BooneThink

Here we are…the World Cup 2010 and more questions about “sex and athletics.” I have to admit that “the time for talk is over.” Sex before an athletic competition has “zero” to do with whether the athlete performs well or not. Sex is an amazing thing. Under no circumstances should it be implicated in an athlete’s failure to perform well. So, let me provide a few facts. First, the most aggressive sex requires an average of 250 calories per hour or 4 calories per minute. If sex intercourse leads to orgasm in 5 minutes on average, the caloric cost is 20 calories! That’s it. The energy cost of “the sexual release, that is, orgasm,” is essentially 25% of what it would cost to walk a mile in 20 minutes. Why, because everything other than the orgasm itself, which is admittedly the most aggressive physical aspect of love-making, is on average 5 minutes or less once the business of sex gets underway. I should add that some experts say 2 minutes after penetration, orgasm is the name of the game.

This thinking (i.e., energy cost) is consistent with the man-on-top and an average heart rate of 130 beats per minute versus woman-on-top of 110 beats per minute. Yes, blood pressure is increased, but not too high. It is consistent with the body muscle contractions. Think about it. Sex requires “on average” 3 to 5 METs. Remember that one MET is equal to resting metabolism. So, say “4 METs” or 980 ml/min (based on an average of 250 ml/min at rest) is the energy cost of sex, which is equal to walking 4 miles an hour on a treadmill. Please appreciate that after 30 minutes of continued walking, sexual intercourse that led to orgasm was completed 25 minutes ago. Of course the walking doesn’t wear out or exhaust the athlete or even the non-athlete. So, why would 5 minutes of sex to orgasm diminish the athlete’s physical abilities? The obvious answer is that it wouldn’t.

That’s why sex before an all-out athletic event can’t hurt the athlete, that is, unless the athlete is convinced that it would. Who would convince the athlete of such thinking? The most obvious person is the COACH. This brings up an interesting point. If there isn’t any scientific data that says athletes shouldn’t engage in sex before competition, then, why are coaches telling their athletes to abstain from sex the night before? It is time that they get the facts straight. Hello, this is the 21st century! Why in the world would the British coaches tell their athletes “no sex” and that “coaches would monitor their hotel rooms.” It makes no sense whatsoever. Why? What if the athlete’s aerobic power is 60 ml/kg/min? This is equal to a little more than 16 METs, which provides the athlete a 75% aerobic power reserve above the actual cost of sex. The Argentine team doctors and the Brazilian coaches have it right. They understand that sex doesn’t hurt athletics, and they get that sex actually can have numerous positive benefits (such as sleeping better, facilitating a sense of well-being, decrease stress, and increase self-esteem.

I hope this helps.