What's Really in Your Pre-Workout Supplement? It Might Be Methamphetamine . . .

Over the past 15 to 25 years, the sports supplement market has exploded. When I was a wee lad, there was a limited selection of supplements, mainly dessicated liver tablets, Joe Weider Mega Mass 4000 (and other similar buckets of sugar), some amino acids, and a faith in drinking glasses of raw eggs.

Now there are supplements for everything - pre-workout, poist-workout, A.M, P.M., fat loss, energy, focus, better pumps, test boosters, anti-estrogens, and an assortment of proteins, creatine mixtures, and other crap.

One of the areas that has exploded in recent years is the pre-workout segment of the market. Back 15 years, it was common to take 20 mg ephedra, 200 mg caffeine, and 200 mg of aspirin (the ECA stack), but when the FDA banned ephedra because a handful of idiots took 3 or 4 times the recommended dosage and did not eat, then had heart attacks or fainted, the market blew up with companies trying to concoct an equally effective supplement.

During this same period, several companies promoting testosterone boosting supplements got nailed when athletes using the products failed drug tests for anabolic steroids. No wonder they worked!

The practice among the shady companies was to come out with a new product making extraordinary claims - claims any close look at the ingredients listed on the label could not support. Yet users would post rave reviews on message boards about gaining 10 lbs of muscle in just two weeks or losing 4% bodyfat in a week, or whatever. And they did - because the supplement contained banned substances. Once the hype had built around the product, the manufacturer could remove the illegal substances before the FDA caught on and still sell tons of the product to undiscerning people who believed the hype. [T-Nation did an excellent story on this back in the day.]

Turns out the practice is still occurring, with a slight tweak. Now they avoid the actually illegal substances but instead they include analogs, substances that are chemically similar but are not listed as illegal yet (this is especially true in the pro-hormone market, where many products can be found online that are actual steroids, but are not on the controlled substances lists).

A new study found that the popular pre-workout supplement Craze contains an analog of methamphetamine, you now, crystal meth. The FDA has cracked down on them, and they have removed the product from the market - Gaspari Nutrition, a company generally thought reputable, also had a product with this substance, and they have also removed it from the shelves.

 

Here is the summary of the research study from Medical News Today, followed by an article from USA Today about this whole mess.

Muscles and meth: Drug analog identified in 'Craze' workout supplement

An international team of scientists have identified potentially dangerous amounts of methamphetamine analog in the workout supplement Craze, a product widely sold across the U.S. and online. The study, published in Drug Testing and Analysis, was prompted by a spate of failed athletic drug tests. The results reveal the presence of methamphetamine analog N,α- DEPEA, which has not been safely tested for human consumption, in three samples.

"In recent years banned and untested drugs have been found in hundreds of dietary supplements. We began our study of Craze after several athletes failed urine drug tests because of a new methamphetamine analog," said lead author Dr. Pieter Cohen, of Harvard Medical School, U.S.A.

A workout supplement marketed as a 'performance fuel', Craze is manufactured by Driven Sports, Inc., and is sold in stores across the United States and internationally via body supplement websites.

The supplement is labeled as containing the compound N,N-diethyl-phenylethylamine (N,N-DEPEA), claiming it is derived from endangered dendrobium orchids. However, while there is no proof that this compound is found within orchids, it is also structurally similar to the methamphetamine analog N,α-diethylphenylethylamine (N,α-DEPEA), a banned substance.

The team analyzed three samples of Craze for traces of N,α-DEPEA. The first sample was brought from a mainstream retailer in the U.S., while the second and third samples were ordered from online retailers in the U.S. and Holland.

The team used ultra-high performance liquid chromatography to detect the presence of N,α-DEPEA. The first two samples were analyzed by NSF International, while the third was tested at the Netherland's National Institute for Public Health. The findings were independently corroborated by the Korean Forensic Service, which confirmed the presence of N,α-DEPEA in two further samples of Craze in a parallel investigation.

"We identified a potentially dangerous designer drug in three separate samples of this widely available dietary supplement," said Cohen. "The tests revealed quantities of N,α-DEPEA of over 20mg per serving, which strongly suggests that this is not an accidental contamination from the manufacturing process."

As a structural analog of methamphetamine, N,α-DEPEA , may have stimulant and addictive qualities; however, it has never been studied in humans and its adverse effects remain unknown.

The product labeling claims that Craze contains several organic compounds, known as phenylethylamines. However, phenylethylamines are a very broad category of chemicals which range from harmless compounds found in chocolate to synthetically produced illegal drugs.

"The phenylethylamine we identified in Craze, N,α-DEPEA, is not listed on the labeling and it has not been previously identified as a derivative of dendrobium orchids," said Cohen.

"If these findings are confirmed by regulatory authorities, the FDA (The U.S. Food and Drug Administration) must take action to warn consumers and to remove supplements containing N,α-DEPEA from sale," concluded Cohen. "Our fear is that the federal shutdown may delay this, resulting in potentially dangerous supplements remaining widely available."

Full Citation:
Pieter A. Cohen, John C. Travis, Bastiaan J. Venhuis. (2013, Oct 14), A methamphetamine analog (N,α-diethyl-phenylethylamine) identified in a mainstream dietary supplement. Drug Testing and Analysis: Article first published online: 14 OCT 2013 - DOI: 10.1002/dta.1578

Here is the USA Today article:

Maker of Craze suspends production of sports supplement

Alison Young, USA TODAY, October 15, 2013

Driven Sports, maker of the pre-workout supplement Craze, announced Tuesday that it has suspended all production and sales of the product in the wake of tests finding amphetamine-like ingredients.

(Photo: Alison Young, USA TODAY)

Story Highlights

• Driven Sports says it stopped production of Craze "several months" ago after media reports
• A USA TODAY investigation in July reported that tests had found amphetamine-like compounds in Craze
• Two scientific journal articles have recently identified a methamphetamine-like compound in Craze
• FDA and DEA officials could not be reached for comment because of the government shutdown

The maker of the popular sports supplement Craze, which scientists say contains a methamphetamine-like compound, revealed Tuesday that it has suspended all production and sales of the product.

Driven Sports, which has declined USA TODAY's repeated interview requests, posted a statement on its website disclosing that the New York-based company suspended production "several months ago while it investigated the reports in the media regarding the safety of Craze."

In July, a USA TODAY investigation revealed that a top Driven Sports official, Matt Cahill, is a convicted felon who has a history of putting risky products on the market and that tests of Craze by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and a lab in Sweden had found amphetamine-like compounds in the pre-workout powder.

On Monday, a team of scientists from the U.S. and the Netherlands published an article in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Drug Testing and Analysis saying they had identified an analog — or chemical cousin — of methamphetamine in samples of Craze. They warned that the chemical has never been studied in humans, that the health risks are unknown and that it is not disclosed on Craze's label.

Driven Sports says that its own studies continue to show Craze is safe "when used responsibly" and that tests it has commissioned "have consistently indicated that Craze does not contain amphetamines or controlled substances." It added "the confidence of our retailers to sell the product and our consumers to buy the product is our primary concern so we will continue the suspension of the production and sale of Craze for the foreseeable future until these issues are resolved."

Walmart.com, Bodybuilding.com and some other online retailers stopped selling Craze earlier this summer in the wake of the USA TODAY investigation, but tubs of the pre-workout powder continued to be available for purchase elsewhere online and in GNC stores. Recently, the product was no longer available on GNC.com and Driven Sports' own website listed Craze as out of stock.

GNC officials have declined to be interviewed. In a statement the retailer said: "With third party products, GNC is simply the retailer and, like all retailers, relies upon the representations and contractual warranties made by the vendor that the products are safe and compliant with all applicable laws and regulations."

In a related development this week, NSF International announced that in separate testing they found the same meth-like compound in the weight-loss supplement Detonate, which is marketed by Gaspari Nutrition. NSF International is a Michigan-based testing organization; one of its scientists co-authored Monday's journal article about Craze.

Gaspari Nutrition officials did not respond to interview requests and as of Tuesday night had removed Detonate from its website's list of products. Detonate was still listed on Gaspari's website as of Oct. 10, according to a version of the page archived by Google that day. Detonate remains available for sale online and in some stores. USA TODAY was able to purchase a bottle of Detonate on Tuesday at a Vitamin Shoppe store in Sterling, Va., but found several GNC and Vitamin Shoppe stores in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C. did not have it in stock.

