Most people when starting nofap experience a certain glow (everything feels amazing, music sounds amazing, procrastination is non-existent, etc...) and many report it going away (links below). Many answers involved lots of unsupported theories and many individual attempts at sounding knowledgeable and profound (energy simply fluctuates in your life; you simply get used to having them and no longer notice them, etc...) but it seems no one had a definite yes or no answer. These "powers" are absolutely evident, both physically and psychologically. For example, many report (during days 7-14) very smooth and good looking skin, as what happens to women when they are at their most fertile moments during their cycles. Many report their eyes looking very awake and alive (definitely happened to me) with a certain darker outline (like very subtle make up). Many simply do MO or PMO once every 7-14 days to constantly experience these. I've done so, and had these "powers" for 8 months. Going on a streak of 92 days, they have gone, and don't appear 7-14 days after MOing. Is this what's considered a flatline? Do they come back? Any relevant information is welcome. https://www.reddit.com/r/NoFap/comments/1n9glh/will_my_superpowers_ever_come_back/ https://www.reddit.com/r/NoFap/comments/27r2fl/coming_back_to_nofap_and_recognizing_something/ https://www.reddit.com/r/NoFap/comments/33f2zr/how_to_get_superpowers_back/ https://www.reddit.com/r/NoFap/comments/3n2e92/possible_flatline_will_my_superpowers_come_back/ https://www.reddit.com/r/NoFap/comments/3iv149/why_do_nofaps_superpowers_disappear_after_a_while/ https://www.reddit.com/r/NoFap/comments/3wi5nb/why_does_superpowers_fade_away_after_sometimes/ https://www.reddit.com/r/NoFap/comments/2t5zvg/seasoned_streakers_after_the_initial_burst_of/
Most first time rebooters feel the so-called super powers during their first rebooting attempt, but part of this initial boost is due to the immediate euphoria they experience when they first learn about no fap and realize recovery is possible. So they make their first attempt, feeling great, motivated, energized, and on top of the world. Eventually, however, the urges come back, as they always do. Many, if not most addicts, succumb to the urges, and restart their euphoric commitment to recovery, and the process continues ad nauseam.
"Semen retention powers" are not a thing. They don't exist. You aren't going to become super confident and I'm an almost high state of happiness and all of those other things just by sitting around not masturbaiting or watching porn. The "powers" come from your own lifestyle changes. Meaning you actually have to change how you govern your lifestyle in order to feel that way. When you get over your shyness and such and start being more confident then you will suddenly feel great for a month or two because you're doing things you're generally not used to doing before, eventually you become used to being as confident as you are and so your "powers" slow down It's all about lifestyle changes
I agree. I think a decent portion of the "feel good" powers are psychological - which isn't necessarily a bad thing at times. I'd be very interested to see the science behind orgasm abstention. If someone has a useful article that goes into details about how your body handles no O, I'd really appreciate it if you sent it my way!
Your peak testosterone levels hit roughly a week after your last orgasm. That's what the "superpowers" are. You will eventually become numb to that change and it will become the new normal.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12659241?dopt=Abstract Like any scientific publication it requires skepticism, as we know there is a lot of junk science out there. It seems to line up though, and I have heard this for years in the bodybuilding community as well.
Thanks! I'll read that when I get the chance. And from personal experience that makes sense, I just didn't have the facts to back anything up. Now I might 8)
Semen retention doesn't have anything to do with it. Not a damn thing. I've had times when I were close to a month without orgasm and I didn't have any superpowers, and at other times I've had the superpowers just a day after orgasm. Also, if it were about the quantity of semen in your body, then everybody would feel down after orgasms, even if it was with a woman. Yet that doesn't happen. It's all about your mind, when you're all out of focus, not giving a fuck about anything, beating yourself up over your failures, giving up on life and just drifting with the wind, you're not really grounded and it shows in your state of mind. That draining feeling makes you feel helpless, mind in a fog, no energy or confidence. When you ground yourself, focus on what you want, and start actually working for what you want, all the energy and effort you put in reflects on your state of mind. You get out what you put in. As within, so without. The main mistake people make is expect to feel good first, and start putting effort in afterwards. It doesn't work like that, it's like expecting somebody to come knock on your door, offer you a job, pay you a month's work in advance, all before you ever put in a day's worth of work. It just ain't gonna happen, you put in the effort to go out, find a job, work hard for a month, and then you get paid. Same thing with everything in life. Don't expect everything to happen by itself, in fact don't expect anything at all to happen by itself. Everything has a price, if you want something, whatever it is, go put in the work and get it. You want to feel good, confident, active, energetic, go out and be all that, be active and act confident, energetic, and anything else you want to feel like, and before you'll know it, that's the way you're going to feel, and you'll be like "Woah, that wasn't so hard after all, I should have just gone ahead and done it long ago!". Cheers guys!
