Scientists have revealed controversial findings from a UK Sport study that suggests watching erotic and aggressive videos can boost a rugby player's physical performance.
The Times reports that a recent experiment, "involving 12 professionals from a top English rugby union team", found that when players were shown a four-minute clip of either exotic dancing or an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) contest, they experienced a peak in testosterone levels and their power output rose in strength-conditioning exercises.
The newspaper adds that the study, due to be published in the journal Hormones and Behaviour, reflects current coaching methods with such "motivational" videos already used by some clubs as part of their training and preparation.
Scott Drawer, head of research at UK Sport, told the newspaper: "Rugby is a naturally combative sport and putting yourself in an aggressive frame of mind is quite important to how you perform."
Samples of saliva from the players revealed significant increases in testosterone levels after watching the erotic, humorous, aggressive and training videos compared to when they watched the sad or control clips.
Christian Cook, a sports scientist at Imperial College London, commented: "Testosterone is a feel-good hormone and most people perceive this and perhaps perform better because they feel better."
England forward James Haskell revealed during the recent Rugby World Cup that he and fellow squad members Lee Mears, Matt Stevens, Nick Easter and Alex Corbisiero were fans of UFC and described watching the sport as "a nice way to relax".