IS IT REALLY NECESSARY TO WEAR A JOCKSTRAP, SUPPORTER OR LANGOT WHEN LIFTING WEIGHTS?

If you are a gym-goer you might have been told to wear supporters while exercising.  Male gym goers usually keep supporters for extra protection, and if you ask them what type of protection it will provide you, you will find their answer in this way….. 

1.  It maintains your testosterone level. It protects your balls from any injury and maintains their shape.
2. It saves you from an abdominal wall injury.
3. It prevents inguinal hernia or ventral hernia. It is not really required, even during a bit of heavy lifting.
4. It prevents hydrocele (filling of water in testes). 
5. Someone may also say that you will never be able to beget children.

ARE THESE STATEMENTS TRUE?

My Answer – No: Even in most of the cases, the result is negative

1 It maintains your testosterone level. It protects your balls from any injury and maintains their shape.

• It maintains your testosterone level: Researchers saw a 50% decrease in testosterone levels in rats in a trial where the testes were heated to 43 degrees for 15 minutes. Wearing particularly tight clothing or pants for an extended period of time might cause your testicles to press against your body, gradually raising its temperature and potentially lowering your sperm count.Those who ride horses are typically very tight in the scrotum, which causes issues with their testosterone levels.
• Maintain shape. :  During winters, your scrotum (pouch that carries testicles) tightens up and gets close to the body, whereas, during summers, it gets loose and hangs. This mechanism of the body takes place in order to maintain the required temperature for the testicles in the scrotum.

So there is no direct relation between jockstrap or supporter and testosterone levels, even though it has more negative effects.

2 Abdominal injuries:  Any kind of injury that involves the abdomen — or belly — and can affect the organs in the abdomen, like the liver, spleen, kidney and the small or large intestines. Can be caused by both penetrating and blunt forces.

• Abdominal region, /Regio abdominis:  The abdominal wall surrounds the abdominal cavity, providing it with flexible coverage and protecting the internal organs from damage.
• An abdominal wall formed of skin, fascia, and muscle encases the abdominal cavity and viscera

So there is no direct relation between jockstrap/supporter and Abdominal injuries

3 It prevents inguinal hernia or ventral hernia. It is not really required, even during a bit of heavy lifting.

•  An inguinal hernia occurs when tissue, such as part of the intestine, protrudes through a weak spot in the abdominal muscles. The resulting bulge can be painful, especially when you cough, bend over or lift a heavy object.
• Traumatic abdominal wall hernia (TAWH)/ ventral hernia:  is a rare type of hernia. It may develop as a defect at birth, resulting from incomplete closure of part of the abdominal wall, or develop where an incision was made during an abdominal surgery, occurring when the incision doesn’t heal properly. Incisional hernias can develop soon after surgery or many years later.

So there is no direct relation between jockstrap/supporter and hernia

4 It prevents hydrocele : A hydrocele can form due to an injury. Or it can form because of a type of swelling, called inflammation, within the scrotum. Inflammation might be caused by an infection in the testicle or in the small, coiled tube at the back of each testicle

So there is no direct relation between jockstrap/supporter and hydrocele

 5  Someone may also say that you will never be able to beget children : The above-fifth one is a misleading and horrendous claim. It is like bamboozling someone.

Take- away Point :

A supporter, langot, and jockstrap in most cases, is a useless piece of cloth and has no place during your training session. You can wear normal underwear while exercising instead of buying a supporter.

Jockstrap : A jockstrap is an undergarment made to support the genitals during sports or any other vigorous physical activity in which your testes are prone to risk. The jockstrap is just like any other brief/undergarment with extra supporting features like an elastic waistband with a pouch to bear the male organ, attached beneath the pouch are two elastic straps that are connected to right and left side of the waistband band at the hip. The jockstrap was invented by a Chicago sporting goods company, Sharp & Smith in 1874. The word jockstrap if broken down is likely a contraction of “jockey strap”, Jockey meaning “rider”, it was first designed for bicycle-riding messengers and deliverymen.

Langot : It is indigenous under wear / under supporter, worn as an inner wear by the men in this part of the world

Like and share : but don’t copy like thieves. We spend a lot of time writing a blog

Author: Master Vikrant RohinMaster Vikrant Rohin is an international author, and more than four countries’ schools are using his books in the core curriculum of education. He is the author of twenty different subject books. History, Economics, Chemistry, Physics, English, Biology, Geography etc. Most of his students hold high-ranking positions in the public and private sectors. He has cracked the world’s toughest exam, the "Civil Services Examination (UPSC)," eight times. Always a topper in academics, he was also a top-class sportsman, a state boxer, and a basketball player.