One of probably the most controversial and mythical questions which has been around eternally now, is “”, or the same query “” or questions within the likes of those.
Such traditions are more common in power & strength sports like weightlifting, boxing, football etc. The reason I discovered behind this hypothesis is that, testosterone increases aggression, and ejaculation reduces testosterone levels within the body.
No one knows the origin of those myths, but abstaining from sex or masturbation not only before competition, but for months, is sort of common. But in relation to research and studying these beliefs scientifically, the evidence says something else.
In the precedent daysabstinence was considered the very best method to make sure athletic performance and communion between body and spirit. Roman and Greek educators believed that great sacrifices could sustain success. This is one among the rationale, even now many sports coaches support the importance of sexual abstinence before competition, believing that sexual frustration results in increased aggression. They imagine that ejaculation draws testosterone away from the body, reducing aggression and muscle strength. Most coaches imagine that sexual intercourse an evening before the competition can have a negative influence on performance due to energy expenditure.
Some athletes (e.g. Mohammed Ali and Brian Bosworth) imagine that sexual intercourse before an athletic event impaired their performance. Mohammed Ali believed abstention was helpful in that “once you don’t get sex for some time, you get mean and indignant and it makes you a warrior”. In fact, Ali reportedly wouldn’t have sex for six weeks before a contest.
Coaches’ belief in a relationship between sex and performance is usually recommended by their keeping athletes from engaging in sexual intercourse the night before a contest.
Marty Liqueursonce the world’s number one-ranked 5,000m runner, back within the Sixties, believed that “”.
But not all coaches shared these thoughts. As legendary New York Yankees manager Casey Stengel puts it, “.”
WHAT THE EVIDENCE STATES
A 1992 studymeasured testosterone levels in female and male members of 4 heterosexual couples on a complete of 11 evenings before and after sexual activity and 11 evening on which there was no intercourse. Testosterone increased across the evening when there was intercourse and decreased when there was none. The pattern was the identical for women and men.
A 2001 studyevaluated changes in testosterone levels in men with erectile dysfunction after they received nonhormonal treatment. At baseline, these participants had lower testosterone levels than those within the control group. However, the researchers found that testosterone levels increased in the boys who resumed regular sexual intercourse after their treatment. Conversely, testosterone levels didn’t change in the boys for whom treatment was ineffective.
A 2001 studyexamined the 3-week period of sexual abstinence on the neuroendocrine response to masturbation-induced orgasm, in ten healthy adult men during sexual arousal and masturbation-induced orgasm. It was seen that although testosterone was unaltered by orgasm, .
The study concluded that acute abstinence doesn’t change the neuroendocrine response to orgasm but does produce elevated levels of testosterone in males.
There are different views on the period of abstinence which the athletes think, they could need to enhance their testosterone levels and thus performance. Though, none of those theories are proven by science.
A 1997 studyassessed whether college level athletes believed that abstinence from sex before their game helps performance. 83 American football students and 73 baseball students from three different universities were assessed.
They found that that football players abstained greater than baseball players, but that’s not the difficulty. What was to grasp was that these students believed that abstinence from sex would result in increased strength and energy. Players who believed this, also believed in other rituals like eating the identical food, praying, and even wearing the identical clothes before a game.
In a 2003 studyserum testosterone concentration of 28 volunteers was investigated day by day during abstinence periods after ejaculation. The authors found that the fluctuations of testosterone levels from the twond to fiveth day of abstinence were minimal. On the 7th day of abstinence, a transparent peak of serum testosterone appeared, reaching 145.7% of the baseline. No regular fluctuation was observed following continuous abstinence after the height.
As a conclusion, the study showed that ejaculation caused variations were characterised by a peak on the 7th day of abstinence, and thereafter there was no further change within the serum testosterone levels. An exactly similar result was present in an earlier 2002 study also.
Acc. to a 1995 studyathletes within the US were told to abstain from sexual activity prior to athletic competition, attributable to the idea that sexual activity decreases the athlete’s ability to perform efficiently/maximally.
The study was done to find out the consequences of sexual activity 12 hours prior to maximal treadmill exercise on aerobic power, oxygen pulse, and cardiac effect. Eleven male subjects were tested on the treadmill with and without prior sexual activity.
The results from the maximal exercise tests showed that aerobic power, oxygen pulse, and cardiac effects weren’t different. Therefore, it’s justified to dismiss the perspective that sexual activity decreases maximal exercise performance.
A 2000 studyinvestigated the effect of sexual intercourse on cycling test on plasma testosterone levels and concentration levels in high level male athletes. 15 total athletes, comprising of 8 team players, 5 endurance athletes and a couple of weight lifters, were tested on two days (someday without and someday with sexual activity). They underwent one-hour maximal exercise test on a cycle ergometer and an arithmetic mental concentration test. Blood samples were taken to measure the testosterone levels.
