RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Sexual intercourse before exercise has a detrimental effect on lower extremity muscle strength in men JF Postgraduate Medical Journal JO Postgrad Med J FD The Fellowship of Postgraduate Medicine SP e11 OP e11 DO 10.1136/postgradmedj-2020-139033 VO 98 IS 1161 A1 Sinan Levent Kirecci A1 Ahmet Tevfik Albayrak A1 Abdullah Hizir Yavuzsan A1 Cumhur Yesildal A1 Musab Ilgi A1 Cemil Kutsal YR 2022 UL http://pmj.bmj.com/content/98/1161/e11.abstract AB Introduction The question of whether sexual intercourse can harm athletic performance is a long-debated topic since first sport competitions were invented. Therefore, due to the lack of solid evidence, we aimed to evaluate the effects of sexual intercourse on muscle training performance.Materials and methods Physically and sexually active, 50 men (age=29.3±1.14 years) were enrolled in the study. Participants completed three weight training sessions and all sessions were at the same time of the day. The maximum weight was adjusted in the first session. In the second and third sessions, they performed five repetitions of the squat with their maximum weight for each set with a total of five sets after participating in and abstaining from sexual intercourse the night before, respectively. The duration of sexual intercourse was measured with a stopwatch.Results The mean duration of sex was measured to be 13.8±3.61 min. Furthermore, the mean lifted weight before sex was calculated to be 109.4±11.41 kg and the mean lifted weight after sex was calculated to be 107±11.05 kg. According to obtained data, sexual intercourse has a significant detrimental effect on maximum weight in squat training (p=0001).Conclusion Results demonstrate that sexual intercourse within 24 hours before exercise have detrimental effect on lower extremity muscle force, which suggests that restricting sexual activity before a short-term activity may be necessary.Data are available on reasonable request. No grants were accepted. The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.