Driven Sports says it believes that the independent labs and scientists who have found amphetamine-like and methamphetamine-like compounds in Craze may have made a mistake in their tests. Craze's label says it contains dendrobium orchid extract, which the company says has naturally occurring phenylethylamine compounds. The statement says that these other scientists' tests may be mistaking the natural compound for amphetamine-like substances.

Driven Sports says its labs' tests indicate the presence of "n-beta DEPEA" in Craze" and that this compound is "a related but very different substance" from the n,alpha DEPEA identified in Monday's journal article. The company said it is "very difficult to distinguish these two substances unless you know precisely what you are looking for and are using the proper test methodology."

In an e-mailed statement, the journal article's authors said that "their argument holds no merit" and that Driven Sports is "just throwing out new chemical names to try to confuse." The authors said that n-beta DEPEA is "a completely different molecule" and that the differences in the molecule would have made them act differently on two of the three tests they ran.

"We stand 100% behind our results," said the research team: Pieter Cohen of Harvard Medical School; John Travis, a scientist at NSF International; and Bastiaan Venhuis of the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment in the Netherlands.

Another team of scientists based in South Korea found the same methamphetamine-like substance when they tested other samples of Craze. Their findings were published in a forensic toxicology journal in August.

Neither the Food and Drug Administration nor the Drug Enforcement Administration could be reached for comment because of the federal government shutdown.

Amy Eichner, a special advisor on supplements at the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, noted that both Craze and Detonate have been listed on the nonprofit organization's "high risk" supplement list. "There needs to be a serious examination of the current regulations of supplements," she said, "and changes must be made in order for the FDA to have the necessary tools to effectively regulate the supplement industry."

Although dietary supplements -- such as vitamins, minerals and herbal pills -- are often marketed as health remedies, the FDA does not have the authority to require pre-market testing for safety or effectiveness as it does with medications. Supplement industry officials have said that greater enforcement, not new regulations, are what is needed to address problem products and makers.

Driven Sports and Gaspari Nutrition, the companies marketing Craze and Detonate, are both members of the American Herbal Products Association. The association did not respond to questions or an interview request from USA TODAY about the findings of meth-like compounds in the companies' products.

Jackson Bliss - A Scarcity of Affection Among Men

This is one of the unfortunate truisms for men in this culture - we are raised to see affection as foreplay, as sexual, and not as a vital human need. Over at the Good Men Project, Jackson Bliss shares his experience of waking up to this reality and his process of understanding it.

A Scarcity of Affection Among Men

October 7, 2013 by Jackson Bliss

Jackson Bliss sees how men have grown up seeing affection as sexual behavior, not social behavior. And that is one of the tragedies of our times.

—

Once, just as I was about to step inside Union Station in New Haven, an old black guy with fuzzy grey hair and glasses stopped me on the sidewalk and asked me if I had a light. Though technically I’d stopped smoking when I’d started grad school, my bad habit resurfaced at the end of every semester because of the stress. It was reading period, so I pulled out my lighter with a little guilt and tried lighting his cigarette. The wind was strong and erratic though, extinguishing the flame every time I rolled the flint. As I became impatient, I finally grabbed his soft, wilted old hand and cupped it with mine, lighting his cigarette undisturbed. He took a big puff and exhaled. Then he nodded his head, smiled at me and said: Thank you, son. By the time I was inside the train station, I was bawling.

At first, I didn’t understand where the tears were coming from. Maybe, I wondered, it was the anxiety of having to write three thirty-page essays in the next ten days or my secret dread of seeing my on-again-off-again girlfriend in New York who I fought with every weekend like a professional scrapper trying to dodge the first inevitable blow. Maybe it was the dreary Connecticut weather finally getting to me, weather that reminded me of Dante’s description of purgatory. Maybe I was sad because I was a poor grad student from Chicago who sometimes felt lost and out of place in New England. And maybe I was just really vulnerable that day. Whatever the ultimate reason, the tears poured out of me inside the station, on the escalator and even on the train where I looked out the window to avoid the sharp looks of commuters. The real issue buried underneath my grief was the fact that I rarely got the male affection I’d wanted as a kid. And the sad thing is, I’m not the exception either. 

♦◊♦

My pops is a good guy, but he’s old school (which means he’s not very good at expressing himself). While he’s slowly learned to respect me as a man, we’ve never been very close. When we hang out in Chicago, for example, I’m almost always the one to initiate things. Because we’re different politically and professionally, we’ve had to strain to understand each other for most of our lives. When I was a kid, we never played in the backyard together (I played catch or soccer with my spunky obāsan). Because I was a latchkey kid, I only saw my parents for four hours a day max, most of our time spent in the kitchen and the TV room.

To be honest, I can’t remember my dad hugging me as boy nor do I remember him being proud of me growing up (except when I graduated from high school, which was really important to him). Even when I gave my MFA reading six years ago in nearby South Bend, I remember not being surprised that my dad didn’t show up. Now, I don’t point these things out an indictment because my dad is a good and hard-working person (and god knows I could be a rambunctious, argumentative, and exasperating little punk). My dad helped me a little bit with my college tuition, paid for my final year of high school at my Jesuit prep school and remained emotionally devoted to my obāsan his entire life, even after my parents split up. He was a dad in the only way he knew how to be with me, slowly evolving once he remarried his second wife and had a third son (who he has a much more proactive and affectionate relationship with). It’s only recently that I’ve truly felt he’s proud of me for the man I’ve become, and maybe this is related to my stubborn professional aspirations as a fiction writer, to finishing my PhD, and to marrying the love of my life. Maybe his recent respect for me has nothing to do with any of those things. As I’ve grown up and become comfortable with my self, I’ve learned to overcome the big issues I had with him, but I point out the scarcity of affection in my relationship with him because I think it partially explains why male approval was always so important to me growing up, why I still have a soft spot for male affection, why I still find myself seeking the respect of older men. 

♦◊♦

One of the pernicious consequences of living in a country still struggling with homophobia, social verticality, and patriarchy, is not just the rigid gender roles this system imposes on men (and obviously women), but also the way it prevents grown men from expressing love, gratitude and affection to each other (and often to their sons). Because of this, many boys grow up seeing affection as inherently unmasculine because their fathers never modeled affection and unconditional love as a constituent part of their own masculinity.

Just as tragic, our system still punishes boys for expressing love and affection to each other (except in the case of sports) by subjecting them to social and sexual taboo, which means boys will grow up seeing affection as (hetero)sexual behavior and not social behavior, which is troubling. For many straight boys, affection will become gendered, the unique behavior of girlfriends, moms and female friends. While girls are victims of the system just as much as boys are, the system victimizes them in different ways at different stages (through slut-shaming, income inequality, domestic relegation, sexual objectification and ownership, for example). But one of the major systemic tragedies for boys is the ongoing poverty of male affection in their lives. As psychoanalytically unsatisfying as it is, for many grown men, there is a void inside us that was earmarked for our fathers’ attention and approval (which can often feel like signifiers of love). It’s a void we carry with us into adulthood, a void that only disappears (if it disappears at all) with friendships that are deeply communicative, supportive and unconditional. This void only disappears (if it disappears at all) with a lifetime of self-forgiveness for the emptiness we feel inside. This emptiness is not our fault, but if we deny its existence or pretend we’ve moved beyond the scene of our childhood trauma, we become victims of our own pathology, innocent bystanders in the crossfire of denial, unlovability and self-reproach.

Men only heal when we surround ourselves with others who are engines of deep and uncontrollable love, people who are compassionate, affectionate, forgiving and open with their emotions. For me, the most recent source of affection, kindness and love has been my wife, who I love more deeply than any person I’ve ever known. In high school, it was my religion and English teachers. In college, it was my brother and my friends. Someday, it will be my own fatherhood, which will give me new emotional space for repairing the tiny broken parts of me and for expressing my endless devotion, explicit love and continuous affection for my baby. Even though he doesn’t exist yet, even though she hasn’t even been conceived, my love for him is already enormous, already bigger than myself.

