OK, let’s have some fun with this interesting topic!
I visited the Doctor for a full physical (53 years old). I told him I am an avid triathlete, 4 time Ironman, and workout 2x a day 6 days a week, lifetime athlete. During my active training periods, I notice a fair reduction in sex drive. I took 3 months off (Oct/Nov/Dec) from active training, and noticed my sex drive increased a lot. I got back to training in January, and by Feb (when I visited him), I noticed my drive reduced again. Hmmmm…
I asked him to test my testosterone, thinking I may have low T. It came in at 910! The low is 250 and high is 950. So no low T for me!
I asked him why the reduced drive if my T was high, and he told me this is very common amongst ultra endurance athletes, and triathletes in general, and that he heas heard this many times. Hmmm… He said I should ask my friends if they see the same thing, and he said that he would bet they would. I wont talk to my buddies about this, but in the anonymity of Slowtwitch, what the hell!?!
So guys, and gals, do any of you experience what I seem to experience? Any Tri Docs have a weigh in on this? Go ahead gang, tell the truth!
Same here…I think it’s due to fatigue…your body would rather rest than hump…I do find myself to be a bit more horney in the morning after a good night of rest…
Although I haven’t experienced this, my training consists of about 10 hours a week. I would expect it is simply fatigue, nothing more. I could understand foregoing in exchange for sleep.
Yeah I think a lot of it is we, consciously and subconsciously, see the long term benefits of resting. And besides, when’s the last time your bike, shoes or goggles had “a headache.”
noticed the same, during stressfull and high volume/intensity weeks. it usualy takes a rest-week to get it back!!
28 y
training 14-20h / wk
My first symptoms of working hard, is becoming crumpy and gradually loosing sex-drive. im doing 4 (easy, moderate, hard, rest) weeks cycle… usualy only notice this during the “hard” week.
I’m in my 20’s and I’d still rather train then dedicate time to the pursuit of sex.
In my later 20’s now, been in the sport for about 5 years, have definitely noticed a major reduction in my preoccupation over sex. Of course I’d expect that to some extent even if I wasn’t training simply as a byproduct of maturing.
Either way, basically I have no desire to go out and party anymore. My only real motivation to do that was to try and pick up chicks, and that pursuit is unsuccessful most often, so the result is you just still go home alone, but at 2am, having spent a bunch of money, then sleep in and feel like garbage the next day.
Given the choice to get a good night of sleep, head out early and get a good ride, and generally just feel good both physically and about myself, why the hell would I ever want to go out again.
Now, when a source is more accessible, I’ll still find myself screwing my training up by staying up too late or doing annoying stuff like spending time with other people… but my training schedule is often in the back of my mind, reminding me that I could be sleeping right now, and thinking about how this might impact my plans for tomorrow.
For some, fatigue may trump a positive libido. However, beware of the T level that falls below the norm secondary to overtraining because libido, sperm count, and erection may fall with it. Obviously, this can become a problem for guys who want to make babies.
