The leader of India's cricket team wants his players to have more sex. In addition to trying to earn votes from his guys as "coach of the year", Gary Kristen hopes the plan will boost on-field performance. He has circulated a document to his cricketers about preparations for this weekend's match against arch rivals Pakistan. A reported excerpt from a document circulated to the team:
"Does sex increase performance? Yes it does, so go ahead and indulge", before detailing the benefits of a good sex life and even suggesting "going solo" if no partners were available.
Why would team leaders encourage such reckless behavior? After all, another term for orgasm is "le petit mort", the little death. Indian fans don't want their heroes to be losing a little bit of their life force the night before the biggest match of the year do they? And doesn't abstinence lead to sexual tension and frustration that then naturally manifests as heightened aggression?
"From a physiological perspective, having sex increases testosterone levels, which cause an increase in strength, energy, aggression and competitiveness," the document said. "Conversely, not having sex for a period of a few months causes a significant drop in testosterone levels in both males and females, with the corresponding passiveness and decrease in aggression."
A 2000 review of the literature on this hot topic in the Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine found no evidence that intercourse the night prior affects any physiologic performance measures.
Another drawback of abstinence is that an athlete may be, um, distracted by this tension and misplace his priorities. Put another way by the sports version of the Kama Sutra:
"You may experience that your mind spends more time focusing on the fire in your groin than on good sport practice, preparation and sleep,"
While there are studies on physiologic impact of sex, the psychological effects have not been researched. The authors of the CJSM review postulate that the mental tension/aggression of abstinence vs. the relaxation/happiness of recent sexual activity may be good or bad, it all probably depends on the sport and your personality to begin with:
According to the current inverted U sport psychology hypothesis, there is an optimal level of alertness/anxiety before a competition, and a poor performance will result from either being too anxious or not alert enough. If athletes are too anxious and restless the night before an event, then sex may be a relaxing distraction. If they are already relaxed or, like some athletes, have little interest in sex the night before a big competition, then a good night's sleep is all they need.
The Indian cricket staff was smart enough to include this important qualifier:
The document quotes Tim Noakes a professor and sports scientist at the University of Cape Town, Kirsten's home town, as saying that "sex was not a problem, but being up till 2:00 am, probably having a few drinks at a bar while trying to pick someone up, on the eve of a game, almost always was."
However the results of future research on this subject turn out, I think those of us at the college level will probably stick with taking the team out to a (mainstream) movie the night before a game.
I'm ready to hit the wicket, if you know what I mean
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