How does training affect your sex life?

One of the key hormones in the body that affects both training and sex is testosterone, which just happens to be one of the main sexual hormones. Accordingly, it's not hard to see how these two factors would go hand in hand.
Your sex drive
The first thing to consider in this picture is your sex drive. Will training impact how frequently you want to have sex?

Let's take a closer look at the testosterone connection here:

It's no secret that a higher testosterone level in males increases their sex drive. When a man's testosterone level begins to fall as he ages or due to other health-related factors, the libido will usually start to diminish as well.

Sometimes, if the condition is severe enough, doctors may place certain men on testosterone replacement therapy to help bring their hormonal levels back up to normal. Once these levels have been increased again, libido should rise and the desire and sexual performance (sometimes low testosterone can contribute to erectile dysfunction) should improve as well.

It only stands to reason, then, that anything you can do to increase your natural testosterone production should serve to further enhance sex drive levels. This is where weight lifting comes in.

When a man participates in heavy weight training, the levels of testosterone in his body will shoot up — assuming, of course, that this program is appropriate. Do note that overtraining is one of the biggest killers of testosterone, so taking this point too far and doing a very large volume of weight lifting will actually work against you and your testosterone levels.

Getting on a proper program where you are doing 20-40 sets maximum per workout will help to ensure that you aren't going overboard. Additionally, be sure that when you are lifting, you are lifting heavy amounts. The weight is really the key here — just be sure you are still using proper form and not overdoing it.

Additionally, certain exercises will also affect your sex drive more than others will. To fully maximize testosterone, full squats are a must. These will use so many muscle fibers in the body that it would be hard not to get a good testosterone release because of them.

Aside from squats, all the other compound movement lifts will be your best allies when it comes to increasing your sex drive. These exercises include:

    Bench press
    Bent-over row
    Stiff-legged deadlift
    Lunges
    Shoulder press
    Back squat
    Pull-ups

Incorporating these movements into your workout routine would be highly beneficial to your sex drive.


Sex and strength
The next point in this scenario is how having sex will affect your strength and workout performance. Some guys are so intently focused on their training that they want to be sure that frequent sessions in the bedroom are not going to have a negative impact on their sessions in the gym.

Generally speaking, having frequent sex won't impact your weight-lifting performance. If anything, it should increase your workout performance since, once again, sex causes a release of the hormone testosterone, and the more testosterone one has circulating throughout the body, the more muscle tissue can be built.

Further examination of the connection between training and sex...
The one time it might come into play is if you have just finished having sex and then head straight to the gym. You may find your performance isn't as good, because for some men, sex can cause muscular fatigue; for others, though, it actually energizes them. This is solely dependent on the individual and his sexual aftermath.