—

Photo: lenny montana / flickr

Hines Ward: Why I'm an Iron Man (Esquire) - Because He Finished . . . ?

 

This is a nice interview with former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver (Super Bowl XL MVP) - and Dancing with the Stars winner (season 12) - Hines Ward, who has been making news recently as he prepared to enter his first Iron Man triathlon.

As of Saturday, 10.12.13, he successful completed his first (and apparently last) Iron Man event. I don't care what his other achievements have been, completing an Iron Man is a whole different category of pain and commitment - congratulations to Mr. Ward!

[NOTE: Belgium's Frederick Van Lierde won the 35th anniversary Iron Man in a time of 8:12:29 for the men's overall. Ward finished in a very respectable 13:08:15.]

First is a brief interview from Esquire Magazine, followed by a brief report on Ward finishing the Iron Man from NBC Sports.

Hines Ward: Why I'm an Iron Man

The former NFL star isn't done winning

By Hines Ward

"I'm more known for Dancing with the Stars than for my fourteen years that I played."

You'd think that after fourteen years in the NFL that retired Pittsburgh Steelers receiver Hines Ward would be content to take a few years off. Maybe lie on a beach, go sailing, or simply not get hit by giant men who are willfully and recklessly endangering his life for the purpose of sport. But that's not the Super Bowl XL MVP's style. Instead, Ward has followed his famed career with a victory on Dancing with the Stars as his friends and family laughed in his face. And now, with a similar level of encouragement, Ward is taking on the Iron Man triathlon today: a 140.6-mile race in Kona, Hawaii. We recently sat with Ward as he shared some words of wisdom about football, how his skills translated to the dance floor, and why a man who's never run more than a mile would choose to take on the world's most grueling race. —Interviewed by Matthew Kitchen

I wasn't close to my father growing up, but my mother and I were teammates. She couldn't help me academically because she didn't really know much about American education. It frustrated her, but what she did know is how to work her tail off. She never quit. She could have easily went back to Korea and left me here with my dad, but she worked her ass off so she was fit to be a parent. Just learning about all the sacrifices she made for me makes anything I do peanuts.

It's okay being different. I didn't ask to come into this world as a biracial kid, but I use being teased and take what society says I can't do and turn it into a positive.

I always played with a chip on my shoulder. My whole life, people told me, "Well you can't go to college. You're not smart enough." Well I went to college. I graduated college. "Well then you're not good enough to play in the NFL." Well I did that, and I played fourteen years. "Well your'e not a Pro Bowler." I made the Pro Bowl. "You'll never win a Super Bowl." I've done that, and was Super Bowl MVP.

Being told I wasn't smart still bothers me to this day.

I was baffled by commentators telling Tim Tebow he can't play football. Are you going to buy into what people say or are you going to use that as motivation to show the world you can do it? I admire that. That's what fuels the fire in everyone, and some people just don't have that fire. They accept where they are.

I love everything about football: the essence, the smell of the grass, the shoulder pads, the camaraderie in the locker room — like a band of brothers. I love the fans, the boos, the enemies, the trash talking. You can't ever find trash talking in a workplace environment.

I enjoy getting hit and I enjoy hitting people. If you ever saw me playing, I was always smiling. I got the opportunity to wake up every morning and to do something I had been dreaming about doing since I was a kid. What is there to complain about? I mean, it hurts. But I've dished out some punishment as well.

You can't live life like you're preparing to die. If it's your time, it's your time. If I sit there and worry about getting hit, about concussions, and about what it's going to be like when I'm 55 or 60, then I'm not living life.

But I'm scared of jumping out of a plane. And bungie jumping.

Growing old in the NFL is depressing. Times have changed. Fantasy football has taken off, and you've seen it bleed into the game. You put a talent at wide receiver with a talented quarterback and you have the Detroit Lions. Matt Stafford and Calvin Johnson are putting up huge numbers, but they're not winning games. You had a great year, but your team sucked. So what's more important?

When you hit 30 in the league, you're old. But who's to say old people can't play?

When you reach the mountain top, it's a lot easier to walk away from the game. I see so many guys, like Tony Gonzalez, who are old. But that drive to want to win still keeps them in the game.

I would love to live a life where no one knew about me or criticized anything I was doing. Everywhere I go I'm still a target. But I'm accustomed to that. I've always wanted to be known as more than just a football player, and I've used the notoriety from fourteen years to open up other doors for me to venture into.

I told my mom and coaches and teammates about Dancing with the Stars and they all laughed at me. No one was encouraging. No one was supportive. No one said, "Oh man. Go out, have fun, and do the best you can." Everyone laughed at me. Maybe that's the world we live in. But when I walk into a dance club or something, hell, I think I'm the best dancer there, and now I've got a trophy to show for it.

I'm more known for Dancing with the Stars than for my fourteen years that I played. And crossing over to that crowd opened up other opportunities; Dark Knight Rises, The Walking Dead, a Head and Shoulders commercial with no hair on my head.

You'd think after fourteen years in the NFL that I was in shape, but I never felt out of shape until I crossed over into the endurance world. I can't run a mile. How am I supposed to run a marathon? I run fast, but that doesn't mean anything after a mile.

In the endurance world, everyone is in it together. Everyone is so encouraging. When I feel like walking or stopping, everyone is high-fiving me and going, "Come on Hines! You can do it! You're doing a great job!" I see people saying, "Hines Ward, you're an Iron Man," and that's what drives me.

I didn't really know much about the Iron Man, but here I am. I'm just learning more about myself, about recovery and refueling, and when I cross the finish line, then the sky's the limit for me. The finish line is the most rewarding feeling ever.

I don't know what success is. I only had one dream as a child, and that was to play in the Super Bowl. I've already achieved that, so everything else is a plus. Now I make the most of my opportunities and I see what happens.

* * * * *

Hines Ward completes Ironman Triathlon 

Posted by Mike Florio on October 13, 2013



Former Steelers receiver and Super Bowl XL MVP Hines Ward has added a very different accomplishment to his athletic career.

On Saturday, Ward completed the Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii.

Ward, now a fixture on NBC’s Football Night in America and Sunday Night Football, won’t be making a habit of swimming 2.4 miles, biking 112 miles, and running 26.2 miles consecutively. Earlier today, I texted him congratulations and asked when the next one will be.”

Never,” Ward said. “One and done.”

It’s still one heck of an accomplishment for Ward. He’s off this week as he recovers from the ordeal; he’ll be back with NBC for good next weekend.

Bruce Willis Hosts Man-Cave Dance Party (SNL)

Via Gawker, a video clip of actor Bruce Willis hosting a "man-cave" dance party - it's a bro thing, "a call for brotherly unity."

Bruce Willis Hosted an Amusing Man-Cave Dance Party on SNL

Last night, sassy-television-detective-turned-action-hero Bruce Willis hosted Saturday Night Live for the first time since 1989, with musical guest Katy Perry. One of the episode's highlights was this amusing digital short about the secret manly society of boy dance parties, a stress-relieving breakdown of herky-jerky man-cave moves that're "not homoerotic, just a call for brotherly unity." This is a rare instance where a twerking joke still really works.

[video via NBC]

The 2-Minute Squat - And the Truth About Challenges

This article was a guest post from Toronto-based strength coach, Lee Boyce, over at Tony Gentilcore's website (a great resource for quality information on all aspects of physical training). The premise here is simple, squat a weight equal to your body weight for two minutes - "the loaded barbell must match (or surpass) your current body-weight in pounds." The bar must stay on your back for the full two minutes and you should engage a full range of motion (top of quads parallel to the floor or deeper).

Sounds hellish.

I'm going to try it tomorrow morning in my workout. If this is the last post you see here, well, you'll know what happened.

2 Minute Squat, and the Truth About Challenges

Date 10/08/2013

Today’s guest post is brought to you by Toronto based strength coach, Lee Boyce. I’ve always been a fan of Lee’s work and have often linked to his stuff on his own website as well as T-Nation.

I had the opportunity of hanging out with Lee last year when I visited Toronto and he’s every bit as personable, humble, and friendly as he comes across in his articles. Plus, for what it’s worth, he does a killer post-lift robot.

