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.
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.
For a complete workout program that prioritizes recovery as a way of building muscle faster, be sure to check out athleanx.com and use the program selector linked below to find the program best suited to your specific body goals.
Fore more videos on how to build muscle and the best way to recover between workouts, be sure to subscribe to our youtube channel below and remember to turn on your notifications so you never miss a new video when it’s published.
Build ripped athletic muscle here –
Subscribe to this channel here –
84 replies to "Masturbation is KILLING Your Strength! (NEW RESEARCH)"
This explains me having no gains in the past 5 years
Y’all keep it up and you’re gonna end up with jerker’s elbow and bachelor’s wrist.
Nearly 40 here 🤣
You might be trolling but yeah it’s true. Your muscles blow up quick when you practice semen retention and T levels spike up over 150% at 7 days. Been practicing for 3 years currently and I do 1000 push-ups 500 squats a day and lift weights as well. It changes your life, not even just physically. Your hairline also recedes at about age 25 or sooner when you engage in frequent masturbation. I know not everyone is a troll here, and this comment may help some. I wish health and prosperity to all of you 🙏🏽
@Buster of course. It’s a funny subject but there is a serious reason why boxers/fighters don’t have sex for a couple of months before a big fight, this has been well know for years. In my own experience, having been weight lifting for years, if I knock one out before I life I am definitely weaker. That was replied to the wrong person.
@Charles Brown not to mention, that palm hair getting pulled when you dead left
Guess I misunderstood what getting JACKED means
What if you switch arms regularly?
😂😂😂😂😂😂
@Raymundo O Come at me bro! – Phrasing (said by Archer)!
😂
Lmao
Thanks! That explains everything. More face pulls. Less other pulls.
Pud pulls…. I believe you mean pud pulls. Tail tugging, feeding the ducks, distributing literature etc etc.
Everything in moderation. Obviously sex is better for you than jacking off, but do whatever you want. Have discipline and reward yourself when you want.
😆 🤘🏼
I pull no bitches…but face pulls are such a fun exercise
@Wojtek make a girl do face pulls. It’s better.
the double Intro to reinforce his Point, Jeff is being truely inspiring again
I thought it was a mistake? what was the point
@Dusty Old Hat i feel kinda attacked you’re even considering my man Jeff could be possibly mistaking. be better my friend. truely inspiring
@MoeJoe weird but you do you
Hahaha, “reinforce the point”
*truly
I cannot believe the level of maturity Jesse has now. He pretty much kept a straight face The whole video
I remember when everyone would clown Jesse in the early videos for having that poker face lol
He used to do a screen piercing stare xD Really shows how much confidence he gained during his bodybuilding journey.
My mom said I would grow hair on my hands too….
I’m 66 and so far my mom was wrong Good show!
Because he came right before the video and had post-nut regret.
Definitely been experiencing morning hypertrophy with this handy tip since I don’t have a spotter
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
lol creative.
I don’t need a spotter personally I can spot on my own
Gotta have that spotter!!
Just don’t go to failure
The sacrifice some of us make in order to not get too strong for our own good
If I don’t fap I get constipated what do I do?
We don’t want to be ripping doors off when we go to open them, out of consideration for the public we limit our gains. Feel free to thank us fappers.
@Martian Martian Cumuscular imbalance?
@AK C cumstipated would be better
@Martian Martian get a squaty potty for your toilet
I’d really be interested in taking a look at the studies you guys pulled from. Love when you guys pull from studies to give info.
if you want to see sources this is not the best channel
@Elio ? There is multiple Abstracts shown from studies they used in the video?
They show the abstracts from studeis they pulled from, they normally do. Watch the video
As if gyms didn’t smell bad enough already. Thanks, Jeff.
This will just make them smell like bleach and shame.
@Cold Beer shame? Pride is more accurate.
@「Joseph Joestar」 Pride because you jerked off??? Jesus help us all
@Cold Beer and gummy bears
join a better gym, my gym sprays air fresheners pretty regularly
“Excitement, that’s why heavy metal exists!” A BIG reason indeed! Thanks for nailing this part! Maybe a workout stimulation music topic is an idea for a future video.
🤘
I have been using by the body as a test and the semen retention has given me massive energy and motivation. I played professional basketball overseas and I could tell a decrease in my vertical and my foot speed after masturbating the night before. not to mention either for pheromones or whatever other reason my wife has gotten way hornier and wanting to have sex more often when I’m in semen retention and reject sex
I guess it’s true women don’t like rejection or being ignored to the point where it makes them go crazy
I find it extremely hard to do retention over 4 days…the overload starts asking for release. All this talk already makes me weak, even before doing it
The longest I ever went on retention mode was 70 days…that was insane! I have not been able to come anywhere near that again
I been doing Retention for years. Even when I have sex with my lady
.. we go for hours .. she gets to O as many times as possible. But I believe woman can benefit
Transmute that sexual energy with breath and move it up your spine.