The study clearly showed that sexual intercourse had no detrimental influence on the maximal workload achieved and on the athletes’ mental concentration. A difference which was seen was that the athletes had a better heart rate on the mornings of sexual activity, after the cycle ergometer testing, which suggests that the recovery capability of an athlete could also be affected if he had sexual activity app. 2 hours before a contest event.
The long standing myth that athletes should practice abstinence before necessary competitions may stem from the idea that sexual frustration results in increased aggression, and that act of ejaculation draws testosterone from the body. The researchers reviewed a variety of studies and concluded that sexual intercourse the night before competition wouldn’t affect performance.
This was more in relation to the physiological effect. Now considering the psychological effect, the researchers discussed that, there’s an optimal level of alertness/anxiety before a contest, and a poor performance will result from either being too anxious or not alert enough.
If athletes are too anxious and restless the night before an event, then sex could also be a calming distraction. If they’re already relaxed or, like some athletes, have little interest in sex the night before a giant competition, then night’s sleep is all they need. This implies that the outcomes shall be depending on individual preferences and routines.
In a 2016 systematic-review studyresearchers chosen 9 studies after screening over 512 references and located that, in some sports and several other cultures, coaches proceed to support sexual abstinence before sports competition. On the opposite hand, in major competitions equivalent to the Olympics and Commonwealth Games, contraceptive devices are freely available, acknowledging that sexual intercourse is often practiced by the athletes throughout the games.
The researchers found that apart from one study which promotes abstinence from sexual intercourse that too on the premise of a possible influence of frustration in maintaining high level of sports performance, most studies support the absence of negative effects of sexual intercourse on sports performance. Then there are also studies which underline the importance to take care of sexual experiences inside an athlete’s normal sex life. Any possible association of sexual intercourse with incorrect lifestyle habits, equivalent to abuse of alcohol or smoking, can produce antagonistic effects and worse performance.
A 2001 studyexamined the connection between marathon runners’ performance and sexual intercourse within the 48 hours prior to a marathon race. Results showed that marathon runners sexual intercourse was not related to their relative running performance.
A 2011 studydetermined whether sexual intercourse the night before competition impairs athletic performance. 8 participants underwent a series of exercise tests under 3 conditions; the night prior to every testing, they were either: 1) abstinent and physically inactive, 2) sexually lively or 3) did yoga.
Researchers examined their aerobic capability, grip strength, leg power, response time, hamstring flexibility, muscular endurance, testosterone, cortisol, blood glucose concentrations and blood pressure.
No significant difference was found between performance results between the three conditions. Blood Glucose and testosterone concentrations were unaffected by the conditions and cortisol levels were significantly increased on the mornings following sex and yoga.
A 2017 systematic review studyfound that, sexual intercourse 10–12 hours before competition didn’t alter short-term physiological testing results including maximum-effort grip strength test, hamstring flexibility, response time, aerobic power (stair-climbing exercise), VO2max (treadmill and cycle ergometer test), sub-maximal graded-exercise test, muscular endurance, oxygen pulse, double product, testosterone, cortisol, blood glucose concentrations, and mental concentration.
A 2019 studyassessed whether sexual intercourse the evening before several physical exertion performance tests affects performance the subsequent day. For the study, eight participants underwent several physical exertion performance tests on 3 different mornings, under 3 conditions: (i) no sexual activity the night before the tests (control), (ii) sexual activity the night before the tests, and (iii) yoga the night before the tests. Physical work capability, lower body muscular power (standing vertical jump), upper body strength (handgrip strength), response time, and upper body musculoskeletal endurance (variety of push- ups accomplished), were assessed.
Researchers found that, all participants experienced orgasm through intercourse. The more pleasurable the orgasm, the lower the systolic blood pressure (SBP) on the day after intercourse. There were no significant differences within the physical working capability that elicited an HR of 170 beats/minute, variety of push-ups accomplished, vertical jump height, grip strength, or response time across the three conditions.
Thus, the study showed no significant changes in various measures of physical exertion performance following sexual activity at 7.6 hours before physical exertion. However, it was found that the more intense and pleasurable the orgasm from sexual activity the night before exercise, the lower the SBP.
Another 2019 study, determined if sexual intercourse the evening before several physical performance tests affected the outcomes in comparison with the identical performance tests after five days of abstinence.Ten, married young men underwent a six-physical performance/balance/agility tests (forearm grip strength, balance, lateral movement, response time, anaerobic power, and maximal oxygen uptake) on three different days.
The first day was a familiarization session, where the topics familiarized themselves with the performance tests. Then, two morning sessions occurred there was either no sexual activity on the five days prior to the tests (control condition) or sexual activity on the night before the tests (experimental condition).
The results showed that sexual intercourse had no effect on any of the six physical performance tests. This suggests that physical performance is unaffected by sexual intercourse inside 24 hours prior to competition in young men.
A 2022 meta-analysis of 9 studies, total 133 subjects, concluded that, sexual intercourse inside 30 min to 24h before exercise doesn’t appear to affect aerobic fitness, musculoskeletal endurance, or strength/power.
