Part support group, part sharing circle, the r/Semenretention subreddit is a 139,000-strong community of cis guys all dedicated to not getting off. A median day might see posts starting from Notes app screenshots of suggestions for “defeating the demon of lust”, to urgent, typo-filled questions on learn how to maintain a streak. But what’s semen retention? And why are men swearing off orgasm?

Contrary to the voluntary celibacy movement taking hold amongst young women and queer people on TikTok, the members of the r/Semenretention online community aren’t abstaining from sex, per se – it’s specifically about not ejaculating. The movement has been around for some time – the subreddit launched in 2014 – and, away from Reddit, even has some celebrity followers, with rappers NLE Choppa and Joey Bada$ each dedicated to the cause. 

Dave* is a private trainer who has engaged in stints of semen retention for the past seven years. He claims that when he goes through periods of abstaining from ejaculating, he feels emotionally stronger and more empowered. “Maintaining your sexual charge, your sexual energy is the way you increase your presence, your aura, your power, your mental clarity,” he tells Dazed. Hearing him discuss his journey with semen retention makes it sound form of transcendent – and actually, he credits it with a spiritual awakening of sorts. “Semen retention is pure alchemy,” he explains. “It makes you realise that there are multiple dimensions on this reality. It’s not purely physical, you understand that there are things which can be unseen around you that affect your aura.” 

Comments like these are echoed throughout the semen retention community, and it’s this spiritual aspect that marks semen retention as different from other cis male-centred abstinence movements equivalent to NoFap, which inspires individuals to avoid masturbation and watching porn. Those that engage in semen retention discuss their cum as a “life force”. This type of rhetoric goes back to Taoist beliefs, where semen comprises jing – your bodily essence. Jing is vital because it might probably then be called on to rework into qi (energy), which then, in turn, stimulates shen (the spirit). Consequently, Taoist sexual practices recommend controlling or completely avoiding ejaculation in order to preserve jing, which appears to feed into among the pondering behind the contemporary cult of not coming.

But there’s also the concept of sexual transmutation or sexual alchemy – the concept that sexual energy can be creative energy and that in the event you learn to harness that, you’ll be able to channel it into different areas of your life equivalent to your profession, your relationship or achieving your goals. That is what the leadership coach Nakula Das has specialised in for the past three years. “I’d been a coach and trainer mainly helping people generate sales and be higher communicators,” he says. “Once I combined [this coaching] with sexual alchemy, it really magnified the outcomes I used to be capable of get in the boys I’m working with; they felt more free of their sexuality, more motivation and greater clarity of mind, focus and determination.”

Das himself adheres to a type of semen retention but, provided that he’s married, doesn’t forgo sex altogether. “It’s not that I never ejaculate, I regulate it, and limit my sexual intercourse to partnered sex with my wife,” he says. “With meditation, breathwork and muscle control, I’m capable of have non-ejaculatory sex which allows me to practice semen retention.” He claims that not ejaculating is definitely a help, not a hindrance, to sexual pleasure. 

“One among the things which draw men to this practice is premature ejaculation and being unable to last long within the bedroom,” he continues. “Through [non-ejaculatory sex] they will last for hours within the bedroom and show up as a more present and empowered partner.” This approach to sex attempts to keep up the plateau stage – after initial arousal, when the penis is fully erect – for so long as possible and avoid orgasm. You may try to remain within the plateau stage through controlled respiration, taking breaks each time you think that you’re near climax and interesting within the slow, lingering touch related to tantric sex. 

All of it sounds great, especially whenever you add within the indisputable fact that plenty of people that subscribe to semen retention talk of physical advantages along with spiritual ones: higher performance on the gym, more energy, sharper focus. But how credible are these claims? Gigi Engle, ACS, an authorized sex educator and resident intimacy expert at 3Fun, has her doubts. “The only advantages to avoiding ejaculation are for individuals who may cope with delayed ejaculation – but this is just clinically seen, not study-approved,” she says. “There aren’t any real health advantages to avoiding ejaculation, the concept that semen retention is sweet for you comes from myths around masturbation as being ‘self-polluting’ and misguided Reddit threads.”