Only a few times per year, do I release
Doesn’t matter what I do this man tells me I’m killing my gains 😩😭
Commenting on Yt is killing your gains! 😅
killing my gains is causing me to kill my gains
This is hilarious
He makes a living off of views he’ll say anything to get clicks
9
Papa Huberman isn’t a fan of it , especially when associated with porn, and in high frequency. There IS a difference between masturbation with and without the visual stimulus of pornography, too, by the way. Another interesting variable…Great video Jeff.
I saw that episode too. They were pretty nofap
I’m glad to see you guys hitting this topic. I’ve always been the skinny guy growing up and struggled to put on any mass, even being on mass gainers. I stumbled upon a book about semen retention from Mantak Chia and this changed everything for me, it explains how much your body puts out just to replace all the semen you lose through playing with yourself too much which is basically throwing away all the nutrients needed to create life. When I started the retention, I noticed a huge boost in energy after a week or so, and I’m finally seeing results in gaining muscle mass as well.
I think every man should do research into and try out semen retention for themselves…
I have done tons of research and I believe this to be true, except for my right forearm, for some reason it’s strength has increased 10 fold over all of my other muscles.
Funny enough, I have the exact same problem, although with my left arm! We should fuse our body together and the world is at our feet.
Sane here 🤔
Gotta use both hands
I used my right mostly during my teen years. The past few years of working out on and off, my left arm typically fails first than my right, which made get more gains than my right.
I do feel more motivated overall for my workouts when I abstain from it for long periods of time, for one. Either way not doing it definitely helps build your level of discipline overall so you don’t get burned out from going to the gym and doing other important things in your life.
@NotSuspiciousGuy Broken clocks etc. etc.
But sience tells us to atleast blow our load 23 times a month to lower the risk of testicular cancer, so I’ll just follow the sience
@The Fizzlee NL the science is bs
@Tatsi all right you go argue with sience buddy, see if I care lmao
@The Fizzlee NL That is a single study and not only that, that conclusion is out of context. The study compares frequently doing it for men 60 years or older and younger. The Prostate cancer risk gets microscopically smaller for the older group if they frequent it, for the younger group it was the opposite.
There are tons of studies proving the harmful effects adult content has on the body and psyche though.
Coming from someone who has gone down the road of porn addiction and recovery, I highly caution anyone against regular masturbation. While the benefits stated here may be good and studies are showing benefits, the long term effect of regular masturbation through porn has also shown severe effects on the brain, specifically the male brain. Andrew Huberman, who I know Jeff has stated he likes and respects before, has a ton of information available on this topic and I encourage everyone to go watch those and just weigh the pros and cons using the information here and the information in Andrew’s videos. A great one to start with is Andrew Huberman – How **** Addiction Destroy’s Men’s brains. No hate toward Jeff here, love most of everything he teaches and does, just trying to share my side.
as long as masturbation keeps me from pursuing women, I’m all for it.
Thanks for covering the science behind this. I now understand how I’ve been able to make some forearm gains lately
Hey Jeff & Jessy, my name is Justin and I live in the Netherlands. First of all I want to say that I much appreciate the content you make. It really got me kick started a couple years ago, and even though I have switched to calisthenics, strength and technique training only, I still apply much of the knowledge shared by you. Such as the 💯 series, and these vids on fapping for example. I know you have done videos on the effects of alcohol as well and I was wondering if you could tell us something on the topic of working out and the use of cannabis??? smoking weed is quite the normality here in the Netherlands, and I’ve heard more and more states in the US are legalizing as well, so it might be a topic some people want to be informed about. Who better to ask then team AtleanX. I hope you read this. Have strong day 💪
That’s good. Cutting back on caffeine and finding that many sodas and drinks have it naturally and many manufacturers chose to add the synthetic variant. Nothing beats a good night sleep for overall health.
I want Jeff to cover the mentality of this subject with science on the back burner. People lean into vices a lot and you can lose your drive if you delve into them too much, *especially* ones that release a feeling of tranquility and relaxation seemingly on demand.
Why do you think people get bored of their favorite shows? Why do people begin to lose interest in a game they haven’t even beaten yet? Aren’t those meant to be relaxing hobbies that make us happy?
The subject can be complicated, especially when more people discuss it at once. I want the more abstract side of physical wellbeing to be discussed.