Does Edging Affect Muscle Growth?
People looking for the best results in fitness and muscle building often look for different techniques and practices that can help them achieve maximum results. One such practice is the phenomenon known as “edging.” Edging, also known as “cock-teasing,” is a technique where the individual teases themselves to the point of almost reaching orgasm without climaxing. Although it brings about enhanced sexual gratification and increased experiences, the following question is all too relevant: Does edging affect muscle growth? We are going to explore the implications of edging for building muscle, performing during training, and developing fitness in general. We will discuss the principles involved in muscle growth and edging science and explore most of the myths and fallacies surrounding the topic. Muscle Growth What Causes Muscle Growth? Muscular Bulking: Firstly, to effectively grade how well edging would facilitate the development of muscular bulking, it should be known how muscle growth even works. Muscle bulking, or hypertrophy in simpler terms, is precisely body muscle growth as your response to stress in your system, which primarily mediates through exercise such as resistance training, followed closely by other processes. Resistance Training: The growth-based stimulus is provided through resistance exercise, which strengthens a particular muscle by requiring it to work against some degree of resistance, thereby moving weights. The resulting micro-tears in muscle fibres due to the application of mechanical tension result in the body’s efforts in stitching the fibres and increasing muscle mass. Protein Synthesis: Muscle tissue repair and building depend on the equilibrium between protein synthesis and degradation. The body requires good-quality protein in appropriate amounts to grow muscle. Hormonal Factors: Hormones are also critically important for regulating muscle growth and recovery. Some of the primary hormones that regulate muscle growth and recovery include: Testosterone: causes the synthesis of proteins and forms the muscles. Growth Hormones: These increase growth and metabolism and repair muscles. IGF-1: mediates functions by growth hormones and increases the growth of muscle cells. What Role Does a Hormone Play in Muscle Mass Building? Muscle building requires hormonal balance. The more anabolic hormones in the body, the better the synthesis of muscle proteins. On the contrary, the higher the levels of catabolic hormones in the body, like cortisol, the worse the synthesis of muscle proteins would be. All these things come under the broad category of optimal hormone levels, which would ideally lead to muscle growth. What is Edging? Edging is a process in which one approaches orgasm, but just before reaching orgasm, they restrain themselves, then repeat that process several times and eventually allow orgasm. In every way, this act proves to be helpful to heighten the sexual feeling of pleasure or increase stamina as it prolongs sexual intercourse. The Physiology of Edging Sexual arousal causes many physiological effects, including high pulse and blood flow to some parts of the genitals, except the discharge of some hormones. So, edging might enhance the level of sex tension that can cause the release of neurotransmitters like dopamine, which causes an excellent feeling of pleasure. The Science: Does Edging Affect Muscle Growth? The relationship between edging and muscle growth is a very complex topic with limited scientific research. However, we can examine what is currently available and consider potential mechanisms by which edging may or may not affect muscle development. 1. Does Edging Increase Testosterone? One of the most widespread arguments against edging is the boost of testosterone. Testosterone stands out amongst the most important hormones involved in muscle building as it controls the activity of protein synthesis, all types of recovery, and an anabolic environment. Temporary Testosterone Boost: The researcher ran one experiment in which a man’s testosterone levels, at minimum, became far greater after 30 minutes than those without edging. In the short term, at least, edging would definitely appear to increase testosterone levels. Short-term Effects: Though this sounds positive, scientists argue that this peak might lead to the testosterone level going down in the long run; thus, muscle-building advancement could be affected adversely because of the short-term advantage in such conditions. It is still unknown what happens with long-term edging to testosterone levels. 2. Does Edging Affect Muscle Growth Directly? Science literature does not confirm that there is direct muscle growth through edging. Only anecdotally, there are claims that edging might be helpful for muscle development, but it is not scientific proof. Potential Growth: Hormone Release Another theory is that sexual arousal, leading to the edging process, somehow releases growth hormones. Growth hormones stimulate or enhance muscle growth and repair in the body. However, more studies must be initiated to describe the relationship between edging and growth hormone release. Ejaculation and Muscle Growth: No direct correlation has been established between ejaculation or the activity of releasing sperm and muscle growth. Even though this can cause temporary imbalances within the body’s hormones, it does not appear to have any direct impact on muscle growth. 3. The Role of Dopamine Edging also affects dopamine levels, which seem to be associated with pleasure or reward, motivation, etc. Higher dopamine results in better moods and more motivated people, and thus indirectly helps to produce good workout performance and sustain a training program. Its association with muscle growth is still being researched. Scientists hypothesised that dopamine may impact the brain’s assessment of whether a mental job is worthwhile. Under the direction of Dr. Michael Frank of Brown University, the group conducted a number of tests to evaluate dopamine’s function in motivation. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) of the NIH provided some funding for the study. Results were published in Science on March 20, 2020. Myths and Misconceptions 1. Myth: Edging Increases Muscle Growth Reality: There is no scientific evidence that edging can directly cause muscle growth. Although increased short-term levels of testosterone, which some research does elicit, are desirable for building muscle, such effects are not known to persist beyond the short term. Ideal nutrition, resistance exercise, and lifestyle choices are much more influential in building muscles. 2. Myth: Sperm