Sex and performance

There are several accounts from great boxers saying that they practice abstinence before a fight. Muhammad Ali would abstain for months before a big fight and said that made him invincible in the ring.

In spite of this, there is a common view that masturbation is good for sports performance because it increases testosterone levels. But is that really the case?


Testosterone and performance

According to Wikipedia, testosterone plays an important role both physically (growth of muscle mass and strength, increased bone density and strength) and mentally (attention, memory, and spatial ability are key cognitive functions affected by testosterone).

The media abounds in articles claiming that masturbation increases testosterone levels. One such article is National Geographic's "Sex and Sports: Should Athletes Abstain Before Big Events?".

Some people believe the act of ejaculation draws testosterone, the hormone of both sexual desire and aggression, from the body. "This is a really wrong idea," said Emmanuele A. Jannini of the University of L'Aquila in Italy.

Enter Emmanuele A. Jannini's study

If you track down the source quoted by most of these articles you get to the same person - Emmanuele A. Jannini which presumably said:

After three months without sex, which is not so uncommon for some athletes, testosterone dramatically drops to levels close to children's levels. Do you think this may be useful for a boxer?

A quick search on Google scholar reveals the source of the study which lead to this conclusion: "Lack of sexual activity from erectile dysfunction is associated with a reversible reduction in serum testosterone" by Emmanuele A. Jannini et al. Right from the title, we raise an eyebrow because the study is about impotent males, their low testosterone levels and how those levels can be reversed by therapy.

Impotent males are by definition abstinent. Their low level of testosterone is probably caused by whatever dysfunction is also causing their impotence. The authors acknowledge this fact: "... our findings are consistent with the opposite hypothesis: impotence is the cause of reduced testosterone levels."

However, after they claim that impotence causes low testosterone, they go ahead and say that abstinence actually causes low testosterone:

In line with these observations, our data suggest that sexual activity per se can affect testosterone levels. In fact, we show that the loss of sexual activity of impotent patients is characterized by moderately but significantly reduced testosterone levels, while, when sexual activity is started anew – no matter what is the cause and how the impotence is treated – the androgen levels rise.

So they say that since low testosterone is correlated with abstinence (in impotent males), it probably is also caused by abstinence, and the rule can then be applied to all males. So the root of all those articles recommending masturbation comes from a researcher's apparent error in logic


What other researchers say

In "Endocrine response to masturbation-induced orgasm in healthy men following a 3-week sexual abstinence" by Exton MS et al. the authors conclude:

...although plasma testosterone was unaltered by orgasm, higher testosterone concentrations were observed following the period of abstinence. These data demonstrate that acute abstinence does not change the neuroendocrine response to orgasm but does produce elevated levels of testosterone in males.

More interestingly, in "Orgasmic frequency and plasma testosterone levels in normal human males" Helena C. Kraemer et al. say:

Twenty males participated in a 2-month study examining the relationship between 8 a.m. plasma testosterone levels and orgasmic frequency. Within subjects, higher levels of testosterone are associated with periods of sexual activity. Over subjects, however, the direction of the relationship is reversed. Mean testoster-one levels were higher for sexually less active individuals.

In other words, if you take people that masturbate often, they have a relatively low level of testosterone, which increases through masturbation. However, even after the increase, their testosterone level is still lower than that of abstinent males.


Back to athletes

From Sex And Training: Tips From Boxing

iconic fighter Rocky Marciano would excuse himself from the marital bed for months before a bout. Marciano was the only heavyweight boxer to retire undefeated.

legendary boxer Muhammad Ali reportedly went two months without sex before a big fight, claiming it made him unbeatable in the ring. Ali is considered one of the best fighters of all time; his record stands at an impressive 56 wins in 61 fights, with 37 knockouts.

Manny Pacquiao has stated publicly that he separates himself from his wife when he trains for a fight. He only has contact with his wife during chaperoned visits. Pacquiao is considered by many in the sport as the best welterweight fighter of all time.

The exception confirming the rule

Oscar De La Hoya is one of the most successful athletes to ever enter the ring. "De La Hoya confessed to HBO Boxing that at the beginning of his professional career, he had sex with his girlfriend the night before a fight. While the Golden Boy says he fought the best fight of his career that night, he does admit it was a mistake on his part.

Given that it was at the beginning of the professional career of a very talented boxer, it's probably irrelevant whether he had sex the night before or not.


Conclusion and where to go from here

It seems that we have debunked a very popular myth. Masturbation does not increase testosterone levels so it doesn't increase mental and physical performance. Abstinence does increase testosterone level and thus performance.

Lots of articles also recommend masturbation as a general healthy habit for "cleaning the pipes". Some go as far as saying that otherwise you can get prostate cancer. We'll look at that hypothesis in a future post.