A part of the rationale why advocates claim semen retention is useful is to do with the concept that whenever you ejaculate, you release testosterone, a hormone linked to higher energy and denser muscle mass. It’s an concept that goes back to Ancient Rome, once they believed that lack of semen may lead to lack of physical vigour and mental acuity, and might still be found today amongst athletes like footballers, who are sometimes banned from having sex during tournaments. Although apparently nobody told the Olympians – condoms are in such high demand that past games have run out of protection, and in Tokyo athletes got 14 free condoms each (160,000 in total). 

Nevertheless, experts suggest that ejaculating will only cause a short-term dip in T levels, which then return to normal over time. And although a 2003 study claimed that men who didn’t ejaculate for seven days greater than doubled their testosterone levels, this was retracted in 2021. One other oft-mentioned claim is that whenever you ejaculate, you deplete your body of the minerals and proteins present in semen – which results in further arguments that abstaining keeps you stronger and healthier. This, nonetheless, overlooks an easy fact: the typical semen discharge is just between 1.5ml and 5ml, not exactly enough to cause you any great dietary deficiency.

Long story short, avoiding ejaculation shouldn’t necessarily result in the physical transformations individuals are claiming it does. In reality, avoiding ejaculation can lead you to lose out on some health advantages. Did you already know that research recommends that if you may have a penis, you ejaculate at the very least 21 times a month? Orgasms have many health advantages, scientists found that climaxing led to a reduced risk of prostate cancer. Ejaculation also results in the discharge of oxytocin, which decreases the stress hormone cortisol, and has also been tied to a lower probability of dying from heart disease. 

So, what do the semen retention fans consider these findings? Dave isn’t convinced. “There are zero negatives about semen retention, I’ve got to get that out of individuals’s heads. There’s quite a lot of misinformation on this topic,” he says. For him it’s about trusting his own body slightly than what any scientific or medical skilled might claim. “I even have real life experience of this. Not only me but tons of my individuals who retain [semen] see the ability, see the poise, see the influence through your vibration and your presence. There’s zero negatives, none.”

But as Dave continues talking on the topic, he starts to edge towards language that sounds not too dissimilar to conspiracy theory-speak. He claims that any research contradicting semen retention advantages is “pseudo-science” which is “funded by the very individuals who wish to destroy us”. Shortly after, he broaches one other topic: his belief that the sex industry is getting used to weaken men’s role in society. “The rationale why you see such a distinguished increase in porn and OnlyFans and all this bullshit is to be sure that that men are releasing their sexual energy,” he says. “Porn isn’t targeted at women, it’s targeted at men. Why? Because in the event you keep men weak you create a weak world. Weak men aren’t going to guide, they’re not going to create a robust aura so their kids have something to look as much as.” 

Running underneath among the community’s more spiritual leanings is a desire to bolster traditional gender roles of a robust, stoic masculinity – even when this time man is unencumbered by sexual urges. Porn performers, sex staff and girls who express their sexuality, however, are stigmatised as harmful and unhealthy. As Engle puts it; “Once we buy into these ideas, we’re giving into messages of shame and sex negativity.”

That’s to not say that semen retention is intrinsically sex-negative. For a lot of, semen retention is a component of their spiritual or cultural practice, or their very own inner journey. But among the rhetoric across the movement does reinforce harmful gender stereotypes while the claims being made about physical improvements are likely psychological. For Das, that is what semen retention is all about: not necessarily a miracle cure but a tool, like meditation, which might be used as a part of a journey towards self-mastery and self-knowledge. “It’s really about bringing awareness around sexual energy and the way it influences our behaviour and energies,” he explains. 

Unlike Das, Engle makes it clear she doesn’t wish to encourage movements like NoFap and semen retention. But for anyone seeking to experiment with sex breaks or types of abstinence within the hopes of emotional growth, she recommends starting the journey with an awareness of what you’re doing and why. “You get to make your personal decisions about your sexual wellbeing,” she says. Ultimately, whatever other people’s thoughts on semen retention or types of celibacy, it’s crucial that you’re making the choices you intend to make and aren’t being influenced by outside aspects – be they from society or social media. “What’s needed is information and thoughtful decision-making,” Engle concludes.

Join Dazed Club and be a part of our world! You get exclusive access to events, parties, festivals and our editors, in addition to a free subscription to Dazed for a yr. Join for £5/month today.