Firstly, this is NOT a blog about seat covers! But if that is the thing you are looking for, then Shane has an excellent video about those here
Good to get that one out of the way!
Instead, this one is all about that taboo subject of chamois cream, or for the less experienced exerciser – the cream you put on your butt to make rowing, cycling, or running that little more comfortable.
Let’s start with the basics; what even is chamois cream?
Chamois cream is often a mystery to new and experienced rowers, cyclists, and runners!
Back in the day, cyclists would add a thin layer of leather to the inside of their shorts – hence a chamois, that a layer of cream would have to be added to make it pliable.
Fun fact, 1930’s Tour de France cyclists believed a steak was the solution to this issue and would put a piece of meat in their cycling shorts to stop chafing – I mean why not!?!
Nowadays, chamois creams have come a long way and ultra-endurance athletes of all sports and is a thick cream you can either apply to your shorts or as most people will do, directly onto the skin to elevate friction which causes chafing and can be a real pain in the butt.
Should you use it? A lot of people have not really got their heads around adding creams to delicate parts of the body, mostly because either they haven’t experienced the discomfort caused by really long training sessions (2+ hours) or they have invested well in padding options if you are on a bike or rower.
But let’s face it, most seats and saddles are not armchairs!
Comfort, comfort, comfort is the name of the game here and anything you can do to reduce the irritation of the skin has to be a done thing because let’s face it, your butt skin is not the toughest!
If you are getting to the point in your fitness journey where you are doing back-to-back training sessions or longer rides/rows where you are going 800+ miles or time trial efforts, then chamois cream should 100% be something in your kit bag.
The other time I would highly recommend is when you are out in wet conditions, as most runners will know here, when those shorts start to get wet and stick to your legs there is nothing worse for immediate discomfort than material rubbing those delicate areas!
Application.
I’m not going to lie, there is nothing worse than putting on your shorts and feeling like you have a wet diaper.
Comfort is going to come from a liberal application but without making you feel as though you are slipping around all over the place.
Simply put, apply roughly a dollar coin size amount of cream to the areas most commonly in contact with seats or at risk of friction between the legs. Given 10-20 secs do absorb and then let the training begin! Don’t overcomplicate this, it’s a one-and-done kind of process*.
*Side note, there is some etiquette with chamois creams and that is if you are using a tub then no double dipping, for somewhat obvious reasons.
Ever used Chamois creams? We would love to hear your thoughts, preferred brands and any no goes.
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