For centuries, the notion that abstaining from sex increases physical performance has been widely debated. From ancient Greek athletes to modern-day boxing legends such as Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson, have practiced sexual restraint in the expectation of increasing strength, stamina, and hope. The famous scene in Rocky where trainer Mickey Goldmill tells Rocky Balboa to "lay off that pet shop dame", “women weaken legs,” further fueled this belief, reinforcing the belief that sex before competition weakens the body. But does science back this up, or is it merely an outdated myth?

The theory that sex saps energy and impairs performance goes back almost 2,000 years. Abstaining, ancient Greek athletes believed, would enhance aggression and concentration, leading them to become stronger competitors. Even today in the world of sports, people stick to this hypothesis despite the changing scientific findings. But during the Rio 2016 Olympics, officials gave away a staggering half a million condoms to participants—far from a indication that sex was being thought of as a performance-sapping activity.

Also Read: How “Safe” Vaping Is Hooking A New Generation On Nicotine?

Although some continue to abstain prior to major events, the real effect of sex on sports performance is still controversial. Is there any basis to the belief that sex inhibits strength and endurance, or is it merely an old wives' tale?

Role of Testosterone in Athletic Performance

Testosterone is an essential hormone that is essential for muscle growth, power, and overall athletic performance. Although men naturally produce more than women, both sexes need testosterone for energy and recovery. Some athletes think not having sex maintains their testosterone levels, providing them with an advantage in the gym or on the field. But is this statement scientifically accurate?

Studies indicate that testosterone levels are not consistent throughout the day but are constantly being produced in the body. Unlike glycogen, which can be stored and used as energy, testosterone is controlled according to the needs of the body. Research does not indicate that having sex depletes testosterone levels significantly—if anything, it can increase them slightly through endorphin and dopamine release.

Also Read: World No Tobacco Day 2025 Theme

Does Abstinence Make One Stronger and More Enduring?

Some fitness enthusiasts skip sex before hard workouts because they think it takes away their energy. Although intense physical exercise (including sex) can cause temporary tiredness, there is no scientific evidence to support that sex deteriorates long-term strength or endurance.

A 2016 review article in Frontiers in Physiology reviewed nine studies of sex and performance in sports, and concluded there was no basis to believe sexual activity prior to competition would cause the body to be weakened. Another study, published in 2019 in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, found no statistically significant effect of sex on performance.

Whereas sex shortly before intense exercise may make you momentarily lethargic, it will not impair general performance, stamina, or muscular power. As an alternative, taking sufficient rest, eating appropriately, and exercising with a standard program are many more significant variables.

Can Men 'Save' Their Testosterone Through Abstinence?

It is long believed by some men that ejaculation abstinence will result in a dramatic increase in testosterone. In 2003, researchers from China claimed that men who did not ejaculate for seven days experienced a short-term 45% rise in testosterone. Yet this response was not found to last past the seventh day, and subsequent experiments have been unable to duplicate this effect regularly.

Conversely, some studies show that testosterone levels actually increase slightly after sex, undermining the idea that abstinence is required for optimal performance. The bottom line? The body has a fine balance of hormone production, and sex abstinence is not likely to give any real athletic benefit.

Even though there is no scientific basis, most athletes still feel that sex impacts their performance. It may be because of the placebo effect—if a player believes that not having sex makes him or her stronger, he or she will be more confident and play better. Some players may also feel relaxed and more alert after sex, and this clears their minds for the competition.

Finally, the psychological effect of sexual activity can differ from individual to individual. Sports persons who believe abstinence allows them to remain aggressive may decide to abstain from sex prior to a big event. There are others who believe that sex helps in reducing stress and enhancing sleep and may gain from intimacy pre-competition.

So, Should You Avoid Sex to Enhance your Performance at Gym?

Although the concept of forgoing sex to enhance gym performance has been around for generations, new research indicates that it does not have any noticeable effect on physical ability. Strength, stamina, and overall performance are more affected by training, nutrition, recovery, and psychological readiness than by sex.

If you think that abstinence makes you more aggressive and focused, you can do so without any ill effects. If sex makes you sleep better and relax, you might be increasing your performance rather than diminishing it. The message here is that there's no one-size-fits-all principle—players have to listen to their bodies and play in whatever way best suits them.

Ultimately, there is no scientific rationale for not having sex before you go to the gym or to compete. Whether you abstain or not, therefore, the outcome of your workout will come down to the effort you make, not the activity in the bedroom.

Weight-loss drugs like Zepbound and Mounjaro work by suppressing appetite and making the user feel less hungry, reducing how much they eat. But a new study suggests tirzepatide, the active ingredient in both drugs, it could help the body use more energy by activating brown fat.

