The blood level of testosterone can affect directly the physical power of an athlete. Today, the techniques of contest are more and more complete. For getting good results in competition, some athletes used testosterone regardless of the side-effect harmful to their health and violating the principles stipulated by the Committee of International Olympic Game and other organizations in the world.
The purpose of this study is to investigate the possibility of increasing the testosterone levels and enhancing the physical powers by doing exercise of Qigong. Subjects were the professional Wu Shu sportsmen in our college, their averaged age was 20.3±1.2. They did the exercise, Qian Kun Wu Yi Gong, twice a day, 45 minutes per time, the period lasted 62 days. The testosterone levels were tested by radioimmunoassay using the reagent, provided by Li Ke Biological Company Tian Jin, and the r counter of FJ -2008 type before and after the exercise. Four athletic indexes which can reflect the status of physical power, sit-up, pull-up, standing long jump and 60-M sprint were observed at the same time. The results showed that all indexes ere increased except the 60-M sprint compared with those before exercise. The testosterone levels were enhanced by 130.138±95.138 (ng/dL), the sit-up by 3.5±1.3 (times10'), standing long jump by 0.201±O.083 (M), pull-up by 5.813±2.455 (times), 60-M sprint reduced by 0.3744±O.1847 (seconds). Statistically, all values of P were less than 0.005. There are positive correlation between the testosterone level and the athletic indexes except the 60-M sprint, which had negative correlation with the level, all interrelated indexes (r) had statistical significance (P less than 0.01).
The results indicated that the Qigong, which invigorates Yang and the function of kidney, could increase the level of testosterone and physical power in sports-men who did the exercises. It is known that the testosterone can improve the synthesis of protein and the growth of tissue, make the muscle stronger and enhance its speed and power when it contracts. It also can make the structure of skeleton more suitable to athletics. But why can Qigong increase the level of testosterone? According to the theory of Qigong, adjusting the status of mind is the main content of Qigong. The axis of hypothalamus-hypophysis-gonad might be responsible for the results, but the details of its mechanism remain unknown.
