Pre-competition s3x can boost athletic performance — Study

By Sade Oguntola

Contrary to popular belief and long-standing sports folklore, scientists at the University of Valladolid have found that sexual activity shortly before exercise does not impair athletic performance and may even offer a modest boost.

For decades, athletes across sports, from boxing and football to athletics, have been advised to abstain from sex before major competitions on the assumption that it drains energy, reduces strength, and affects focus. However, scientific evidence supporting this practice has been limited, and the new findings challenge that traditional advice.

The study, published in Physiology & Behaviour, examined 21 well-trained male athletes aged between 18 and 25 who compete at regional, national, and international levels in sports including basketball, long-distance running, and judo.

Diego Fernández-Lázaro from the University of Valladolid and his colleagues assessed strength, endurance, hormonal responses, muscle damage, and inflammation under two conditions: 30 minutes after masturbation-induced orgasm and after seven days of complete sexual abstinence.

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Participants visited the laboratory on two separate occasions, exactly one week apart. On the Sexual Activity Day (SACT), athletes engaged in masturbation 30 minutes before undergoing performance tests. On the Abstinence Day (ABST), they avoided all sexual activity for seven days before testing.

During both sessions, athletes first completed a maximum handgrip strength test using a dynamometer to measure muscular force. They then performed an incremental cycling test on a stationary bike, starting at a moderate pace with the intensity increasing every minute until they reached exhaustion.

Immediately after exercise, researchers measured testosterone and cortisol levels to evaluate physiological stress and energy responses. They also analysed blood markers linked to muscle damage and inflammation.

Results showed that athletes exercised 3.2 per cent longer following masturbation and demonstrated slightly higher handgrip strength compared with the abstinence condition. Sexual activity produced small, short-lived increases in heart rate, testosterone, and cortisol—responses similar to those seen during a mild warm-up of the nervous system.

Importantly, sexual activity did not increase inflammatory markers and was associated with a slight reduction in indicators of muscle stress.

The researchers noted that the findings apply only to young, trained male athletes and should not be generalised to all populations.

They called for further studies involving female athletes, older individuals, and competitors from a wider range of sporting disciplines and cultural backgrounds.