Lee’s actually going to be making a cameo appearance during mine and Dean Somerset’s Edmonton Workshop in a few weeks, so the likelihood that they’ll be some kind of robot-off is 100%.

In any case, enjoy!

I’ve always had a competitive edge when I was in school. Especially as a middle and high-school student, I wanted to be number one at anything that was remotely related to athletics and strength. Being the fastest runner, highest jumper, and lifting the heaviest weights were among the top things on my priority list.

Unfortunately, since much of the duration of my school-age career was spent as the equivalent of a 98 pound weakling, I was less than successful.

Regardless, the mentality remained present, and pieces of it still pepper themselves into my life as a lifter and trainer. It’s hard to resist a good lifting challenge, and the latest poison was too hard to resist. After a summer chalk full of Olympic lifting, I got notably stronger, but performing any exercise for more than three reps turned into the most arduous conditioning task I’d ever experienced.

Enter the 2 minute Squat

Not long ago Dan Trink used a 2 minute leg press as a challenge for reps performed in an article for T-NATION. Definitely a burner of a finishing move to destroy the quads and give you a pump that lasts days.

I took that to the next level and tried my luck with a 2-minute-long squat challenge. The kicker is this – the loaded barbell must match (or surpass) your current bodyweight in pounds.

Note from TG: shhhhhhhheeeeeeeeiiitttttttt. That’s going to suck.

Also, you can’t rack the weight during the 2 minutes – the bar must remain on your back for the entire duration.

Prepare for your heart rate to go berserk.

And (this goes without saying), you have to be sure to use a full range of motion for every rep. I don’t care about high bar vs. low bar, or stance width, as long as it’s not sumo-wide. Just get to full depth, ATG. Watch me get absolutely crushed by this challenge in the video below:

Breathing Squats vs. the 2 Minute Squat

We’ve all heard of breathing squats. Take your 10 rep max, and without putting the bar down, perform 20 reps. Take as many breaths between reps as needed. The concept sounds good, and on several exercises it can turn into a real burner – especially, once again, in the case of the leg press.

When it comes to squatting however, from personal experience I’ve found that it’s just too difficult. I’m not pulling out the pansy card, just hear me out.

To have a loaded barbell with your 10 rep max on your back (for me, that’s around 335lbs), it’s just flat out too heavy for me to lift it 20 times, regardless of how long I take between reps. Most trained individuals have a 10RM that’s heavier than their own bodyweight when it comes to squatting, which is why the 2 minute exercise is a better bet for conditioning and even hypertrophy purposes.

Plus there’s not a “target” number of reps to attain within the time, so you can focus on quality of each rep, and not have your form and technique break down as you progress through the set. That’s huge.

Here’s The Truth about Challenges

We can let our performance at fixed tests dictate the way we view our strength, progress in the gym, or manhood.

Note from TG: cinnamon test, anyone? Anyone?

These kinds of challenges are interesting, and the truth is, some of us will never be good at them, and I’m pretty sure I’m a guy who fits that category. As competitive in nature as I was and still am, it goes back to my article on The Truth for Tall Lifters. Someone’s body type will create huge caveats as to how well they will fare in any given challenge, including the one above.

Check out the video again. In each of the 19 reps I performed with the barbell, the tempo of the squat didn’t really change much. It took me FOREVER to get from start to finish position in any given rep, thanks to my height and the length of my limbs.

Having said that, if I’m given 2 minutes to squat a bar for full range as many times as possible, a 5’9” guy of similar body weight with equal amounts of strength and conditioning will beat me every single time, no matter what.

The interesting part is that it’s not quite reflective of his levels of strength as compared to mine. The task itself is just friendlier to him than it is to a 6’4” guy. For every rep, the 6’4” guy would have done more work (force x distance) than the 5’9” guy – given the amount of reps performed was in the same ballpark.

Plus the tall guy would spend more time under tension in any regular set of his own basic training. Wouldn’t the “Fran” workout for CrossFit enthusiasts be more unforgiving to a 6’9” guy who has to cover a further distance during thrusters, or during pull ups, which cumulatively eats precious seconds off the clock?

The Fallacy Behind Weight – Strength Ratio

I’ll start this section by saying that I don’t have formal research that I’ve conducted, so I’m not about to recite a litany of references to back up my statements, but with that in mind, I definitely don’t believe that there is anything near a linear relationship between having a heavier body mass and the amount that “should” be lifted.

That’s why there are very few people who weigh 265 who can match the strength-to-weight ratio of most 135 pound Olympic gymnasts. Again, it comes down to a game of levers, anthropometrics, and general ergonomics of the movement in question.

On this topic, I was talking to a magazine editor who stands 6’3”, who was recently challenged to a 10,000 dollar pull-up contest against an athlete of the opposing coach’s choice. Simple logic would have that coach choose his lightest and most conditioned athlete, probably with a pair of short arms to boot, and the editor would have gone to the crypt, and lost 10 grand in the process.

If A 6’5”, 265 pound squatter went up against a 6’0”, 215 pound squatter of equal conditioning in the challenge above, I’m sure the 215 pound squatter would still win, based on the fact that he has a lower center of gravity, and simply because the implement is lighter, period.

According to ESPN.com, In the past 5 years in the NFL combine, the average difference in bodyweight between running backs and wide receivers has been only 10 pounds, however, in the 225 pound bench press test, the running backs performed 5 more reps on average than the receivers.

One could argue that part of this may be due to training modifications to condition for contact situations, but a closer look at the anthropometric differences gives the true answer.

On average, those running backs were 3 inches shorter, with one inch less wingspan. All of a sudden, the longer armed, lankier wideouts had more of a disadvantage than meets the eye in the bench press test – even if they can produce just as much force on the field as their counterparts.

In Conclusion

Luckily, we’re not in the NFL, so there are no hard and fast privileges pending on our ability to “score well” in such tests.

Use the challenge above to do just what it did to me – kick some serious tail in conditioning, and present a cool gauge to test against yourself in future attempts.

I find it really cool to repeat similar conditioning tests at the end of each of your training phases to see where you stand as compared to the last phase. I’m sure you’ll get a very different result after a strength program with 3 rep maxes, compared to a dynamic conditioning program with multiple rep schemes.

Fitness training is very body-specific, and as such, it’s extremely unregulated. Don’t be a sucker for what’s on the bar, and the reps you’ve performed, and focus on the training effect. You’re going after your own results, so “challenges” are only valid if they’re made against yourself, and not someone else.

About the Author

~ Lee Boyce is an internationally known fitness writer and strength coach and owner of Boyce Training Systems, based in Toronto Ontario. His work is published regularly in many major fitness magazines including Men’s Health, Men’s Fitness, T-NATION, Muscle and Fitness, Bodybuilding.com, and Inside Fitness. In 2013, he was named to the Team Jamaica training and treatment staff for the Penn Relays international track meet. Currently Boyce works with clients and athletes for strength, conditioning, and sport performance. Visit his website www.leeboycetraining.com for more content, and follow him on twitter @coachleeboyce and facebook www.facebook.com/lee.boyce.52.

This Is the Average Man's Body (The Atlantic Monthly)

A friend over at Facebook alerted me to this article in an off-hand way - he jokingly asked his friends and followers, "Who would you rather?" among the four nationalities presented in the article below (United States, Japan, Netherlands, France). Of the four men (averages formed into a avatar), the "Todd" from the U.S. is 5' 9" tall, with a 39" waist and a body mass index (BMI) of 29 - 30 is obese.

As a personal trainer and athlete, I see these "average men" and feel sad that we have fallen so far from our potential - the average man in the U.S. is a fraction from obese . . . and that's AVERAGE!

I am not blaming the individuals . . . although there is always the option to change one's lifestyle. I also know from my years as a trainer how difficult that can be even for those who want to do so. If it were easy or simple, no one would go through the torment of being overweight in a fat phobic society (that is, ironically, overweight and obese on average).

A big part of the problem is the processed nutrition-void foods we eat, the marketing atmosphere we live in, the endocrine disrupting chemicals in the air and water (and in food packaging, water bottles, no-stick pans, aerosols, and so on), and the urbanization of human life (taking us away from a life spent working on the land, doing physical labor) - all of these things and more have contributed to this Todd avatar, from the U.S., at least, being a pudgy man.

