A study has shown that male weightlifters can lift heavier objects after watching porn.
Scientists showed different types of video clips to male athletes and then studied their workout performances afterwards.
They discovered changes in salivary testosterone samples and subsequent squat performance after the weightlifters watched the pornographic clips, Discover Magazine website reported.
It said looking at different types of videos produced incredibly different reactions in saliva.
The male athletes found pornography helped them lift heavier weights after they had viewed the sexual clips.
Erotic, aggressive, funny, training and motivational clips prompted a noticeable increase in testosterone.
Sad and neutral videos sparked a significant dip in testosterone samples.
Quoting an unnamed scientific study, it said: ‘We explored the acute effects of video clips on salivary testosterone and cortisol concentrations and subsequent voluntary squat performance in highly trained male athletes.’
Saliva samples were collected on six occasions immediately before and 15 min after watching a four-minute long clip.
The male athletes then performed a squat workout aimed at producing a 3 repetition maximum (3RM) lift.
A significant improvement in 3RM performances were noted after the erotic, aggressive and training clips versus control clips.
‘In conclusion, different video clips were associated with different changes in salivary free hormone concentrations and the relative changes in testosterone closely mapped 3RM squat performance in a group of highly trained males.’
The study contributes to the recent idea that sex improves an athlete’s performance.
CNN quoted Antonio Miguel, head of medical services at the Club Universidad Nacional Pumas, one of the Mexican first division’s top soccer clubs, and a former football player, who said that the myth that sex before competing had been debunked.
He said that during the 1950s and 1960s, people thought that sex had a negative impact on the players’ performance.
Juan Carlos Medina, general coordinator of the sports department at the Tecnologico de Monterrey, a Mexico university, said it has benefits for the athletes.
Sex can help wipe out mental fatigue to leave them feeling refreshed and confident, he claims.
‘It helps you feel relaxed and sexually, mentally and physically satisfied,’ he said.
Other ways of improving weightlifting techniques are including cardio exercise into the athlete’s regime, consuming protein after a workout and avoiding over-straining themselves.
