Spermmaxxing, debunked (ish)

Hello everyone, happy Friday!

Today we are taking a delightful detour into the world of spermmaxxing. I went deep so that you don’t have to (my eyes will never be the same).

For those of you over the age of 25, “maxxing” is internet shorthand for taking an activity and optimizing relentlessly. Perhaps most famous of all is looksmaxxing (hello Clavicular), but there is also gymmaxxing, moodmaxxing… I spent my morning in my inbox so presumably I am emailmaxxing.

Spermmaxxing describes the relentless focus on optimising one’s sperm. Spermmaxxers are a niche and novel subsegment of ‘Nutmaxxers’. Nutmaxxers (who call their craft ‘loadmaxxing’) are singularly obsessed with increasing their semen volume. The internet tells me that they are absolutely not to be confused with spermmaxxers. Nutmaxxers could have a sperm count of 1 and wouldn’t care. Spermmaxxers would keel over before doing anything that might compromise a sperm cell.

If you are feeling numb right around now, great. We’re just getting started.

Spermmaxxing is a little… much. But here’s what we love about it at Béa: it is a group of men taking loud, proud responsibility for their part in the fertility journey. They are sharing the proverbial load (sorry), and this is something that everyone, everywhere should be celebrating. What we must celebrate less, however, is the frankly wild misinformation going about around sperm, and how to ‘maxx’ it.

I found 4 trends that spermmaxxers swear by that are… interesting. None of it is fatally harmful (to the guy doing it, or for that matter, to the sperm), but some of it might have relationship consequences. Let’s dive in.

1. Testicular ice baths 🧊

Yes, you heard that right. A common spermmaxxing technique is dipping one’s testicles into ice water to optimize scrotal temperature. Now, this is actually grounded in evidence: sperm production requires temperatures a couple of degrees cooler than core body temperature, which is why the scrotum exists outside the body in the first place. There is a lot of data suggesting elevated scrotal heat impairs sperm motility, so keeping testes tepid is legit. It is the ‘maxx’ part of spermmaxxing that dictates we must aggressively dunk them in ice water, which (shock), is not good for sperm. If you are committed to the thermal approach, step one is to avoid saunas, wear loose underwear, and don’t put laptops on your lap, but honestly, you don’t have to go too wild here, as the data only shows mild improvements in fertility. If you really, really want to freeze your balls, I am delighted to report there is a company called Snowballs that makes cooling underwear specifically for this purpose.

2. Raw garlic.

Many spermmaxxers recommend eating raw garlic in doses that would clear a room... The theory involves allicin and its antioxidant properties. Some animal studies have reported that garlic improves male sexual function and has beneficial effect in the recovery of testicular functions. However, other studies have shown that garlic impairs testicular functions and has spermicidal effect. In humans the data is nonexistent. Whether this creates favourable conditions for conception is, I will say, debatable. I think we can leave this one for now.

3. Celery.

This tip is apparently only shared in the deeper chambers of the spermmaxxing world. One creator promised his tips on spermmaxxing could produce a Supersoaker effect, and then, straight-faced, recommended eating a bunch of raw celery 3 days before ejaculation. He prefaced this advice with: “I have no idea why this works, it just works every time.” 🫠 The evidence for celery specifically is completely nonexistent. There is some theory around apigenin, a compound found in celery, having antioxidant effects that may in theory support sperm quality. Theory and supersoak are not the same sentence.

4. Bryan Johnson. The spermmaxxer’s maxxer.

Bryan is a tech billionaire who made not dying his full-time job. He has now turned his attention to his sperm. He claims his concentration and count are 4x times the WHO average, and most recently, that he has reduced the microplastics in his semen to zero. His full protocol is here if you’d like to go down that rabbit hole. I will say that the science around microplastics and male fertility is actually worth paying attention to, even if the messenger is, well, Bryan Johnson.

I couldn’t take anymore at this point so that’s all I’ve got for you.

If you are truly curious about how to improve sperm health but don’t want to eat raw garlic and buy a testicle bath, here’s what you can do:

1. The basics. Sleep well, exercise, eat a Mediterranean-leaning diet heavy on whole, unprocessed foods, avoid prolonged heat to the groin area. Laptops off the lap. Tight underwear off and loose boxers on. Avoid hot tubs and saunas. Reduce alcohol. Don’t smoke. If you want a visual aid to this basic advice, there is an unhinged NU Health video featuring a skeleton with testicles dieting, running and quitting smoking that must be seen to be believed. Watch it here.
   

2. Test your semen. You cannot spermmaxx your way out of an unknown problem, so test and get your semen parameters first. Fellow, Legacy, and ExSeed all offer at-home semen analysis that will give you actual data about what is happening. Start there, then decide what to optimise.
   

3. Watch the testosterone. A lot more men are on T than ever before, and this is something we need to say loudly: testosterone therapy essentially switches sperm production off. It is, functionally, male contraception. Talk to a doctor about easing off T before starting to conceive. There is enough T in TTC as it is.

Spermmaxxing complete. I hope you are all doing some serious weekendmaxxing very shortly.

Take care of yourself this weekend.

Warmly,

Tess,

Co-Founder & CEO