We can only change it for ourselves, and lead by example . . . . How are you leading? What are you teaching your kids about health and fitness?

This Is the Average Man's Body

Graphic renderings of modern males

James Hamblin Oct 10 2013



Todd is the most typical of American men. His proportions are based on averages from CDC anthropometric data. As a U.S. male age 30 to 39, his body mass index (BMI) is 29; just one shy of the medical definition of obese. At five-feet-nine-inches tall, his waist is 39 inches.

Don't let the hyperrealistic toes fool you; Todd is an avatar. I gave Todd his name, and gave his life a narrative arc, but he is actually the child of graphic artist Nickolay Lamm as part of his Body Measurement Project.

Todd would prefer perfection—or at least something superlative, even if it's bad—to being average. But Todd is perfect only in being average. With this perfection comes the privilege of radical singularity, which is visible in his eyes.

Though in his face this reads lonesome, Todd does have three international guyfriends. They met at a convention for people with perfectly average bodies, where each won the award for most average body in their respective country: U.S., Japan, Netherlands, and France. The others' BMIs, based on data from each country's national health centers, are 23.7, 25.2, and 25.6.

I named them all Todd, actually, even though it could be confusing, because not everyone's name is a testament to their cultural heritage.

 

This is how Lamm made the Todds. It's also what zombie Todds look like.



And here are Todds from the right.

 

Most people look better from their left, but Lamm rendered the Todds from their right, just because he can. To these men, Nickolay is God.

Avatars of various ethnicities are important, because obesity depends on culture and genetics. The weight of every person's destiny is equal, but some countries are fat, and others are not. The World Health Organization cares about that, because understanding the differences should help to explicate causes.
 

(World Health Organization; based on 2008 data)

So does history. Fifty years ago, American Todd would not have been round. The trend is not unique to men, either; Lamm just chose to work with white male renderings. The same CDC data puts the female BMI in this age group at 28.7.

U.S. Obesity, National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, 1960-2000

Americans are also losing ground in height. For most of two centuries, until 60 years ago, the U.S. population was the tallest in the world. Now the average American man is three inches shorter than the Dutch man, who averages six feet. Japanese averages are also gaining on Americans'. Anthropologists tie these recent changes primarily to diet and lifestyle, as we've turned habitable wilderness into excess. 

(All images by Nickolay Lamm)

George Maat, a professor emeritus of anthropology at Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands, has said that within another 50 years, the Dutch Todd could be six-foot-three. Several years ago the Netherlands was compelled to increase building code standards for door frames. If in the last half-century the American physical form has been expelled from international imagination as an ideal, we might presently look at the situation not just as failure, but with optimism for what we might become.

Does Anybody Actually Know What "Sexual Satisfaction" Is? (from Nerve)

From Nerve Magazine, this article reviews a new study from the Journal of Sex Research on the nature of sexual satisfaction and whether or not any of are actually feeling satisfied. Here is an important, if flippant, quote from the beginning of the article:

What, exactly, is sexual satisfaction? (x thrusts? y more orgasms? z times more humpage?) How do we know when we’ve reached the apex of satisfaction, and more importantly, will there be a rain of colorful confetti on our heads when we get there?

The answer is, as with many sexy things, deeply subjective.

Indeed.

As one might expect, some respondents defined satisfaction in terms of their own experience ("personal sexual well-being"), while others described satisfaction as more about the interplay between the two people involved ("dyadic processes," "what happens between two people").

It's worth noting that this study was conducted in Portugal, with 449 women and 311 men, and a mean participant age of 36.05 years (SD = 8.34, age range: 20 to 69). Are Portuguese more romantic (on average) than Anglo cultures? The sample was highly educated (574 participants [75.4%] possessed at least an undergraduate degree and 81 [10%] were current undergraduate college students - the remaining participants [14.6%] had fewer than 12 years of education), so does that skew the results one way more than an another?

I would like to know what the breakdown was for male and female subjects in relation to the two orientations they identified. It seems strange that they did not include that information, or if there was a difference between the married couples and unmarried couples, or if the young people responded differently than the other people.

Still, it's interesting research.

Does Anybody Actually Know What "Sexual Satisfaction" Is?

A new survey finds what we actually mean when we talk about being sexually satisfied.

BY KATE HAKALA
October 2, 2013

Sexual satisfaction has long been thought to be a barometer for your overall relationship. But we’re in a constant state of wanting an unquantifiable amount more of it. You’re hit with about fifty-quadrillion ads a day boasting “10 Ways To Get More Sexual Satisfaction” or “5 Secrets of a Sexually Satisfied Man/Woman/Whatever”. That’s all well and good, except for one tiny glitch: Um, what, exactly, is sexual satisfaction? (x thrusts? y more orgasms? z times more humpage?) How do we know when we’ve reached the apex of satisfaction, and more importantly, will there be a rain of colorful confetti on our heads when we get there?

The answer is, as with many sexy things, deeply subjective.

In a recently published study, The Journal of Sex Research gathered the written responses of 449 women and 311 men in committed relationships to answer the question, “How do you define sexual satisfaction?” Because, who better to ask what defines sexual satisfaction than normal ole regulars? The results were varied, but they were split into two themes: personal sexual well-being and dyadic processes (aka what happens between two people). The study put together this map, breaking down the themes of responses:

via Journal of Sex Research

So what do our fellow lay people have to say?

“Pleasure” and “Mutuality” were the top two response themes, often given together. About half of the 760 responses included “pleasure” in their definition, but not all were referring to pleasure as an orgasm necessarily. Pleasure had a much more fluid connotation, apart from ejaculation or a physical climax in light of satisfaction. “Satisfaction with one’s sexual life as a whole. It does not imply necessarily to reach orgasm, but it means to have as much pleasure as possible,” said one respondent.

For respondents who skewed on the more personal/selfish side of answers, only a few participants in the study mentioned “desire”, “arousal”, or “orgasm” in their definitions of sexual satisfaction—you know, actual stages of the Masters and Johnson sexual response cycle. On the “shared experience” side of the spectrum, “mutuality” was the buzzword in most responses, with a partner’s pleasure being just as key in one’s own pleasure—take that, orgasm gap.

Our personal and relationship satisfaction seems just as important when we’re choosing the language with which to describe sexual satisfaction. Some other choice definitions of sexual satisfaction from the survey included: “the acknowledgement that our mutual understanding takes a material bodily form” and “physical and emotional satisfaction”.

Okay, sure, but shouldn't there be a number? Can't we quantify how many times we have to bone a week to feel satisfied? While frequency was often cited in a definition of sexual satisfaction, there was no concrete number ever named. Rather, “accomplishing a balance between one’s own and one’s partner’s desired frequency” was the goal for satisfaction. “As much sex as we want” is an ephemeral definition of satisfaction, but it's more comforting than an arbitrary "normal" number.

Since 760 definitions are a lot to digest, I created a word cloud of some of the participants' responses:


As you can see, the heavy-hitters that define satisfaction here are "feel", "pleasure", "activity", "relationship", "partner", and coming in last, "orgasms". Note that "every day", "huge penis", "big boobs", "erections", "wet", "with many people", "as much as Brad and Angelina", and "more often than my friends" aren't on this list—clear cut proof that what really matters and what actually satisfies us has nothing to do with the feelings of inadequacy, awkwardness, or competition so intrinsically tied to how we advertise "sexual satisfaction". Even talk of dysfunction or negative feelings ("He couldn't get it up," "She doesn't want to have sex," "I'm not attracted to them,") are completely absent from these definitions. What we really conceive as sexual satisfaction didn't come down to a number or what we lack, but only what we have. Pure, sex-positive pleasure.

The ultimate definition the study came up with was, “The emotional experience of frequent mutual sexual pleasure.” I'd say that's about as good as any.

 * * * * *

For those who would like to see the original article, the Journal of Sex Research has made the full article available online.

