Active singles: do sports fans have bigger libidos?

In honour of 2016’s athletic August, we decided to investigate whether sports can affect your love-life. After studying data from 33,000 Canadian singles, we found something interesting: it appears that liking sports (even just on TV) goes hand in hand with a high libido!

The facts about sporty, active singles:

On average, singles who like sports have far higher libidos than singles who don’t
Libidos are raised whether playing sports – or just watching them!
Sporty singles also feel sexier: but are pickier when selecting a partner
The sexiest sport of all – according to Canadians – is swimming
Canada’s sexiest athletes of 2016 are Jacqueline Simoneau and Ashton Baumann

Getting in the mood: sports fans have big libidos

Can sports be an aphrodisiac? Or is it simply that those with larger libidos also like sports? Either way, one thing is for certain: Canadians who love sports have a much higher sexual appetite than those who don’t!

Indeed, according to the study, a massive 83% of active singles who love exercising and fitness also claim to have ‘a strong desire for sex’ – whereas just 57% of singles who don’t who don’t exercise can say the same. But, what’s really interesting is that you don’t necessarily have to be doing the sport yourself to enjoy a high libido.

In fact, the numbers are somewhat similar: 83% of those who love watching sports events on TV also claim a strong desire for sex. In comparision, just 74% those who actively don’t like to watch have the same desires. In other words, whether you participate – or just like to watch – being a sporty single can go hand in hand with a strident sex drive.

Read more: do libido levels matter? We investigated whether you can have love without sex

Sports lovers are sexy – and also picky!

Along with their lusty libidos, sports lovers can boast high levels of self-assurance: 76% of those who exercise describe themselves as ‘sexy.’ Meanwhile, just 45% of those who don’t exercise would refer to themselves in the same way.

Once again, this is an area where the sports watchers are keeping pace with the sports doers: 73% of those who love televised sports see themselves as sexy, while just 65% of those who don’t watch would be comfortable using the same term. Evidently, loving sports, whether as participant or fan, is the best way to ensure a fun summer between the sheets…

Of course, there is a catch: this increased self-assurance goes hand-in-hand with increased pickiness about a partner’s looks. Indeed, the more people love sports, the more physical attraction is an important factor in their search for a spouse: 79% of sporty singles and 76% of TV watchers cite physical attractiveness as an important quality in a partner, compared with just 54% of non-exercisers and 71% of TV haters.

Read more: it’s not just sports! In fact, our Canadian members also think reading is sexy!

The sexiest sports in Canada (and the not-so-sexy)

So, sports lovers are sexy, but which sport is sexiest of them all? For Canadian singles, there’s no contest – in a complementary study, those surveyed revealed that swimming is #1 in the sexy stakes (we can only guess at whether or not Speedos have something to do with that outcome!). Other top contenders included diving, synchronized swimming and rowing: clearly Canadians like their athletes to be near water.

The complementary study also revealed the sports that are less swoon-worthy and, unfortunately, it’s bad news for weight-lifters. While their sport may be extremely impressive, Canadians just don’t find it sexy – weight-lifting edged out boxing and wrestling to win the ‘least sexy’ crown.

Read more: so which sports fans are the sexiest? Our study results might shock you…

The sexiest active singles in Canada

As well as looking at sexy sports in general, the complementary study asked Canadians in the survey to pick their favourite active singles: choosing both the sexiest Canadian athletes of all time and the best of 2016. For the latter, those surveyed again went for swimmers: the sexiest man of 2016 is breast-stroke champion Ashton Baumann, while the sexiest women of 2016 is synchronized swimmer Jacqueline Simoneau.

So, again, there might be something in the water. Then again, it could be to do with family genetics – when it came time to pick the all-time sexiest sporty Canadians, the sexiest man turned out to be Ashton Baumann’s father, gold medal winning swimmer Alex Baumann! He was joined on the podium by the sexiest woman, gold medal winning rower Kathleen Heddle.

Do you want to meet athletic, active singles? Many of our members are into sports and are looking for love – join them today!

EliteSingles Editorial, July 2016

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