Should athletes have sex before their match?

For decades, we’ve read countless articles about athletes at an international tournament, such as the Olympics, the Asian Games, and the Commonwealth Games giving their best performance not just in their particular event, but even in between the sheets. These events do not just set the stage for medals and records to be smashed but have resulted in sexual relationships being a phenomenon amongst competitors and volunteers. Add to that, many athletes also get to travel with their partners and resort to sex to take some time off and reduce their mental stress. Don’t believe us? The upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics, which is scheduled to begin in a few week’s time, will have anti-sex beds whose size is made in such a manner to prevent athletes from doing the deed during the competition. 

So does having sex during a tournament and before a match help an athlete? Cosmopolitan India speaks to Ramji Srinivasan, the former head strength and conditioning coach of the India National Cricket Team, and Pallavi Barnwal, sexuality and intimacy coach and founder of Get Intimacy, to know if there’s a link between the two. 

It purely depends from person to person

Long story short, no one knows if it’s a winning formula or not. So you can’t attribute your wins or losses to them. “Be it a man or a woman, choosing to have sex during the tournament is purely up to them and what they want on that day. As far as performance is concerned, there is no significant improvement or decrement. If it works for you, lovely, but it may not have the same positive result the second and third time. You can’t say that you won or lost because you did or didn’t have sex,” adds Srinivasan. 

It’s all about the perception

Barnwal, too, believes that having sex during the tournament is a matter of personal choice. “The most important thing is the player’s focus. When they go out on the field, they are in the zone. When they are done with sex, they are in a relaxed state. With sex being an intense activity, the brain takes time to settle back from the intensity and euphoria going from excitement and arousal to a state of calm. If an athlete can go from one extreme end to another, and not let it affect their on-field performance, go for it. It entirely depends on how you perceive sex—to be an activity that energises you, and makes you creative because you can now unleash that sexual energy (that’s a creative energy and force) into forming new strategies that improve your game. But if they think that you are getting distracted, it’s best to stop.”  

How much sex is too much sex for an athlete during a tournament? 

Just like how there is no right answer to the, ‘Should an athlete have sex during a tournament?’ question, there is no ideal frequency or answer to this one as well. Barnwal says, “It depends on how you have sex. Remember that, how you are in your sex life is how you are in real life as well. If it’s a tournament, there will be practice, team meetings, etc. So, how an athlete wants to space things out depends on their capacity. It’s important to see how it fits into their aspirations. In this sense, the focus is important—do they feel that you’re enjoying the sex? As mentioned earlier, disconnecting and then getting back into the arena where they need to focus on. It’s an afterthought that you need to think about.”

Have sex, but don’t get tired 

Lead image: Netflix

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