What is Sexual Satisfaction? Thematic Analysis of Lay People's Definitions

Patrícia Monteiro Pascoal, Isabel de Santa Bárbara Narciso, and Nuno Monteiro Pereira

Abstract

Sexual satisfaction is an important indicator of sexual health and is strongly associated with relationship satisfaction. However, research exploring lay definitions of sexual satisfaction has been scarce. We present thematic analysis of written responses of 449 women and 311 men to the question “How would you define sexual satisfaction?” The participants were heterosexual individuals with a mean age of 36.05 years (SD = 8.34) involved in a committed exclusive relationship. In this exploratory study, two main themes were identified: personal sexual well-being and dyadic processes. The first theme focuses on the positive aspects of individual sexual experience, such as pleasure, positive feelings, arousal, sexual openness, and orgasm. The second theme emphasizes relational dimensions, such as mutuality, romance, expression of feelings, creativity, acting out desires, and frequency of sexual activity. Our results highlight that mutual pleasure is a crucial component of sexual satisfaction and that sexual satisfaction derives from positive sexual experiences and not from the absence of conflict or dysfunction. The findings support definitions and models of sexual satisfaction that focus on positive sexual outcomes and the use of measures that incorporate items linked to personal and dyadic sexual rewards for both men and women.

Sexual satisfaction is considered an important component of sexual health, a sexual right, and an outcome of sexual well-being (World Health Organization, 2010). Within the field of couples research, various authors (e.g., Fincham, Beach, Vangelisti, & Perlman, 2006; Gottman & Silver, 2007) have emphasized the interaction among sexuality, communication, and conflict within the couple. Not only can sexual problems reflect difficulties with power management, communication, and conflict within the couple (Metz & Epstein, 2002), they are strongly related to relationship dissatisfaction (McCabe, 1999; Rowland, van Diest, Incrocci, & Slob, 2005). In this field of research sexual satisfaction is a central dimension in the study of relationship quality, classified as the “barometer for the quality of a relationship” (Sprecher & Cate, 2004, p. 241). Therefore, the understanding of the meaning of sexual satisfaction within the context of dyadic heterosexual committed relationships is crucial.

As McClelland (2010) pointed out, the study of sexual satisfaction is still in its infancy, and most research has been conducted using self-reinforcing definitions of sexual satisfaction and single items to measure the construct of sexual satisfaction. Sexual satisfaction has also been mainly studied within the context of heterosexual committed dyadic relationships. Within this relational context, several quantitative studies have demonstrated that sexual satisfaction is related to sexual functioning (Frank, Anderson, & Rubinstein, 1978; Heiman et al., 2011), sexual frequency (Baumeister, Catanese, & Vohs, 2001; McNulty & Fisher, 2008; Smith et al., 2011), sexual communication (Byers, 2011), relationship satisfaction (Sprecher, Christopher, & Cate, 2006), nonsexual physical intimacy (Heiman et al., 2011), and emotional intimacy (Rubin & Campbell, 2012). Even though these correlates seem well established by quantitative studies, our literature review revealed three problems in the study of sexual satisfaction: scarce conceptual definitions of sexual satisfaction, few theoretical models for the understanding of sexual satisfaction, and inconsistency in the indicators (e.g., frequency of orgasm) used in different measures of sexual satisfaction.

Some definitions of the concept of sexual satisfaction are global, vague definitions that stress the subjective appraisal of one's current sexual relationship without specifying any indicator (Lawrance & Byers, 1995, p. 268; Sprecher & Cate, 2004, p. 236). Existing theoretical models of sexual satisfaction stem mainly from social exchange models (e.g., Lawrance & Byers, 1995; Peck, Shaffer, & Williamson, 2004), and most research on sexual satisfaction lacks a theoretical framework through which results can be integrated. Finally, despite these shortcomings, there are several measures that assess sexual satisfaction, most of them not based on theory and without a clear definition of the concept of sexual satisfaction (for exceptions, see the Global Measure of Sexual Satisfaction by Lawrance & Byers, 1995; and the New Sexual Satisfaction Scale by Stulhofer, Busko, & Brouillard, 2010). Existing measures also focus on different underlying implicit approaches to sexual satisfaction, meaning that researchers have differed in their implicit operational definitions of sexual satisfaction. For example, there are measures based on different indicators, such as (a) the absence or presence of clinical criteria for the diagnosis of sexual dysfunctions (Rust & Golombok, 1985, 1986); (b) the quality of communication and conflict management (Hudson, Harrison, & Crosscup, 1981); (c) relationship closeness and global satisfaction with sexuality (Wiegel, Meston, & Rosen, 2005); (d) the integration of individual and relationship correlates of sexual satisfaction (Stulhofer et al., 2010); (e) affective responses resulting from a subjective evaluation of several sexual dimensions of a relationship (Lawrance & Byers, 1995); and (f) gender specificities (Meston & Trapnell, 2005; Pinney, Gerrard, & Denney, 1987). As most of the existing measures were developed based on researchers’ understandings of the construct of sexual satisfaction, rather than laypeople's understanding of the term, we do not know if the researchers’ conceptualizations represent colloquial understanding of the concept. These shortcomings compromise the building of a solid and consistent body of knowledge about the concept of sexual satisfaction and preclude comparability among studies.

Current Study

Even though sexual satisfaction has a central role in the study of sexual health and couples’ satisfaction, the literature reveals a particular lack of qualitative research on the meanings of sexual satisfaction (for a review, see McClelland, 2010).

In line with previous research on the definition of sexual terms (Byers, Henderson, & Hobson, 2009), the goal of this exploratory study was to investigate lay definitions of the concept of sexual satisfaction. Through an online survey, we asked both men and women who were in committed, cohabitating, heterosexual relationships for their definitions of sexual satisfaction. Using thematic analysis, the present study explored these written definitions of sexual satisfaction as a first step in filling the gaps in this area of research.

Developed within a postpositivist paradigm and within the theoretical frame of family systems, which advocates that human systems are complex and interinfluential, our main research question was this: “How do individuals in committed, exclusive, heterosexual relationships define sexual satisfaction?”

Method

Recruitment

The present study was based on a convenience sample from a large online study about sexual satisfaction. The sample was collected using snowball sampling methods. The principal researcher sent e-mails to acquaintances, colleagues, and students, inviting them to participate in the study and directing them to the informed consent page. To be included in the present study, participants had to (a) be older than the minimum consent age of 18; (b) have Portuguese as their first language; (c) be heterosexual; (d) be in a committed, exclusive relationship for at least one year; and (e) be cohabitating with their partner. The survey was conducted between January and April 2008.
Participants

A total of 760 participants, 449 women and 311 men, completed the online questionnaire. All participants were from Portugal, and the majority lived in the Greater Lisbon area (n = 461; 57.8%). The mean participant age was 36.05 years (SD = 8.34, age range: 20 to 69). There were 422 (56%) married participants and 338 (44%) participants living in common-law relationships. The mean duration of marriage was 9.95 years (n = 422, SD = 8.25, range: 2 to 39), and the mean duration of common-law relationships was 4.65 years (n = 338, SD = 8.2, range: 2 to 29). The sample was highly educated, with 574 participants (75.4%) possessing at least an undergraduate degree and 81 (10%) current undergraduate college students; the remaining participants had fewer than 12 years of education.
Procedure

The survey was approved by the university ethics committee. First, 30 individuals, all known by the principal researcher (colleagues, acquaintances, and friends), piloted the full survey and evaluated the interface, visual display, length, and comprehensibility of the instructions and survey items. The online survey was administered by a technician who had a username and password to access the server that was updated regularly and checked for potential intruders. No personal information was collected that could identify the participants and no Internet Protocol (IP) addresses were recorded. The informed consent page had information concerning the nature and aims of the study, the names and positions of the researchers, anonymity and confidentiality (e.g., nonrecording of IP addresses), inclusion and exclusion criteria, compensation, and contact details for the principal researcher. 

The participants initially completed a background questionnaire assessing demographics (e.g., sex and residence) and history variables (e.g., existence of sexual problems and history of previous cohabitation). The participants then completed a series of questionnaires that are reported elsewhere (Pascoal, Narciso, & Pereira, 2012, 2013). At the end of the questionnaires, the participants were asked to respond to four open-ended questions concerning their sexuality. In the present study, answers to only the first question were analyzed: “How would you define sexual satisfaction?” 

