WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2008 Sports WWW.KANSAN.COM THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
》 PERFORMANCE
29
Sex weakens athletes—Is it just a dirty lie?
Photo Illustration by Mindy Ricketts
It has been debated whether pregame sex improves game performance for athletes. But some said that sticking with a pregame ritual is the best bet, which may actually involve sex before the game.
Photo Illustration by Mindy Rickett
BY JESSE TEMPLE jtempl@kansan.com
The original "Rocky" movie is 32 years old now, but one scene still provides a small window into the mindset of sex and the athlete: Rocky Balboa hacks away on a punching bag. As sweat runs down his face, trainer Mickey taps Balboa on the shoulder. Upset with Balboa's laziness leading up to a big fight, Mickey tells him, "Women weaken legs." Five seconds later, Mickey has Balboa convinced. He's not fooling around anymore.
The idea of pre-game abstinence from sex to enhance athletic performance is a long standing one. But is that notion as fictional as Balboa's character?
"The best way to continue positive performance outcomes would be to not change your pre-game ritual," Cupp said.
KU sports team physician Sean Cupp sure thinks so. Cupp, a sports medicine specialist, said no true scientific studies proved night-before sex impedes performance in any way. In fact, Cupp said if sex was part of an athlete's typical nighttime routine, the person shouldn't suddenly abandon lovemaking.
Cupp, who was an athlete in high school, said he had been around plenty of coaches and athletes who had
perpetuated the abstinence myth.
Coaches and athletes are superstitious, Cupp says. "If they feel like they have a pretty good system, they're not going to stray from it," he said.
Cupp said boxing in particular lends itself to that myth because of its aggressive nature and that abstaining could increase anxiety level.
According to an article that appeared in the October 2000 edition of the Journal of Sport Medicine, "The long-standing myth that athletes should practice abstinence before important competitions may stem from the theory that sexual frustration leads to increased aggression, and that the act of ejaculation draws testosterone from the body."
"You take care of business and you've got your head cleared."
Justin Montgomery is the coowner of the Lawrence-based Walt's Boxing Gym. An amateur fighter and trainer himself, Montgomery said he had heard of the myth over the years even Muhammad Ali was said to have gone six weeks without sex before a fight but Montgomery didn't believe in it.
Few tests exist that definitively answer the question for men, and none exist that answer the question for women. The Journal of Sport Medicine cited just three scientific studies, all using a small male sample size, showing no major physiological
"As a fighter, you don't want to be all tensed up," Montgomery said.
differences before and after sex.
Last year, the cable television show "Sports Science" set out to prove or disprove the theory. Former heavyweight boxing champion Chris Byrd was put through a series of the same tests. One set occurred before sex,
SEE GAME SEX ON PAGE 31