The finding primarily comes from mice, not humans, so it is too early to say that tirzepatide can directly increase the number of calories burned in users.

The study, led by researchers at the University of Barcelona and published in Biomedicine, looked at how tirzepatide affects different types of fat tissue.

How Does Tirzepatide Usually Help With Weight Loss?

Tirzepatide works by mimicking two hormones, GIP and GLP-1, which are involved in appetite, food intake and blood sugar regulation.

One of its major effects is reducing appetite, which can help people consume fewer calories. Research has already shown that tirzepatide can substantially reduce energy intake compared to placebo.

But researchers wanted to know whether there was something else happening inside the body that could not simply be explained by eating less, which led them to brown fat.

Also read: Stopping Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro Linked To 22% Higher Heart Attack, Stroke Risk: Study

What Is Brown Fat?

Most of us are familiar with white fat, which stores excess energy. Brown fat is brown adipose tissue. It is known for using energy and producing heat. It contains mitochondria that allow it to burn fuel.

The researchers gave obese mice tirzepatide and compared them to mice that were not given the drug but consumed the same amount of food. This development allowed the scientists to separate the effects of the drug from the effects of simply eating fewer calories. They identified that tirzepatide activated brown adipose tissue.

According to the researchers, this was linked with a greater capacity to use metabolic energy and with the production of signalling molecules called batokines, which may have beneficial effects on metabolism.

Also read: CagriSema Beats Lilly’s Mounjaro & Zepbound In New Trial: All About Novo’s Next-Gen Obesity Drug

Could Mounjaro And Zepbound Also Burn Calories?

It’s a possibility but it has not yet been proven in humans. The study suggests that tirzepatide can activate a biological pathway involved in energy burning. That is different from proving that Mounjaro or Zepbound can burn calories as well.

This distinction is important because headlines about “boosting metabolism” can make the effect sound much larger or more established than the evidence currently allows.

For years, scientists have been exploring whether activating brown fat could help find another way of tackling obesity. Most weight-loss strategies focus heavily on reducing how much energy enters the body. Activating brown fat offers another way of increasing how much energy the body uses.

Previous attempts to stimulate brown fat pharmacologically have run into problems, particularly due to unforeseen cardiovascular effects.

The University of Barcelona researchers say tirzepatide’s known cardiovascular benefits make its brown-fat activation particularly interesting, although this finding itself still needs to be confirmed in huma Tirzepatide ns.

Tirzepatide already has several effects on the body through its GIP and GLP-1 activity. Reduced appetite and food intake remain important mechanisms behind its weight-loss effects. The new study suggests that changes in fat tissue and energy metabolism could add scope layer to the drug’s effects.

But it would be premature to conclude that brown-fat activation is responsible for a the weight loss seen with tirzepatide in people.

Hollywood star Sylvester Stallone recently revealed that building the body to play Rocky Balboa in his Oscar-winning film Rocky came at a health cost.

The 80-year-old actor has revealed that his obsession with achieving an extremely lean, muscular physique while making the Rocky films became so intense that he developed bulimia and used anabolic steroids. Speaking to The New York Times, Stallone said he reached 2.6% body fat while filming Rocky III and described his relationship with his body at the time as an “obsession.”

He also said he used steroids in cycles of roughly six weeks on and six weeks off, while revealing that the approach eventually took a “terrible toll” on his body.

Stallone's admission admission offers a glimpse into the health risks that can come with the obsession of chasing an extremely muscular physique with very low body fat.

Stallone said, “It was my armor. I looked at Rocky: very smooth, very normal-looking guy. And then I said, I think the character would start to become a bit more vain. And then in ‘Rambo,’ you’re playing a warrior, so you’d be a little bit more animalistic. You wouldn’t be so smooth,” he said. “So I started to think: Design your body like a jaguar, a cat. Not big like Arnold, but more feral and aggressive and very limber and athletic.”

He added, “It got to the point where I became bulimic,” he said. “I got down to 2.6 percent body fat when I was doing ‘Rocky III,’ and I couldn’t hold anything down. Or I didn’t want to keep it down because I became so obsessed with staying at that point of fitness, literally an obsessive body-worship kind of thing.”

Also read: After Lindsay Clancy Trial, Massachusetts Pushes Stronger Postpartum Mental Health Screening

What Is Bulimia?

Bulimia nervosa is an eating disorder involving recurrent episodes of binge eating is followed by erratic actions intended to compensate for the food consumed. For example, after binge-eating, one may purge, meaning self-induced vomiting, fasting, excessive exercise or misuse of laxatives. The goal is not simply wanting to lose weight.

