The influence of sex about him physical performance It has been a much-discussed topic for a long time. There are athletes who are very much in favor of masturbate or have sexual intercourse with other people just before competitions, while others believe that doing so would negatively affect them. Great sports personalities have given their varied opinions, so the controversy is more than served. After all, the public tends to align itself with what their favorite athletes. But what does the science say about masturbation and prenatal sex? exercise?
The truth is that there is no clear answer. Here they come into play Both physiological and psychological factors. In fact, the latter are possibly the ones that generate this great variability in the opinions of athletes. There will be those who see sex and masturbation almost as a talisman. And those who think that sexual relations can affect their physical performance with such conviction that, if they maintain them, they actually play worse.
And it is true that physiologically there are some factors that influence, but there is nothing so clear as to prohibit or enhance the sex before sport. everyone knows your body and your mind and you will know what works best for you. At least masturbation is not considered a form of doping. If someone thinks they can do well, why not take advantage of it?
Conflicting opinions about sex before sport
Already in ancient Greece and ancient Rome it was considered that sex could negatively affect the performance of athletes if they had intercourse just before exercising. For a long time this was the only position on the matter. In fact, already in the 20th century the boxer Muhammad Ali he continued this tradition, maintaining up to six weeks of sexual abstinence before each match. However, times have changed and other athletes have begun to explore the opposite side of this norm.
It is said that one of the first to do so was the coach of the Dutch national soccer team. Rinus Michelswell apparently at the 1974 World Cup he encouraged players to bring their wives and partners with them to hotels. He was the best sports performance of the team so far, so that unwritten rule of not masturbating or having other sexual practices before sports began to loosen its rigidity.
But still, almost 20 years later, his counterpart on the Swiss national team, Roy Hodgson, went back to the opposite extreme, forcing his players to abstain before matches. That decision was so controversial that it aroused complaints from the very Pelewho did the comment more sensible since Ancient Greece: “Some need to exercise sexually to calm down and other footballers don’t give a damn. In any case, it’s your decision.”
This opened the ban for other athletes to comment more openly on their sex habits before competitions. For example, following with Brazilian soccer players, Ronaldinho recognized in 2016 that he used to have sex before games. In addition, she began to talk more openly about masturbation. In fact, recently the boxer Tyson Fury referred that part of his success is due to the fact that he masturbates up to seven times a day. We’ve come to the opposite extreme, from the six-week abstinent boxer who pleasures himself almost as much in a single day as other people do in a week or a month. Who is right, if there is any correct option? Let’s see what the science says.
The effects on physical performance
In the year 2000, sports medicine experts Samantha McGlone and Ian Shrier they wrote a Article in which they pointed out that possibly the myth that abstinence improves physical performance could come from the theory that sexual frustration leads to increased aggression. The testosterone It is associated with aggressiveness and orgasm involves a great release of this hormone, so in its day it was thought that, perhaps, it did not give enough time to replenish it.
In fact, this has been a hot topic especially in sports like boxing or soccer, in which aggressiveness plays an important role. It should be noted that all this would only refer to the men, but these debates began at a time when women’s sport beyond skating or rhythmic gymnastics was considered a minor matter. And, furthermore, a time when it was very frowned upon for women to talk about sex. In fact, today masturbation is considered something totally normal, and even healthy, in men, but there are still sectors in which they consider it in bad taste for a woman to talk about this matter. But that is a topic for another article.
Returning to sports, today we know that this hypothesis of testosterone was totally wrong. In fact, sex stimulates the release of testosterone. Therefore, if we stick to the issue of aggressiveness, it could be beneficial for physical performance. Whether they have relationships with other people or solo masturbation.
However, in 2016 a scientific literature review which concludes that there is not enough evidence to definitively point in one direction or the other. At most, some studies seem to point to a possible negative effect if relationships are held for less than two hours before exercise. However, it is not ruled out that other factors may influence, such as the consumption of alcohol or tobacco. In addition, only sex with a partner is taken into account, leaving aside the masturbation. In short, it is concluded that there are no reasons to ensure that sex helps or hinders the physical performance of athletes. Everyone should know what works best for them.
