Athletes were required to arrive in Olympia one month before the games in order to train under the supervision of the judges. They were also required to arrive early to prove that they had been training for the previous 10 months. Persons who had violated the sacred truce were also forbidden to participate in the games. Since athletes were held in such high esteem their lifestyle had to reflect it. Athletes were restricted to all things that men like to indulge in.
Some examples are lack of participation in wine and desserts and refraining from sex.
In fact it was believed that participation in sex left men weak. Furthermore, the training schedule of Olympic athletes was so rigorous that they were limited to the amount of food, leisure time, and social events. This often caused some people to pity athletes because they could not partake in the normal pleasures of life. Converse to the attitude of pity that some may have had during training. There was no indication of that pity when the athletes won the Olympic games.