there, nothing major. And my legs are what I'd consider average for a guy in terms of the amount of hair that I have growing there.

Now there are lots of hair removal methods and gimmicks on the market today; from creams, electronic gizmos, and God knows what else. Personally, I've never really gotten into using any of them myself. I've heard a few horror stories over the years from people who have experimented with various things. And I can remember when I was living at home my mom tried a particular hair removal cream and she broke out in a ugly red rash that irritated her skin big time. So I've just stuck to the basic old school method of hair removal - shaving.

If you've never shaved before and you have a lot of hair then I'd suggest you get yourself a pair of hair cutting clippers, the same ones the barber will use to give you a buzz cut. Using just the clipper itself with no comb, carefully trim away the hair from your legs, arms, chest, etc. and then get someone to help you with your back and areas you can't reach.

A word of advice here, make sure you give yourself plenty of time. Shaving A LOT of hair cannot be rushed. It could easily take a couple hours or more, especially when you don't have a clue what you are doing.

Don't get too carried away, just shave the hair off your legs with the clippers and then call it a day. After that use the hair cutting clippers to shave your upperbody.

After you've completed this clipper trimming, your body will be covered in tiny stubble. Rubbing your hand over your skin will feel like sand paper. Not the most sexy thing, especially if you are planning on getting intimate with that special someone.

After that you need to get out the shaving razor (the same type you would use to shave your face with). Again schedule yourself lots of time, get in the shower and soap up your legs. Using a brand new razor blade, shave away... Make sure to be extra careful when shaving around the groin area (for obvious reasons) and just take your time, don't rush things because this is what causes careless nicks and cuts.

If you can shave the stubble off both legs before you run out of hot water in the shower consider this a major accomplishment, you are well on your way to bodybuilding success :-)

The next day, do the same thing for your upper body. Again give yourself lots of time, lather up with soap, be careful, and always use a brand new razor blade.

One thing you'll most likely notice a day or so after shaving is that you'll break out in a razor rash of little red bumps, especially on sensitive areas like the inner thighs. While this is very annoying, it will become less irritated as you get used to shaving and your skin "toughens up" to the whole process. Realize that you are a shaving rookie at this stage and you gotta get through this initial phase before you can happily show off your hairless muscular body on the bodybuilding stage, beach, or by the pool.

After you have gone through the whole process of ridding your body of all the hair you can maintain your hair free body by simply shaving off the stubble once every 7-10 days in the shower. Again the easiest way to do this is divide your body in half, shave your legs one day, and then shave your upper body the next.

That's how you go about it my friend. A step-by-step plan to go from a hairy sasquatch, to a smooth, handsome, hairless physique... Now if losing this dam beer gut was just as easy we'd have it made...