Have you ever wondered whether masturbating before your workouts is helping or hurting your ability to build muscle? If so, then you’re definitely going to want to watch this video. Here, we are going to discuss how the timing of masturbating before your workout could potentially help or harm your efforts in the gym.

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The last time that we discussed the topic of masturbation and working out, we covered the release of testosterone and its affect on muscle growth. We came to the conclusion that testosterone levels were negligibly affected by masturbation and that the act had little if not nothing to do with any increase or decrease in the ability to build muscle.

However, it was worth noting some of the other effects that masturbation has on an individual. It has been shown that masturbation to orgasm has a benefit to create a calming and relaxing sensation. Knowing this particular effect, it could be beneficial to partake prior to bedtime as it can lead to more relaxed and restful sleep. We know that sleep is one of the most important aspects of muscle growth and recovery, so it would make sense that if one were to participate in the act, that they should do so before going to sleep.

So, you might be thinking to yourself that case is closed right there; if you are going to masturbate, do it before you go to bed so that you can get better, more restful sleep to aid in your muscle recovery. Well, not so fast.

Looking at relatively new research, science is pointing to the fact there is a release of cannabinoids post masturbating to orgasm. Specifically the endocannabinoid 2-arachidonoylglycerol, otherwise known as 2-AG. This ligand binds to the CB-2 receptor which then causes an elevation in overall mood as well as increase in pain threshold.

What does an improvement in mood and an elevated pain threshold have to do with working out and building muscle? Quite a bit actually! You might think that by boosting your mood and increasing your pain tolerance would be the ultimate pre-workout. However, it might depend on the type of training that you are going to be engaging in.

When it comes to building muscle, we know that there are three main drivers of hypertrophy - strength/tension overload, eccentric overload, and metabolic overload. Of those three drivers, eccentric and metabolic overload are the ones that incur the most discomfort when being performed. These two methods will be the ones where you feel the “burn” in your muscles as you reach failure and continue past that point.

So, if you are going to be training using one of these two methods, then a boost in calmness and relaxation as well as a higher pain threshold could likely lead you to squeeze out more reps in your workout that you might not have been able to achieve otherwise. In this case, I would say the masturbating prior to your workout might be something beneficial when it comes to building muscle.

On the other hand, what about if you were training for strength? How would masturbation affect your ability to move more weight? Well, this is where I would say that masturbation could be something that you want to avoid. Why? When you are working in the pursuit of strength and you are moving heavier loads, then your body wants to be excited, primed, and ready to exert maximal effort. This is why you will see strength athletes using smelling salts and loud music to get themselves psyched up to perform their next lift.

So, should you masturbate prior to working out? Well, that depends on what your going to be doing in that specific workout. Lots of metabolic and eccentric focused efforts would lead me to say that it might be helpful in getting you through the toughest sets. But if you are looking to be moving maximum weight, I would advise against it as a “relaxation” could mean that you’re not primed for the lift.

This really is a situation where it is up to the individual.

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