Ought to olive oil substitute petroleum jelly for cold-weather runners?

Olive oil has been a sizzling subject amongst runners over the previous two weeks, due to Brigham Younger College (BYU). On the NCAA Cross-Nation Championships on Nov. 23, BYU athletes coated their legs and arms with olive oil earlier than toeing the road–and each the lads’s and ladies’s groups gained the staff titles. May this kitchen staple dethrone petroleum jelly because the go-to for cold-weather insulation?

Temperatures on the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course in Verona, Wisc., dropped to three C on race day, with flurries the day earlier than. Circumstances like these make it tough for runners to steadiness heat with consolation. Further layers can really feel restrictive and trigger overheating, so making use of a pores and skin barrier like petroleum jelly (or, apparently, olive oil) has confirmed to be one other workable answer.

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Petroleum jelly: the standard method

Petroleum jelly, corresponding to Vaseline, creates a protecting layer that shields pores and skin from the wind and chilly and reduces the danger of frostbite. The balm is inexpensive–you may get your arms on a 375 g tub for lower than $5 at your native drugstore. Its thick, waxy, (practically) odourless texture permits the dense layer of safety to remain put, offering a sturdy barrier that gained’t take in into your pores and skin.

Olive oil: BYU’s secret weapon?

BYU males’s coach Ed Eyestone instructed the New York Occasions that he coated himself in olive oil when he gained the NCAA title in 1985. Now, he and ladies’s coach Diljeet Taylor handed the trick alongside to the their athletes.

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However olive oil has its drawbacks. A 500-mL bottle of olive oil can price $10 or extra, and its runny texture has a knack for getting in every single place. It offers a thinner and fewer insulating barrier than its petroleum jelly rival. Whereas simpler to use in colder temperatures, your pores and skin begins to soak up the oil inside 20 minutes, making it much less efficient for longer races–to not point out, you’ll cross the end line smelling like a frying pan.

Whereas olive oil’s new race-day function is intriguing, earlier than you bounce on that development, contemplate the cost-effective and dependable petroleum jelly.


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