Lavender Room is still open.

BLeP would kick it back here. This is tri related

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

This is a tri/training related question and belongs here.

Yes, huge difference. It seems less than 10 hours is the line in the sand for me. I'll be 49 this month for reference.

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http://www.sfuelsgolonger.com

thanks for answering what I am very aware is a pretty personal question.

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

Long time lurker, finally signed up specifically to support Dr Tigerchick and my fellow gals. I am also a gynecologist so now that there's no women's forum, by all means ask questions about your periods and such on the main forum :)

Personally, I do notice my sex drive is slightly lower when endurance training but maybe not so much when lifting more. Scientifically, I think that's likely due to suppression of androgen (testosterone) hormones during strenuous long stuff. Maybe you are experiencing a little surge after being suppressed for a while. Hey, maybe that's why all these triathletes on here are so cranky all the time.

 Hey, maybe that's why all these triathletes on here are so cranky all the time.[/quote]
That and we’re married

glad to have you and thanks for the personal data and professional insight.

Have you seen the Seinfeld junior mint episode?

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

Agreed.

Well, closed minds are welcome to simply pass over.

M55. I would say it's the opposite for me. I'm not sure I'd use the adjective WAY in all caps. But, it is a noticeable difference.

I don't know if there is a male/female difference in this respect... I guess it could make sense that our different hormones respond differently to exercise.

I think you missed the point..if we want to talk about our sex life, I think it belongs in the lavender room.

Ok. I just think who cares where. We are adults. It got posted here, and is a discussion the pertains to training. Seems to fit fine. If you don’t want to participate or see other people have a safe and honest discussion about a very acceptable topic IMO, then feel free to bypass. And if you don’t mind the discussion, then you don’t care where it is held.

Impact of endurance training on sex drive is a perfectly appropriate topic for the main forum.

This belongs to the main forum, after all, Captain Canada's training plan was also posted here.

And might I add, after 15 years, we are still referencing the wonder that is Captain Canada's training plan. I cannot explain the privilege I feel to exist in the same timeline as that.

F41, I can say in my younger years that 100% as training volume went up, libido went down/nonexistent. It seems though the past couple years it doesn’t matter if my training volume is high or not it’s nowhere to be found, but that’s a whole different topic, lol (peri menopause)

Nah, if anything I am more interested in sex when training hard. When I'm tapering or just taking it easy, I find it easier to not talk to every hot chick I see. :)

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

Have you seen the Seinfeld junior mint episode?

Lol, yes I have. It's also one of my favorite nicknames for our dog

90 min endurance training + 30 min resistance or intensity and "it is on"

3 hrs training day, less interest

5 hr training day, I just want to nap

M58

And yes, this belongs in the main forum. Actually any topic that Tigerchik thinks she would post in womens forum is cool here. The guys who don't like it can go somewhere else.

I guess from a very blunt viewpoint, all stressors in life tend to be cumulative, and stress tends to impact libido negatively, so reducing some training stress leaves a little more room for libido.

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Eliot
blog thing - strava thing

Definitely as inverse correlation for me. More hard training = less interest/libido. Usually when the training is more than 15 hours a week... I prioritize sleep over just about anything else. I should add I travel a lot for work and that can add to the overall feeling of being tired and wiped out. Add weekly travel to a challenging training regimen and I find myself choosing sleep and naps over sex.

D*mn it is kind of sad and pathetic typing that out!

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In search of the righteous life... we all fall down

Yes same here. Not sure why people are suggesting to move it to lavender lol.

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My Strava | My Instagram | Summerville, SC | 35-39 AG | 4:41 (70.3), 10:05 (140.6) | 3x70.3, 1x140.6 | Cat 2 Cyclist

This is clearly a Triathlon Forum thread if there ever were one.

Stratosphere? No. Up? Yes.

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Editor-in-Chief, Slowtwitch.com | Twitter

Exercise is supposed to increase your sex drive. But those studies are done with what society deems normal amount of exercise.

Personally, my sex drive is always in the stratosphere, exercise or not. For me it has more to do if mentally I am happy with life or not. Too much stress and drama makes me unhappy and not as driven.

This would describe my personal experience. Once I get into a good rhythm with my training it increases substantially, if I over train then I'm drained and sex is probably the last thing on my mind. If I don't train much then again I wouldn't say it's super low, but i'm not going crazy about it.

I think I remember Sam Long posting on Strava that he actually monitors his training load based on his sex drive as well so this probably fits.

It's funny the things you don't notice when you are really focused on a goal.

At one point in time I was really, really, trying to be a fast IM athlete, with all of the requisite training and some moderate sleep deprivation.

It wasn't until I stopped IM training and my sex drive came back that I really became aware of how depressed it had been.

Now (primarily as a runner) I use my sex drive (and some other morning indicators.....) as a guide for how my training is going.

I never got my testosterone checked when I was deep in the tri training. I have had it checked in the last couple years and it is low-normal. I can live with that.

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Jason
None of the secrets of success will work unless you do.