Repeated purging can lead to dehydration and dangerous imbalance of essential electrolytes, particularly involving potassium. These changes can interfere with the heart's electrical activity and, in severe cases, lead to life-threatening abnormal heart rhythms.

Bulimia can also lead to acid reflux, gastrointestinal problems, chronic throat irritation, swollen salivary glands and erosion of tooth enamel.

Also read: British-Nigerian Influencer Dies After Penis Enlargement Procedure In Thailand: What Are The Risks?

Extremely Low Body Fat Is Risky

Stallone's said that he had reached a body-fat level of 2.6% which is an extraordinarily low number. However, a body-fat percentage alone cannot diagnose an eating disorder. It is ascertained by how someone got to that number and what happens to the body in the process.

Severe restriction on eating habits and excessive exercise can leave the body deprived of adequate energy, electrolytes, and nutrients.

Eating disorders can affect the heart, bones, muscles, reproductive system and other organs, and they can occur in people belonging to different weight groups.

In Stallone's case, he said he was unable or unwilling to keep food down while remaining intensely focused on maintaining his physique.

Risks Of Anabolic Steroids

Anabolic-androgenic steroids are synthetic substances related to testosterone. They can increase muscle mass and strength, but using them without medical supervision can have adverse effects on different organs.

Misuse of these steroids can lead to high blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol levels, heart problems, liver disease and kidney damage. It can also affect fertility and reproductive hormones. Changes in mood, irritability and aggressive behaviour have also been seen.

The cardiovascular effects are particularly alarming as long-term anabolic steroid misuse can lead to to changes in heart structure and function as well as increased cardiovascular risk.

Stallone has previously spoken about the physical consequences of his decades-long approach to fitness, saying he has undergone nine back operations, two shoulder operations and three neck fusions.

He has also said that playing a heavier, physically less imposing character in Cop Land helped him feel liberated from the pressure to maintain his action-star physique.

Ageing changes the body in ways people expect, like weaker hearing or eyesight. Fewer people realize it also quietly eats away at muscle.

Research published in the Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle shows that age-related muscle loss begins well before old age and can eventually affect strength, mobility and independence. This process is known as sarcopenia, and research has documented it as one of the important threats to physical function as people age.

Why It Matters More With Age

Charlie Grundas, a certified personal trainer in Chicago, told TIME he asks clients if they ever want to reach a point where they can't get off the toilet. Beyond frailty, strength training also protects bone density, which lowers the risk of fractures from falls. Will Hewitt, a trainer in Massachusetts, told TIME that added muscle can even cushion the body if a fall does happen.

It isn't only trainers making this case. In 1988, researchers at Tufts University's nutrition centre on aging, led by Walter Frontera, found that sedentary men in their sixties significantly increased leg strength and muscle mass after just 12 weeks of training, according to a report by WRAL. Two years later, a study by Dr. Maria Fiatarone at the same center, published in JAMA, found strength gains averaging 174 percent in nursing home residents in their nineties.

Sharon Salomon, who took up weightlifting in her sixties and is now, at 77, the oldest competitive female powerlifter in her state, put it simply in an interview with Next Avenue, "I want to stay healthy and be as strong as I can."

According to the American College of Sports Medicine, even one to three sets of six to fifteen reps, done twice a week, is enough to make a difference. Doctors recommend checking with a physician first, especially for anyone returning to exercise after an injury.

There are five exercises that can help build and maintain the strength needed for everyday movements as you age:

The Goblet Squat

This move mimics the motion of standing up from a chair, something worth protecting for life. It works the thighs, glutes, and core, and holding a weight at chest height, per the National Academy of Sports Medicine, helps keep the torso upright through the movement. Those who find squatting difficult can substitute a step-down instead.

The Sitting-Rising Test

Grundas ends his yoga classes by having students stand up off the floor without using their hands. It's a real fitness marker, too. A 2026 study in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology found that people who could do this without support had a four times lower risk of death over the study period than those who needed help.

The Seated Overhead Press

This keeps the shoulders strong enough for ordinary tasks, like lifting a suitcase into an overhead bin. Sitting on a bench, a dumbbell is pressed overhead from each shoulder, then lowered with control.

The Kickstand Romanian Deadlift

Grundas recommends this version of the deadlift to preserve the ability to pick things up off the floor safely. Standing on one leg with the other foot lightly touching down behind, the hips hinge back while lowering a weight, then return upright.

The Bear Crawl Hold

Core strength does more than protect the back, Hewitt told TIME. It also supports the pelvic floor, which affects bladder control as people age. Holding a hands-and-knees position with the knees hovering off the ground for ten to sixty seconds builds this strength.

Starting small and staying consistent matters more than intensity. Decades of research, point to the same conclusion. It's never too late to begin.