Winter Olympians rejoice! Pre-exercise sex can actually BOOST performance for male athletes, study reveals

Many athletes competing at the Winter Olympics will be told to avoid sex before their big event. 

But a new study suggests that their abstinence might actually be hindering them. 

Contrary to popular belief, scientists from the University of Valladolid have found that pre–exercise sex can actually boost performance.

In their study, the team analysed the performance of male athletes 30 minutes after masturbating, and compared it to their performance after a week of abstinence. 

Surprisingly, they found that the athletes were able to exercise for longer, and were even stronger following sexual activity. 

According to the researchers, sex might act like a 'natural warm–up' for the nervous system. 

'Masturbation 30 min before exercise elicited mild sympathetic and hormonal activation without detrimental effects on performance or muscle damage,' the team explained. 

'These findings suggest that pre–exercise sexual activity does not impair athletic capacity in trained men, challenging the long–standing myth of mandatory abstinence before competition.' 

From boxing to football, athletes across several sports are actively encouraged to avoid sex before competition, amid the belief that it will hinder their performance.

However, until now, there has been little research to confirm that this is the case. 

In their new study, the team enlisted 21 male athletes aged 18–25, who compete at a high level in sports including basketball, long–distance running, and judo. 

The athletes visited the lab on two occasions, one week apart.

Thirty minutes before their first visit, the athletes were asked to masturbate. 

On the second visit, they were asked to abstain from all sexual activity for a full seven days.

During their sessions, the athletes' grip strength was tested using a dynamometer, while their endurance was analysed through a test on a stationary bike. 

In addition, they had bloods taken so the scientists could check their levels of testosterone and cortisol – two hormones that have been shown to boost performance in male athletes. 

The results revealed that, following masturbation, the athletes were able to exercise 3.2 per cent longer, and had slightly higher grip strength. 

They also saw small, short–lived spikes in heart rate, testosterone, and cortisol. 

'Taken together, these findings suggest that a single post–orgasmic episode does not compromise subsequent exercise performance, nor does it increase physiological stress,' the researchers explained in their study, published in Physiology & Behavior.

'Rather, the data indicate a short–lived shift in neuroendocrine tone and autonomic balance consistent with sympathetic arousal followed by partial parasympathetic rebound.'

The study comes as it was revealed that the village where Winter Olympics athletes are staying in Milan has reportedly run out of condoms after slashing its supply from 300,000 to a mere 10,000.

Providing free contraceptives in the Olympic villages has long been a tradition at the Games, with organisers aiming to promote safe sex and positive sexual health among competitors. 

'Health first: prevention and common sense' was the message delivered to athletes at the village in Milan when condoms were handed out, with Attilio Fontana, governor of Lombardy, opting to place a symbol of the region on the packets. 

Despite backing the initiative, Cortina organisers have only distributed 10,000 condoms for the entire Winter Games, causing supply to run dry almost immediately.

An anonymous athlete told Italian newspaper La Stampa on Thursday: 'The supplies sold out in just three days. 

'They promised us more will arrive but who knows when.'

By comparison, athletes at the Paris Olympics in 2024 received 300,000 condoms, enough for two per athlete per day.