At 4:28 in this video Eyestone says that he coated his runners arms and legs in olive oil to give them “an extra layer of insulation” in today’s cold racing conditions. I thought it was funny and that he was joking at first and then I realized he’s being serious. Has anyone ever heard of/used this technique before? Would that even work?
Yes it works. My college coach had us use olive oil years ago at a frigid Penn Relays.
Old timers, including elites, have been using it for decades
The430miler has been preaching this for years
arealrunningboi wrote:
At 4:28 in this video Eyestone says that he coated his runners arms and legs in olive oil to give them “an extra layer of insulation” in today’s cold racing conditions. I thought it was funny and that he was joking at first and then I realized he’s being serious. Has anyone ever heard of/used this technique before? Would that even work?
All plastic and polyester is made from oils.
My high school coach mentioned this as something people used to do back in the day. And it was 1987 when he was talking to us!
I've heard of using Vaseline but not olive oil.
Maybe Icy Hot would work even better.
colder and wiser wrote:
My high school coach mentioned this as something people used to do back in the day. And it was 1987 when he was talking to us!
Tights and long-sleeve shirts work better. You wouldn't go out on a training run rubbed in olive oil.
I was there at HEPS 2015 a lot of teams tried this in the driving snow. It didn't work (maybe the precipitation?) and like 10 of us went to the hospital with hypothermia
I first saw this in "Running the Lydiard Way" many years ago. Arthur talks about Murray Halberg running a 10,000 - in what at the time was the 3rd fastest all-time - on a "cold wet night". They applied warmed up olive oil prior to the race.
A friend of mine who is an experienced runner and coach told me about that trick several years ago. I've never tried it.
How about some old fashioned crisco?
Salted butter actually works better than olive oil.
Yeah all those BYU guys are extra virgin
olive oil? wrote:
I've heard of using Vaseline but not olive oil.
Maybe Icy Hot would work even better.
Icy Hot burns.
Olive oil is very spiritual. I’m sure it helped energize them with the Holy Spirit.
My coach had us do this. The thought is your sweat evaporates making you cold. The oil blocks the sweat from evaporating
Same coach advised against using sunscreen at a really hot conference meet but for the opposite effect. Wants that sweat
I’ve heard of using lotion on exposed skin when running. Skiers use dermatone on their faces to prevent frost bite, that’s Vaseline based.
Folks tend to criticize, but oiling up is fantastic!
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