We included open-ended questions throughout the survey to control for attention, commitment, and motivation (e.g., What is your profession?) and consistency in the responses (e.g., How many children do you have? versus Do you have children?). Two members of the research team independently examined responses to these questions to determine problematic responses (e.g., jokes or derogatory language). When problematic responses were detected, the participants were excluded to increase the validity of the study. There were 22 (3%) problematic responses. There was 95% consistency in the researchers’ evaluation of problematic responses. Missing answers were highlighted so that individuals could have the opportunity to complete the survey and not miss questions unintentionally. On average, individuals took 40 minutes to complete the survey. The dropout rate was 40% and occurred, on average, 25 minutes after starting the survey. There was a final debriefing page that included information on public resources that participants could contact if they had experienced psychological or emotional distress during the completion of the survey. Only four participants did not answer the question about the definition of sexual satisfaction.
Data Analysis

We used QSR (2011) Nvivo9 software to store, explore, and organize the qualitative material. The data set used in the present analysis constitutes the written answers to our question “How would you define sexual satisfaction?” We used Braun and Clarke's (2006) approach to thematic analysis to identify themes in participants’ written definitions of sexual satisfaction and to build our thematic map (Figure 1). We adopted a realistic approach, looking for semantic themes across the whole data set. Specifically, we followed their six-phase method for thematic analysis to describe how patterns of meaning combined into broader conceptualizations/themes. The main themes, subthemes, and codes presented were found after repeated reading of the written definition, paying careful attention not only to patterns of themes across definitions but also to contradictions, ambiguity, and inconsistencies both within and across the definitions. We organized our themes hierarchically in three levels of analysis. At the first level are the codes that we identified across the data set. At the second level are the subthemes, where different codes were combined because they shared an underlying meaning. Subthemes are also called themes within a theme, because subthemes can be identified within the third, and last, level. At the third level, are the main themes: less concrete, more global and abstract (Strauss & Corbin, 1998). The principal researcher and an undergraduate trained rater in qualitative methodology coded the data independently. When disagreement occurred, a specialist in qualitative methodology and family psychology was consulted until a consensus and agreement was reached. We then established our final thematic map (Figure 1).

Figure 1 Thematic map of written definitions of sexual satisfaction.

Results

Thematic Analysis

In the initial phase of the analysis (data familiarization) we found there were two distinct types of answers: the short, straightforward definition, and more complex answers in which different concepts were intertwined and adjectives and examples were used to enrich the definition. Some examples of more complex definitions (those that included more than one code, or where different codes were present to express a more global concept) are presented later in this section.

In the early stage of the analysis, we found the following codes at the first level: positive feelings, pleasure, orgasm, sexual openness, arousal, desire, romance, expression of feelings, mutuality, creativity, and acting out desires (for a brief description of codes, see Table 1). After repeated reading of participants’ written definitions we grouped the first-level codes into different broader themes based on a shared underlying meaning. Positive feelings, pleasure, orgasm, sexual openness, arousal, and desire were grouped under the main theme of personal sexual well-being because these codes reflect an individual's subjective positive sexual experience. The remaining first-level codes were grouped under three distinct second-level themes, all of which were grouped under the main theme of dyadic processes. Therefore, dyadic processes is comprised of three subthemes: intimacy, frequency of sexual activity, and ludic sexuality. Among those, intimacy includes the first-level codes romance, expression of feelings, and mutuality, and ludic sexuality includes first-level codes creativity and acting out desires (for a graphic representation of the relation between codes, subthemes, and themes, see Figure 1). Participants’ most frequent codes were pleasure and mutuality, and these appeared very often intertwined with each other.

Table 1. Hierarchical Organization of the Thematic Map with Description of Codes

Personal sexual well-being

The codes grouped under this main theme (positive feelings, pleasure, desire, orgasm, sexual openness, and arousal) represent meanings of sexual satisfaction that focus on individual positive physical and emotional experiences that are not strictly dependent on the existence of a sexual partner. Almost half of the participants referred to pleasure to define sexual satisfaction. Among these, it was common to find participants who specifically associated pleasure with positive feelings and also those that differentiated pleasure from orgasm. An example that illustrates the first aspect was: “To feel pleasure, not having prejudice, and to experience happiness in the end” (man, 60 years old, coded for pleasure, sexual openness, and positive feeling). The following examples illustrate the second aspect: “the ability to experience pleasure even if it is not translated into an orgasm, but the orgasm feeling persists over time” (man, 42 years old, coded for pleasure and orgasm) and “satisfaction with one's sexual life as a whole. It does not imply necessarily to reach orgasm, but it means to have as much pleasure as possible” (woman, 31 years old, coded for pleasure and orgasm). 

In contrast, only a few participants mentioned desire, arousal, and orgasm in their definitions of sexual satisfaction, three codes which represent phases of the traditional model of sexual response but which here appeared linked to dyadic processes (e.g., mutuality). Finally, a small number of participants included individual sexual openness to define sexual satisfaction, and this code appeared mostly as an individual characteristic that was a facilitator to experience sexual satisfaction. 

In the main theme of personal sexual well-being, the codes that defined sexual satisfaction appeared as parts of definitions which included other codes that were grouped under the main theme of dyadic processes.
Dyadic processes

Dyadic processes was a main theme in which we included the definitions of sexual satisfaction that imply being in a relationship. Integrated within this main theme at the second level were intimacy, a subtheme which aggregates the codes usually associated with being in a close relationship; frequency, which refers to the frequency of sexual activity between two partners; and ludic sexuality, a subtheme in which the codes included accentuate the playful components of sexuality that are not necessarily dependent on being in a close relationship (see Table 1).

Within the main theme of dyadic processes we also found definitions where different codes belonging to this main theme were intertwined. Mutuality, which is integrated in intimacy, was the code to which most participants referred. Participants’ use of mutuality was usually intertwined with other first-level or second-level themes that belonged to dyadic processes, such as the second-level theme frequency, e.g., “Compatibility between habits, preferences, desire, and frequency” (man, 40 years old, coded for mutuality, desire, and frequency), expression of feelings and frequency, e.g., “Sex, not only for sex, but sex for [expressing] love, preferably with frequency but always when there is mutual need and with a lot of tenderness” (man, 36 years old, coded for expression of feelings, frequency, desire, and mutuality); mutuality and ludic sexuality, e.g., “To feel well with yourself, to satisfy your needs and desires and to satisfy the secret desires and needs of one's partner” (woman, 30 years old, coded for acting out desires and mutuality); or “To be able to fulfill my own and my partner's desires, to be an instrument to her private and secret desires” (man, 47 years old, coded for acting out desires and mutuality).
Complementarity between main themes

Within each main theme, complex definitions of sexual satisfaction included the complementarity between the subthemes and codes that were integrated in that same main theme. We would like to highlight that most complex definitions were characterized by presenting personal sexual being codes complemented by dyadic processes’ codes and subthemes, our two main themes. The following quotes ad verbatim are examples of definitions where different codes and subthemes from both the main themes of personal well-being and dyadic processes were intertwined and complement each other: “ … orgasm; the pleasure I give and that I receive, the bond we feel during and after [sex], the seduction, the exploration, the discovery of new pleasures and situations, with no shame, with trust and self-disclosure, feeling gradually more at ease” (woman, 36 years old, coded for orgasm, pleasure, mutuality, expression of feelings, creativity, sexual self-confidence, and romance); “To give yourself away, relaxation, eroticism and romance in order to experience unique pleasure” (man, 41 years old, coded for positive feelings, romance, and pleasure); and “Physical and emotional satisfaction, the feeling to be just one, the acknowledgment that our mutual understanding takes a material bodily form” (woman, 30 years old, coded for expression of feelings and mutuality).

Discussion

Research on sexual satisfaction has been increasing in recent years. However, studies have been mainly quantitative, the concept has not been consistently defined, there are few theoretical models developed to understand it, and there are many diverse measures that take different approaches to the concept. In the present study, we explored the colloquial meanings of sexual satisfaction, taking a qualitative approach to start to fill in these gaps in the literature on sexual satisfaction.

