Gooners in Control?

Are the benefits of abstaining from masturbation real? A new study suggests maybe not

“Nofap” and semen retention occupy a pretty big place in the online esoteric health community and in the broader “manosphere” of which it is a part. Refraining from masturbation is promoted as a way of protecting and ultimately replenishing masculine energy; a way of avoiding literal depletion, not just of bodily substances, hormones and vital minerals like zinc, but also more esoteric forms of “life energy” or “power” like qi or “vril.” It’s also an initiatory stage for many in breaking the cycle of porn-addiction—a return to the beginnings of self-control.

These claims about the benefits of avoiding sexual activity and especially masturbation are sometimes couched in scientific language, with references to this study or that, but more often than not, since there isn’t actually a great deal of science to back them up, by reference to the world’s spiritual and philosophical traditions.

Here’s the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, for example, with a quotation that features heavily on “nofap” forums and esoteric health Twitter:

“The reabsorption of semen by the blood is the strongest nourishment and, perhaps more than any other factor, it prompts the stimulus of power, the unrest of all forces toward the overcoming of resistances, the thirst for contradiction and resistance.”

Sperm cells do actually die and are replaced within the body—are reabsorbed—but of course nobody actually knew this until pretty recently.

The ancient Hindu and Daoist traditions speak of “transmuting” semen into other forms of energy, and in the Christian and Islamic traditions, while there seems to be less esoteric focus on the benefits of abstinence, the wasting of semen is discouraged, as in the story of Onan in Genesis.

There also plenty of old wives’ tales and taboos, especially in the world of sport, where male athletes are generally discouraged from engaging in any sexual activity for a specified time before competition; e.g., during a boxing fight camp, for a period of around eight weeks, or the night before a big football match. The aim, clearly, is to ensure the athlete remains focused and undistracted, but there’s also an obvious sense the athlete is preserving physical power as well.

A new study suggests the opposite: that sexual activity, and masturbation in particular, does not diminish athletic performance.

Instead, masturbating half an hour before exercise leads to greater stamina, greater strength, and an increase in testosterone.

The paper’s worth examining in detail.