I’ve never really considered the effect of training on sex drive, but if I had to, I’d say it remains healthy during training days…for that matter even on race day sometimes!

Endurance sport raise cortisol, which lowers testosterone, the hormone responsible for sex drive. Testosterone is also made out of fats, so once you begin depleting that also a factor.

Ok got it!

I think I became aware of the "lots of training, no interest" in college when I was training a ton and had 0 interest while everyone else I knew, who was not an endurance athlete, was acting like rabbits.

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

Thank you for the support.

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

This

Also. M41 with kids and a wife. What is this sex drive you speak of? Haha joking. Kinda…

But in my experience, before to many other responsibilities, under 10 hours per week was probably normal/elevated. Especially if working out with the significant other. Anything above that and it’s compression pants, food, and lights out!

Reduced libido has been linked to both reds and overtraining. Not saying that is what is going on, but just something to consider.

Regardless of the Science (and I am a big follower/believer of Science), when I'm training well, I feel good; I like to believe that I look good, as well -- as well as a skinny little shit who's losing his bunny-colored hair can look, anyway -- and I not only do I very much want to share my body, but it is also welcomed by the woman beside me, who is a also a fitness person

Endorphins are a hell of a drug

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

Had to Google but I'm guessing "reds" = RED-S = "Relative energy deficiency in sport". Sometimes it is good to spell out what acronyms stand for, unless you are sure most people will know them.

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

I was doing it 3-4 times per week with my wife this off season. Now I am in full blast training mode, 15-20 hours per week. We have sex maybe once every other week, but sex drive is only part of it. Early bed time for me, less time available for romantic/bonding experiences, and not much alcohol are additional contributing factors. :(

Good call :) sorry, guess it’s just a topic that comes up in my sphere so often! Lots of really interesting research out there about it.

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That's no bueno. Good week for me is 10-12 times (typically 40-60 min) and a bad week is 3-4 times. Usually somewhere in the middle though. M48, married with 2 teenage kids. I workout about 10-13 hours a week and that's a good spot for me. I rather be a little slower and be able to have sex and watch a movie with my wife.

44M and I notice this. I haven't trained hard for a couple years and have just been getting back into higher loads (new to Tris....coming from mtb).

My wife F46 trains more than I do....I often wondered why her drive was so different and never thought of this. I know there are many other factors too. Just didn't occur to me the hormonal effects of training loads.

Thanks for your reasonable response. :)

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

Whoah…that’s wild!

M46. If I’m not training as much as I’d like, generally it is because of some sort of stress - family, life, work, etc. That tamps down the libido and generally would coincide with less available time with my wife.

Certainly there is a point of training so much that it also reduces the energy/ time, but a reasonable training load seems to coincide with reasonable libido.

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Aaron Bales
Lansing Triathlon Team

Dude, you seem like a nice guy, but you having sex 10 to 12 times per week on a consistent basis is a bit suspect. The only people that have that kind of time are college kids, trust funders. Retirees and people who are on welfare. Furthermore, no female I have met has a permanent sex drive that high, and lets just say I am not a bad looking guy. Sure, during the initial phase of a relationship that is viable, but the honeymoon period wears off and then you are subject to the somewhat whimsical nature of the female libido. If it is true, then all I have to so is chapeu!

To be clear, while I am a nice guy, TheAchillesHeel is the one who is training 1-2 hours a day and having sex 1-2 hours a day as a married father of 2 teenagers. That man must sleep like a rock…

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Aaron Bales
Lansing Triathlon Team

Needs an AMA

Seriously!

I’m gonna start calling it an Achilles Ratio, that 1 to 1 sex to training.

Some Captain Canada crossover is probably necessary for most to approach that Achilles Ratio.

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Aaron Bales
Lansing Triathlon Team

Plus 2-3 side chicks, at a minimum, to maintain that kind of productivity.

Thank goodness there's no (existing) 100/100 for this activity

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

I wouldn't say it goes through the stratosphere but it definitely varies. Lots of training it goes down, less training it goes up.

 

Because 'golden ratio' is taken by math, I guess Achilles Ratio is an okay term.

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

Also..."Golden" has a different meaning in this context.

mine goes the other way, maybe because I feel fat and unlovely when not training..

this thread made the ST newsletter Forum Highlights!

guess it belonged here ;-)

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

Relatively young at M33 and there is a big swing in sex drive depending on volume. It drops pretty quickly above 12 hrs but it does spike immediately after any training session. Let me shower off and I'm good to go regardless if it's a 30min easy run or a 5hr ride. I do usually find it hard to keep up with my wifes libido even though she is also training with decent volume.

I get that way, too

Then I go for a run or a ride or to the gym & get a sweat on and I feel much better

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

Hmmmm ….maybe I am not training hard enough!

We all know what sells page views!

Hot and sweaty triathletes.

  


I'm glad (really) that I can indirectly make a small contribution to the revenue that keeps the place running. Hopefully we won't start getting ads for adult toys...

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD