The lowdown on sex before sports
source: msnbc.com
Pre-game Hanky Panky
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Feb. 8 — In a memorable scene from the movie “Rocky,” the fighter’s manager tells Rocky to “lay off” his girlfriend, reciting the old boxing adage, “women weaken legs.” In real life, football coaches often round up their players the night before a game, stash them in a hotel and literally tuck them in, at least in part to save their boys from the debilitating consequences of sex.
THROUGH THE years with varying degrees of diligence, coaches have admonished their studly charges not to waste their seed before a competition. So exhausting is the act of lovemaking, they say, it will sap an athlete of the strength he needs to compete and win.
But considering that the Salt Lake Organizing Committee expects to distribute 12,000 free condoms to athletes in the Olympic Village over the next two weeks, it appears the competitors aren’t taking this advice too seriously. So are sexed-up skiers adding seconds to their downhill times? Will promiscuous skaters glide through patterns that are a little less crisp?
SEX-SPORTS LINK SCRUTINIZED
Sports specialist Tommy Boone decided to subject the sexual admonition to the rigors of scientific scrutiny.
“It is well known that athletes in the United States are told to abstain from sexual intercourse prior to athletic competition,” Boone notes. “The rationale for such a policy appears to be related to the hypothesis that sexual intercourse decreases the athlete’s ability to perform efficiently and/or maximally. But the effect that sexual intercourse may have on exercise performance has not been examined widely.”
So, in 1995, Boone rounded up 11 fit men and tested them with and without sexual intercourse 12 hours prior to a stressful workout. The men were pushed to their limits on a treadmill and ultimately, Boone found, there was no impact on performance if the men had intercourse the night before.
“The data suggest that it is justified to dismiss the point of view that sexual intercourse decreases maximal exercise performance,” Boone concluded.
In fact, sexual intercourse might be a plus. During sex, endorphins and serotonin are released, says Dr. Ronald Kamm, a sports psychiatrist in Oakhurst, N.J., and the president of the International Society for Sport Psychiatry. And since these chemicals produce a natural “high,” dulling pain and even providing a second wind, this might actually help boost athletic performance.
In fact, a recent survey of people who completed the London marathon found that runners who had sex the night before had faster finishing times than those who skipped sex.
But the link may be a bit more complicated. As it turns out, it may make a difference exactly when an athlete has sex, according to a study published in the Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness.
In that study, Swiss researchers looked at the effects of sexual activity on 15 elite male athletes. Among the 15 were eight team players, five endurance athletes and two weightlifters.
The athletes were asked to work out on a treadmill for an hour, once with and once without sex prior to the exertion.
The athletes achieved their peak performance regardless of whether they had sex. But those who engaged in sexual intercourse two hours before the test had slower heart rate recovery, according to the study.
This could mean that sex a short while before certain kinds of athletic performances — like marathons, for example — might have a negative impact.
"If the exercise is very intense, it may take longer for the athlete to recover and he may feel more out of breath,” says Dr. Carol L. Otis, head of Women’s Sports Medicine at the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopedic Clinic in Los Angeles. “Also if the exercise goes on for longer than an hour there might be detrimental effects.”
Further, Otis says, “I would tell people that if you’re going to be in a highly competitive race or competition, not to have sex the morning of the event. But the day before, there’s no problem.”
Some experts suspect that all the fuss over sex actually has little to do with the act itself and more about coaches not wanting their athletes out carousing all night. You don’t see coaches ordering their charges to refrain from masturbation, points out Dr. Joe Bernstein, director of sports medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. “All kidding aside,” Bernstein adds, “I think they don’t want the athlete going out and looking for sex.”
WARRIOR MYTH
In the end, the impact of sex on athletic performance may depend on what the athlete believes.
“There is this old warrior myth,” Kamm says. “Some people believe that abstinence makes you tougher, hungrier, more aggressive and stronger. If you buy into that, abstinence will help you. So much in sports is based on superstition, belief, totems, lucky charms.”
On the other hand, Kamm says, athletes like Alberto Tomba and Joe Namath who enjoy going against the grain may actually do better when sexually active. “If it keeps them loose and they enjoy being irreverent, then it’s going to be a high for them.”
