Normal Sperm in the BBC
Sore Testicles
Why Cyclists Should Wear Black Shorts
“Oh dear!”, I thought, when I read this article on the BBC news today….
Read the article. Apparently…
“The Spanish study of top triathletes found those who cover more than 186 miles (300km) a week on their bikes have less than 4% normal looking sperm.”
Well I do a bit less than that, so naturally, I thought,
What is the normal amount of good sperms in my jism?
…..as you do, if you’re a bloke, which I am….
A Sperm
Fortunately, the article tells you, a bit lower down. And it’s at this point, that you become shockingly aware of the piss-poor science and piss-poor interpretive reporting going on….
How so?
Quite simple, really. They’ve completely buggered up any normal definition of the word,
NORMAL
What the article says is that if you are really fit, your good jism count goes down to ~5%. This means 1 in 20 sperms are duff! So for an elite cyclist, normally, most of their sperms are bad.
Come, Come. You Can’t be Serious!
However, if you are a “normal” bloke, the “normal” amount of fit and healthy sperms is…wait for it… it’s coming…here it is…aaaahhhhh!
15-20%
So in other words, most men’s sperm is 80% duff. Only 1 in 5 are good! So for a non-cyclist, normally, most of their sperms are bad. Exactly the same.
What Is Normal?
Born in 1972 in Uccle, Belgium, Axel is the son of five-time Tour de France champion Eddy Merckx.
This is my point. It’s normal to have most of my sperm completely incapable of fulfilling their duty. A fit, elite, cyclist, by definition, is continuously stressing their body beyond it’s limits, and when the body is stressed it’s secondary functions are put into standby. It’s the same for women.
The point is the poor use of words. In the article, the phrase abnormal sperm is used to describe poor viability sperm. However, most sperm has poor viability!
So poor quality sperm is not abnormal – it’s normal! It’s the good sperm that’s abnormal, so please get it right!
As an aside, we’ve evolved to have a proponderence of ‘inferior’ sperm. They are actually necessary to our survival. Their function is manifold – from the physical one of blocking the passage of later sperm to promote the success of the first individual’s mating, to providing the correct chemical environment for the passge of the more viable sperms. There is a chemical and biological arms race going on at the microscopic level, about which we are only now just becoming aware. It’s been happening for a billion years and no doubt will continue for a lot longer…
Research
Chris Boardman and his Son
The Spanish team has just looked at the jism. They intend to do further research. Might I suggest they do a statistical analysis of the fecundity of former professional cyclists as a starting point. Start with “The Animal”, Eddy Merckx and his son Axel. Then go and chat to Chris Boardman and his son and Bernard Hinault and his. Go and see the cycling daughter of Britain’s greatest ever cyclist, Beryl Burton.
These people were at the very, very, top of their sport for years and had children. There are many more like them. Nuff said.
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