Why do women weaken legs

Next, the athletes had sexual relations with their usual partners, who were aware of the protocol of the research. The following day, the athletes participated in the same tests and had their testosterone levels measured again. The researchers found that sexual activity had no significant overall effect on how the athletes performed during the exercise and mental tests. However, during the morning exercise test after sex, the researchers noticed slightly higher heart-rate levels.

They concluded that "the recovery capacity of an athlete could be affected if he had sexual intercourse approximately 2 hours before a competition event. A separate paper, published last month in the journal Frontiers in Physiology , found that sex had no significant effect on athletic performance. The paper involved a systematic review of nine studies on the topic of sexual activity and athleticism.

Those researchers concluded that "The present review demonstrates that sex activity in sport is poorly investigated in both males and females. However, the data available do not really support the misconception that sex activity can produce a negative effect on the athlete's performance. Sex advice for athletes.

All in all, athletes attending the Olympic Games in Rio this month should not worry excessively about how sex may affect their competitions, said Emmanuele Jannini, professor of endocrinology and medical sexology at the University of Rome-Tor Vergata in Italy. Bishop, the sports scientist in Australia, advised against having sex only if it was going to affect sleep.

Wait until after your final event," he said, adding, "but I can't see any problems with having sex and then getting a good night's sleep. This study agrees with the findings of a systematic review. A systematic review is a study which identifies and compares all the available studies on a topic. This review examined the findings of 9 studies and concluded that having sex had no effect on strength or endurance performance.

Having sex caused a significant difference in only one physiological measure in only one study. When participants performed an aerobic stress test within 2 hours after sex, it took longer for their heart rate to return to resting levels after the test than the group who abstained.

This difference was not replicated when the tests were carried out more than 2 hours after having sex. Arguably this observed difference is essentially meaningless in terms of sports performance.

A well conducted study tested athletes on three separate occasions. Once after abstaining from sex the previous night, once after having sex, and once after doing 15 minutes yoga the night before. The yoga was used to create a similar energy cost as the sex condition. No differences between conditions were found in physiological variables heart rate and blood pressure , sport specific parameters upper and lower body strength, reaction time, hamstring flexibility , or biochemical variables testosterone, cortisol, and glucose levels.

If we look at all the available evidence albeit somewhat limited , there is no reason to conclude that sexual intercourse has a negative effect on sports performance. At least not from a physiological standpoint. The mostly likely scenario in which sex would lead to poor performance is through associated behaviours. Sex is often combined with the consumption of alcohol or drugs and can lead to decreased hours of sleep.

These associated factors could certainly pose a risk to performance. Unless the athlete is having a wild night partying along with having sex, there is no good evidence that sex will make them perform poorly the following day.

Studying the effect of sexual intercourse on sports performance is a tricky area of research to conduct. This has led to the area being understudied as a whole. To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. Cookie banner We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from.

By choosing I Accept , you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. Filed under:. Share this story Share this on Facebook Share this on Twitter. I haven't played organized athletics in quite a while. Don't get me wrong, I'll still get together with friends to play basketball, football, or baseball once in a while, but the last team I belonged to was in high school.

I remember playing football back then, and every Friday before a game we would basically have a walk-through of Saturday's game-plan. At the end of every Friday practice, before the team would "break it down" our coach would give us a little speech about that week's game.