Is Exercise Killing Your Sex Drive Mojo?

There it was, in big words in the New York Times, "Men, Is Exercise Putting a Damper on Your Sex Life?" No wonder this publication has been called "fake news." (You can read it here.)

Sexy abs, sculpted thighs, bulging biceps? And a limp penis? That's what a new study on strenuous exercise and libido indicates. [1] From this study completed at the University of North Carolina, "Exposure to higher levels of chronic intense and greater durations of endurance training on a regular basis are significantly associated with a decreased libido scores in men."

Related: Sex and Health: 12 Benefits

As a hard training male, should you stop lifting, stop making all gains, and focus on getting that booty? Absolutely not. This "study" was flawed, didn't factor in all variables, and discounted the fact that muscle is sexy. let's delve into this data.

The study was completed by targeting endurance athletes, aka runners, cyclists and triathletes. They completed an online questionnaire. Some flaws in this group:

• Running and other endurance events are extremely catabolic and do not lead to muscle gains. I hypothesize that the results would have been much different in lifters versus endurance athletes since it has been demonstrated that endurance training can lower testosterone. [2]
• Researchers speculate that it has to do with a reduction in blood flow to the testes - also called "microtrauma" - due to tight-fitting shorts, constant jostling, and sitting on the perineal region. Less blood means less hormone production, says Ferdinand Frauscher, M.D., a professor of radiology at the University of Innsbruck medical school in Austria.? [3] Meaning, not only does cycling have the negative hormonal effects, but as a part of this group, the more you cycle, the more you damage your junk, the less you will want to hit it from the back.
• If these are competitive athletes, they might be so focused on their event that sex is an afterthought.

Beyond that, the administration of the study is weak. An online questionnaire, with no bloodwork or hormonal markers taken, is a lazy study and one that holds no water.

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Another thing is, exercise combats obesity, the ultimate sex drive killer. [4] It has been demonstrated that obesity causes erectile dysfunction and markers of female sexuality are lower in obese women than in non-obese women. Therefore, as the main way to combat obesity, the libido killer, the suggestion that exercise is the enemy and will kill your sex drive is both irresponsible and just plain silly.

We will end this with the following synopsis:

• Obesity is bad for you and exercise prevents and treats obesity.
• If any good can be taken from this study, it is that you want to avoid "too much" training. What is too much training? It depends on the person, but weight training 4 times per week and physical activity on the other days for 30-90 minutes can be tolerated by most.
• Endurance training should be combined with resistance training for optimal results.
• don't believe the mainstream media, for anything.
• Having a strong core HELPS your performance in bed, it doesn't hurt it. See my article here.

So get out, exercise, fight obesity and be the best YOU that you can be!

References

1) "Endurance Exercise Training and Male Sexual Libido. - PubMed - NCBI." National Center for Biotechnology Information, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28195945.
2) Reduced Serum Testosterone and Prolactin Levels in Male Distance Runners. Garry D. Wheeler, MS; Stephen R. Wall, MA; Angelo N. Belcastro, PhD;David C. Cumming, MB, ChB
3) "Biking Hurts Your Junk." Men's Health, www.menshealth.com/fitness/biking-hurts-your-junk. Accessed 27 Feb. 2017.
4) "Sexuality and Obesity, a Gender Perspective: Results from French National Random Probability Survey of Sexual Behaviours | The BMJ." TheBMJ | The BMJ, www.bmj.com/content/340/bmj.c2573.