Note to Olympians: Science Says Sex Could Help You Score that Gold Medal
By Yelena Shuster for HowAboutWe
Good news for all those glistening, muscled Olympic athletes spending all this intense time together in close living quarters: having sex will not ruin your chances for the gold.
Plus: 50 Pickup Lines For Olympians
Everyone from ancient Greeks to modern coaches would want you to believe otherwise. But three recent studies show no such results. "When we test people in the lab, we are examining 'tests of performance' but in competition, psychology very likely plays a much more important role," Professor Ian Shrier of McGill University in Canada said, according to Reuters. "Those who claim it decreases performance usually say it is because it decreases focus or aggression or tension. There are no studies that have examined this.
Plus: 7 Do's And Don'ts Of Hitting On Someone At The Gym
One published in the Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine, showed that a romp the night before competition has no effect on physiological test results. Another study at Colorado State University discovered that everything from grip strength to balance was not affected by last night's coitus. A third study found that sex even 12 hours before had no influence on maximal aerobic power, oxygen pulse or blood pressure. Actually, researcher Emmanuele Jannini found that sex may even stimulate the production of testosterone. "After three months without sex, which is not so uncommon for some athletes, testosterone dramatically drops to levels close to children's levels," Jannini said. "Do you think this may be useful for a boxer?"
Plus: Meet The Hotties Of The 2012 London Olympics: Soccer Edition
Obviously, we'd advise the Olympians to use common sense. Don't pull a squid and stay up all night sexing to the point where you're exhausted. But a quickie never hurt anyone, as far as we're concerned. [Medical Daily] Yelena Shuster is desperately trying to find cheap tickets to London.