Pseudo-Science! All I know is...the deeper I drop into the single digit body fat territory...the more Women make their interest blatantly obvious. And all I can think about...and care about is...Food ! Oh the irony. Haha... You want TRUE 'Superpowers' ? Get Ripped ! It strengthens the Body...AND Mind.
Hey guess what, I do work out. Thanks for making false assumptions and trying to sound knowledgable. I still don't have those powers.
Workout ? Ripped ? Two different things, buddy ! Trying to sound knowledge ? Lol...I would actually have to care first. Just sayin.... P.S. I've been on both sides of the equation. 20+% body fat. And sub 8% body fat. And sub 8% feels superhuman. Most likely hormonal. Less Aromatase Enzyme hence less Test getting converted to Estrogen. So...when you get to the point of extreme vascularity & visible muscle striations...then come talk to me. I see 'Big' dudes in the gym all the time...but what good is it...if you're really just fat. Lean & Ripped is MUCH more impressive. And feels absolutely...Amazing. Always remember...ENJOY the process...the destination is just the icing on the cake. Cheers !
The powers are nothing to do with semen retention. Neither are they a mystical/superhuman state to be obtained or, for that matter, lost. They were in us all along, and always will be. It's just life without self-loathing, confusion and the sliding feeling that everyone you meet is going to figure out your search history. The powers is basically the fist time in our adult lives that we walk into a room relaxed, feeling tall, and look people in the eye as an equal. People like confidence and are drawn to it. It feels like superpowers because we remember how bad things were. It feels like magic, but that's just an illusion. It seems to pass after a couple of months, but that's just another illusion. What happens is that feeling good about yourself - and other people reacting positively - becomes the new normal. You no longer feel like superman, just a regular guy in a world that's a far happier place than it used to appear. (When you change how you feel about yourself you change the entire universe, because your perceptions filter everything.) You feel it stronger on your first real reboot, because there is a more stark contrast to the time in the abyss. It's like how the sunrise feels so bright because it was recently dark.
Then explain how I went more than 90 days binging again everyday for hours on porn and purposely went back to playing video games after a year of being clean, and yet once I abstained after all that I did not feel any different. It was pretty dark there, but no sunrise afterwards. How's your simile-dependent claim holding up now?
You didn't feel 'the powers' at all during a year clean? (Sorry, but I don't understand how video games fit into this.) Nothing is guaranteed. Maybe you hadn't been using porn long enough to feel low enough that you noticed a difference. Maybe you went into the whole porn addiction thing with more social skills and higher self-esteem so you didn't notice a change when you quit. Or perhaps you quit but still felt depressed. (Hope for your sake this isn't the case.) I still think powers are a relative concept - it's about feeling better than you were before. If you felt good before rebooting, or feel bad afterwards, you probably won't experience them.
I think the euphoria that we addicts feel quitting everytime plays into it, every quit feels like a fresh lease on life. Other than that, I agree with wabi that we simply get used to the powers and they become the new normal. After relapsing I feel like shit, and when I binge for weeks/months, the shit feeling becomes the new normal and so when I quit the fresh start feeling feels like powers again and the cycle goes on and on and....
I don't really post here anymore, but I pop in occasionally out of curiosity to see what kind of comments are being espoused. This thread caught my eye immediately because of the semen retention topic. I have nothing to add to the discussion, my response just mirrors what has already been said. I just wanted to say however that I'm glad to read such responses. I really hate seeing BS perpetuated.
