CONVENTIONAL wisdom holds that abstinence from sexual activity can boost performance. Yet with 450,000 condoms distributed around the Olympic village in Rio, it seems that not all athletes were abiding by the unwritten rule. Did they pay the price when it came to their respective heats and finals?
Having sex the night before a race can boost performance over 26.2 miles
Not according to a review of research published in the journal Frontiers in Physiology, the outcome of which challenges the accepted advice that bedroom gymnastics should be avoided at all costs. After sifting through hundreds of studies on the subject, Laura Stefani, an assistant professor of sports medicine at the University of Florence and her team concluded: “We show no robust scientific evidence to indicate that sexual activity has a negative effect upon athletic results.”