In the world of professional athletics, there is an age-old question: does sex decrease or enhances athletic performance?

In the spirit of the upcoming Rio Olympic Games, the sex toy company Adam & Eve wanted to test whether sex affects how good people are at sports.

The company teamed up with Olympic coach Dr. Mike Young, PhD to assess how sex and masturbation habits affect athletic performance.

Young studied 21 national and college athletes – 10 women and 11 men – to determine how sexual activity influenced speed, strength, and agility.

He found that more frequent sex and masturbation correlated with lower running times, higher vertical-jump heights, and greater strength.

As it turns out, masturbation is especially powerful. It leads to a 10 per cent increase in agility and a 13 per cent in strength.

One of the rationales behind this data can be attributed to the chemicals released during orgasm for both sexes, many of which have physical and mental benefits.

According to the study, it’s been suggested that a combination of these chemicals and the areas of the brain which they stimulate could halt the release of a specific pain transmitter for up to 24 hours, helping to ease muscle pain or soreness.

Young did say, however, that athletes’ subjective perceptions influence their performance more than their sexual behaviour itself. In other words, the old ‘mind over matter’ effect is a huge factor here.

For that reason, he advises athletes to go with their gut.

“If they feel like participating in a sexual activity will improve their athletic performance, then it more than likely will and they should strategically seek out opportunities to be sexually active,” said Young. “Similarly, if an athlete feels like sexual activity impairs their athletic performance, then it probably will and they should avoid it at all costs.”

Those athletes who believed in the ability of sex to improve their skills were 68 per cent more likely to see improvements.

Of course, every athlete has their own training ritual when it comes to everything from the food they eat to sex. As the study highlights, some even practice abstinence during times of particularly important events.

When it comes to the Olympics, however, athletes have been known to get almost as much physical activity between the sheets than they do in their sport. There’s a reason this year’s summer Olympics will see the highest distribution of condoms yet.

But for the not-so-pro athletes, if you want to improve your game, you may want to experiment with the sex correlation yourself. Just be careful; you could very well sustain an injury from sex rather than the sport itself.

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