In 2012, organizers of the London Olympics reportedly gave out 150,000 condoms for the 10,080 olympic athletes at the games. With such a large number of free rubbers, we can safely assume that athletes had a little extra physical activity during the games.

Still, many athletes say they abstain from sex prior a big game or competition. Take Muhammed Ali, arguably the best boxer of all time,  for example. He claimed that he wouldn’t have sex for up to six weeks before a fight. The theory behind the idea that sex drains our energy and lowers our testosterone levels has been around even since ancient civilizations. The Greeks believed that semen was sacred and contained a man’s strength. Athletes nowadays may think that abstinence will promote higher testosterone levels and in effect increase their strength. While it is true that testosterone is responsible for aggression and sexual desire in both men and women, there is no physiological evidence stating that sex before competition is bad.

A study looking to determine the effects of two drugs (sildenafil and tadalafil) on erectile dysfunction found that although both drugs increased testosterone levels, lack of sexual activity was the greatest contributor to a
loss in testosterone levels. Therefore suggesting that testosterone levels increase after sex. Based on these findings, it can be argued that sex before competition can be helpful when it comes to more aggressive sports such as football or wrestling.

Another argument that recommends saying away from sex before a game, proclaims that sex tires the body out. This claim can be countered according to a study conducted by the New England Journey of Medicine, states that sex lasts on average 6 minutes and only burns around 21 calories. Now unless you’re having some crazy, all night sex, it is highly unlikely that it will cause your body to be tired out the next morning.

The one thing we don’t know about sex before competition is how it affects us mentally. Ian Shrier, a sports medicine professor at McGill University, says that sex can affect anxiety and alertness the following day. For example, staying up late and having prolonged sex may cause decrease alertness. On the other hand, sex can be a great stress reliever and in result may decrease the athletes anxiety. It should also be considered that sex affects everyone differently and results could vary.

With all this said, we can disprove the idea that sex before competition negatively affects our physical state; yet, need more studies on how it affects our psychological state of mind. I’m sure that there are many other factors besides sex that will affect your athletic performance, but maybe next time when your partner wants to get in on, focus more on them instead of the big game.