The psychological factor
As explained in an article published in National Geographic, many coaches threaten their athletes with the risk of having sex before competitions simply because they want them to sleep well. This can lead to some psychological conditioningleading them to think that masturbating or having sex can affect their physical performance.
Instead, on the opposite side are those who, like Tyson Fury, believe that masturbation is essential for their athletic development. In this case there may be a certain suggestion, since sex is conceived almost as a talisman.
“In a way, what is known as magical thinking occurs,” he explains to hypertextual psychologist, sexologist and sex educator Laura Marcilla. “If one day I go to an exam with a certain piece of underwear and it turns out well, I already think that they are my lucky panties or underpants, because the self-fulfilling prophecy. But if one day I can’t put them on, it will make me very nervous because I think it’s going to go wrong and it does go wrong. But not for not wearing those panties or underpants, but for the mental processes that have been there boiling in my head because I have not been able to respect the requirement that I have imposed on myself.
The same can happen with sex in general and masturbation in particular, so care must be taken so that it does not end in frustration. “If I associate my sporting success with my sexual performance and I don’t get the desired results in sports, in the end what I’m going to do is increase sexual activity thinking that I’m going to improve. Thus, we enter a vicious circle that is not so logical because sporting success does not depend on a single factor. Thus, certain compulsions could be generated that at one extreme could lead to a obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)”.
As the sexologist indicates, that would be the extreme case. However, it is important to keep it in mind, because if masturbation is associated with physical performance, we may end up not enjoying it as much as before. “Masturbation or any form of sexual should serve to make us feel good and enjoy”, recalls Marcilla. “If we make it an obligation, it may no longer provide us as much and in the long run it may generate problems of sexual desire.”
When do we talk about too much masturbation?
Tyson Fury has been very proud to masturbate seven times a day. So much so as to consider it the cause of his sports success. But is he stepping out of line? Is seven times a day too many?
We have also talked about this with Laura Marcilla, who has explained to us that there is no magic figure regarding the masturbation.
“It is very difficult, if not impossible, to determine how much excessive masturbation is, at least if we want to measure it in numbers. To say that there is an excessive amount, we should say that there is a suitable amount, but that depends on each person, on the time they have free, etc. It is excessive when it begins to undermine your quality of life or when it generates irritation or physical damage. However, for each person it can be different, because not all masturbations are equally intense or long. Perhaps for someone what the body asks for are two longer ones a week, in which they recreate themselves with more intense orgasms and another perhaps masturbates three times a day, but they can be faster, seeking a more immediate achievement. of orgasm”
Laura Marcilla, psychologist, sexologist and sex educator
For all this, the sexologist believes that each person should regulate what is working for them and making them feel good and use that emotional thermometer. “When you no longer enjoy it is when it becomes a problem. If it’s not for you painful, harmful, or detrimental and it is not for other people either, it is that it is not a problem”.
But, to finish, one thing must be taken into account and that is that masturbation should not be practiced with more objective than the pleasure. Yes, it is true that it can bring many benefits, although the physical performance is not so clear. However, if we focus too much on them, we may take the focus away from what really matters. “Sometimes in my workshops they ask me if it’s good to masturbate and they usually say yes, because it helps you relax, get to know each other, enjoy yourself more as a couple…”, Marcilla points out. “This is all true, but even if none of these consequences were to be true, we must remember that pleasure for pleasure’s sake is fine, too.”
Therefore, athletes know their body like no one else. Each one will know if masturbation or sexual relations are positive or negative for him. physical performance. Your coaches may think they have the answers. However, the truth is that, if science does not have them, they can hardly be in the possession of people other than the athletes themselves. Let each one make their own decisions and decide if they prefer to relax through sex or use it to celebrate victories or sweeten defeats. Consensual sex is always a pleasure, the ideal moment will depend on who practices it.