As with other research concerning written definitions of sexual constructs (Shaughnessy, Byers, & Thornton, 2011), we found a diversity of meanings attached to the concept of sexual satisfaction. In relation to our research question, our findings support the existence of two main themes that define sexual satisfaction: personal sexual well-being and dyadic processes. The connection between the main themes is consistent with family systems theory because it demonstrates that sexual satisfaction within committed relationships is a two-dimensional concept where personal and relational dimensions are interinfluential.

Examining the definitions of sexual satisfaction grouped under personal sexual well-being revealed pleasure as the main subtheme. Pleasure was usually intertwined with the most prevalent code grouped under dyadic processes: mutuality. The participants emphasized that satisfaction comes from mutual pleasure. These definitions emphasized the relevant role of orgasm for a sexually satisfying experience; however, the results also stress that mutual pleasure is more than simply the experience of simultaneous orgasm. Pleasure is a sexual motive (Meston & Buss, 2007) that has not been sufficiently clarified or defined in previous models of sexual satisfaction (e.g., Basson, 2000). Consistent with other researchers, we believe the concept of pleasure requires further clarification (Rye & Meaney, 2007), and its role in sexual satisfaction should be examined due to the relevance of sexual satisfaction for sexual health. Our participants’ definitions included aspects of the traditional model of sexual response (desire, arousal, and orgasm), but these codes were not used frequently by our participants. Furthermore, our results demonstrate that even though sexual functioning is part of sexual satisfaction for some participants, this should be seen from a dyadic process approach, as most definitions of sexual satisfaction stress the importance of pleasure, desire, and arousal as a mutual experience.

The World Health Organization (2010) emphasizes sexual health as a state of well-being. Similarly, our findings do not support the definition of sexual satisfaction as simply the absence of dysfunction or negative emotions. Under the main theme of dyadic processes, frequency of sexual activity was another important subtheme in participants’ definitions. Consistent with previous research (Higgins, Mullinax, Trussell, Davidson, & Moore, 2011; Smith et al., 2011), some men and women noted that frequent sexual activity was important to their sexual satisfaction. However, there was no mention by the current participants of concrete numbers to identify a satisfactory average frequency. According to our results, accomplishing a balance between one's own and one's partner's desired frequency of sexual frequency is necessary to achieve sexual satisfaction, rather than a specific number or regularity of sexual encounters.

Expression of feelings was not a common code, but its presence seems to support the literature that highlights sexual satisfaction as the barometer of relationship satisfaction (Sprecher & Cate, 2004). As discussed, participants’ most frequent themes were pleasure and mutuality, which were very often intertwined. Therefore we propose that for heterosexual people in an exclusive dyadic, cohabitating relationship the concept of sexual satisfaction could be defined as the emotional experience of frequent mutual sexual pleasure.

Existing models of sexual satisfaction are mainly derived from interpersonal exchange models. Within the subtheme of intimacy, our results indicated mutuality as a code of special relevance. This result is supportive of the social exchange theory and the role specified by Byers, Wang, Harvey, Wenzel, and Sprecher (2004) of the perceived balance between partner exchanges (i.e., mutuality) to achieve sexual satisfaction. The vast majority of the current participants’ sexual satisfaction definitions focused on the positive aspects of sexuality (e.g., pleasure, well-being); in other words, they focused on rewards rather than on the absence of negative aspects or sexual costs. These findings are partly supportive of social exchange models, but they seem to indicate that sexual satisfaction relates more to the presence of positive aspects of sexual experience (i.e., sexual rewards) than to the absence of negative aspects (i.e., sexual costs). Theoretical models and measures of sexual satisfaction seem to be more in accordance with people's meanings of sexual satisfaction if they focus on the positive aspects of sexual satisfaction. Our results also highlight some aspects that have not been consistently addressed in existing models and measures of sexual satisfaction, namely, the two codes under the subtheme ludic sexuality: creativity and acting out desires. These codes are not dependent on having a committed close relationship and may be one example of a dyadic process necessary for sexual satisfaction that is applicable to different types of dyads (e.g., dating and one-night stands).

Concerning the diversity of existing measures of sexual satisfaction, the overall finding of a two-dimensional definition of sexual satisfaction is consistent with a few operational definitions of sexual satisfaction used in prior research (e.g., Meston & Trapnell, 2005; Stulhofer et al., 2010). Our study revealed that both women's and men's meanings of sexual satisfaction are embedded in a net of relational (dyadic processes) and individual (personal sexual well-being) concepts, which reinforces the use of measures that focus on both individual and relational aspects of sexual satisfaction for both genders (e.g., Stulhofer et al., 2010). The inexistence of definitions that mention lack of dysfunction or relational conflict suggests that items addressing these issues may not be the most appropriate to assess sexual satisfaction. Measures that focus on the positive aspects of sexual satisfaction should be preferred for research purposes with nonclinical samples of heterosexual individuals in a dyadic exclusive relationship recruited from the community.

There were limitations of the present study. Our findings were based on a volunteer sample; thus, our study participants may have been more at ease with sexual topics than individuals who did not volunteer for our study. Also, the questions were preceded by a set of standardized questionnaires on sexual and relationship variables, which may have influenced the participants’ definitions of sexual satisfaction, leading to higher levels of sexual self-disclosure and sexual satisfaction. Our participants were all involved in exclusive, dyadic, committed relationships, which may explain the major focus on relational aspects. Sexual satisfaction may assume different meanings for individuals involved in other types of relationship structures or dynamics (e.g., friends with benefits or polyamory). Researchers should replicate the current findings in more heterogeneous samples. A major methodological shortcoming was that the analysis was conducted using written descriptions concerning the meaning of sexual satisfaction. This was a descriptive study, and we could not explore or deepen the meanings of particular words, synonyms, and expressions used to differentiate concepts that are semantically similar to one another. Neither could we understand the processes underlying and explaining the interrelations found and others that were not mentioned. Even though we used family systems theory as a theoretical framework, we did not study interdependence, which should be addressed in future studies with samples of individuals involved in close relationships. Future studies should also address the distinction between the features of sexual satisfaction and the processes involved in achieving sexual satisfaction. The roles of ludic sexuality, sexual self-confidence, and frequency of sexual activity in individuals’ sexual satisfaction should be studied in individuals in different types of relationship as well in as those not currently involved in a relationship.

By studying written definitions of sexual satisfaction by laypeople in the context of committed relationships, we hoped to open the door for future studies that might reveal more complex understandings of sexual satisfaction. Our participants’ definitions reflected key correlates of sexual satisfaction observed in quantitative studies, namely, sexual variables (frequency and functioning) (Smith et al., 2011; Stephenson & Meston, 2010) and relational variables (expression of feelings and intimacy) (Rubin & Campbell, 2012), but the current study has highlighted the interrelatedness of these concepts. Our study provides several modest contributions to the field of sexual satisfaction. A key finding from our study was that participants in our sample tended to define sexual satisfaction in ways that emphasized the presence of pleasure and mutuality, rather than the absence of sexual problems or dysfunction. This indicates that meanings of sexual satisfaction are more associated with positive outcomes and experiences during sexual activity than with the mere absence of sexual costs. This finding stresses the role of positive experiences and goes beyond the view that sexual satisfaction derives from experiencing problem-free sexual activity.

With regard to research with heterosexual samples in committed exclusive relationships, we believe our findings support (a) the definition of sexual satisfaction as a two-dimensional construct with a focus on personal sexual well-being and on dyadic processes, especially intimacy; (b) the theoretical framing of models that stress the role of sexual rewards; and (c) the use of measures of sexual satisfaction that focus on the positive aspects of sexuality rather than on the absence of sexual dysfunction, sexual problems, or relationship conflicts. The findings here suggest that to promote sexual satisfaction, for example, in clinical settings, attention should be given to aspects that are not directly linked to sexual functioning, such as a balance between the desired frequency of sexual activity, creativity, and intimacy. We believe that our findings have clinical implications, in line with Bancroft's (2002) notion that knowing the factors that heighten sexual satisfaction can enable more effective clinical responses to individuals with sexual problems. Overall, our study supports a sex-positive approach to sexual satisfaction as a springboard for future research on this topic.

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by a grant with the reference SFRH/BD/39934/2007 from the Foundation of Science and Technology. 

References are available at the Taylor and Francis site