Things that make you go hhhhmmmmm......

Athletes urged to have sex in order to perform better at sport

So the sport of cricket may not be on your top ten list of endurance sports but you might find this news interesting never-the-less.

India's cricketers at the Champions Trophy in South Africa are being urged by their coaches to have more sex to play better cricket and increase their sports performance.

In a leaked document circulated among the players the instructions could not be more clear with a chapter entitled "Does sex increase performance?"

"Yes it does, so go ahead and indulge," the document said, before detailing the benefits of a good sex life and even suggesting "going solo" if no partners were available.

"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," according to Breitbart.com.

So does sex (or the lack thereof) help or hinder performance when it comes to endurance sports?

That's a question that's been studied and the best consensus is that sex before a big race is not detrimental to perforce as some might believe.

"But scientists say there is no physiological evidence to suggest that sex before competition is bad. In fact, some studies suggest that pre-sports sex may actually aid athletes by raising their testosterone levels, for example.

It is unclear, however, what psychological effects sex may have on an athlete's performance. Some scientists suggest that abstinence could help some athletes concentrate better.

"There are two possible ways sex before competition could affect performance," said Ian Shrier, a sports medicine specialist at McGill University in Montreal, Canada.

"First, it could make you tired and weak the next day," Shrier said. "This has been disproved.

"The second way is that it could affect your psychological state of mind. This has not been tested," he said," according to National Geographic News.