Member-only story
How an Entire Fitness Cult was Built Upon One Study of Poor Quality
A Peek Into the “NoFap” Movement
If you’ve been on the internet for the past few years, perhaps you’ve heard of the concept of “NoFap”.
This involves completely abstaining from self pleasure, and it promises everything from better focus and motivation to less fat and more muscle in return to your dedication.
The trouble with this is not the actual movement — people are free to do with their bodies whatever they choose — but are the blatant lies and misinformation perpetuated by this cult. I don’t use that word — cult — loosely, either. Because it is one.
The study oft-cited is this one.
It showed that a week-long period of abstaining for masturbation led to a strange peak of testosterone on the sixth and seventh days, up to 145.7% of baseline.
However, there are a few troubles with this study, and even more with it’s interpretation.
First, the study had a fairly small sample size of just 28 people. It hasn’t been replicated.
