Is Sex Considered Exercise?

We’ve heard about the health benefits of sex. How it can help you mentally and physically, it can also help keep you feeling younger. We’ve heard the same things about exercise. Would these two great tastes taste great together? Can sex be considered exercise? For those of you who have had an all out sweaty session of hot sex, you’re probably nodding your head right now. Sex can take lots of energy if you’re using different positions and giving it all you’ve got. Regular exercise has been known to improve your sex life too. But as for actually scientifically proven exercise, there are certain factors to consider before you sexy time can be thought of as exercise.

How Many Calories Does Sex Burn

A recent study published in the journal PLOS ONE took 21 couples in their early 20’s and measured their energy expenditure with armbands while they did moderate exercise on a treadmill. After they had done 30 minutes on the treadmill, they were then asked to wear the armbands while having sex once a week over the course of a month. The couples averaged about 25 minutes each sexy time session. The findings were very interesting. After moderate jogging on the treadmill men burned 276 calories (about 9 calories a minute) and women burned 213 calories (about 7 calories a minute). They also measure 8.5 METS for men and 8.4 METS for women. METS are metabolic equivalent of task; this translates as the energy cost of physical activities. If you consider the rate of METs being 1 for sitting quietly (I’m using 1.5 sitting while using the computer) and jogging 6mph or bicycling around 15mph is a 10, this 8/5 average METS for jogging lightly falls into place. During sex, however, men burned 100 calories (about 4 calories a minute) and women about 72 calories about 3 calories a minute).  That’s only 6 METS for men and 5.5 METs for women. Researchers were surprised to find the numbers high during sex but the couples in the study found the jogging required much more exertion than sex and seemed like much harder work. Does this qualify sex as equivalent in exercise to light jogging? Not so much.

10 Health Benefits of Masturbation

Sex in general has many health benefits and solo sex has many benefits you may not be aware of. Masturbation can contribute to a happier, healthier, and sexier you. You get more than just some sexy time with yourself; you take steps to improve your health in many ways. Not everyone may feel some of these benefits but when all you need to do is pleasure yourself, it doesn’t hurt to try. The key to many of these is masturbating regularly. Some readers may not need much prompting for daily self-pleasure but others just may not be feeling the need to practice that often. Do what feels right when it comes to feeling good, so how often is up to you. No matter which way or how frequent you decide to get off; here are some of the benefits we get from masturbation.

1. Better Mental Health

Orgasms release dopamine and oxytocin that bring on a euphoric feeling. These neurochemicals help improve our overall feeling of well-being and help improve our mood. Masturbation can help to reduce the symptoms of depression. It can improve self-esteem and help us to feel better about ourselves overall.

2. Helps You Fall Asleep

Neurochemicals released by orgasms help you to relax along with lowering your blood pressure. These neurochemicals relax your muscles and the oxytocin released is a natural pain reliever. All together it helps you to relax while working to soothe any aches and pains. This helps you to fall asleep faster and easier.

3. Relieves Cramps

Orgasms help increase blood flow to and in the pelvic region. This increased blood flow can really help alleviate those annoying cramps most women get during their period. Add the same pain relieving benefits of oxytocin and the relaxation of muscles, which also helps you go to sleep, to the increased blood flow and you’ve found a great way to minimize cramps.

Masturbation Tips: For Men and Women

One would think that masturbation would come naturally, that we would do it easily and often. Unfortunately, most of us were taught masturbation is bad when we were young. Many others were simply not told about it at all. Self-pleasure is something our bodies don’t always figure out on their own. If you haven’t spent a whole lot of time exploring your body or getting to know what types of pleasure you enjoy, you may not know what really rings your bell when it comes to masturbation. You might be using the same technique your whole life a “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.” kind of way. These tips might help you get started if you haven’t explored much or give you something you may never have thought to try. They’re useful to all genders and orientations, so pick and choose what you like.

How We Work

Your body responds to both touch and pressure. There are well known highly sensitive areas like the clitoris for women and the frenulum for men, but there are many other areas that can be stimulated during masturbation. The clitoris has an external nub (glans) and extends into your body cradling the urethra and vagina. It is estimated there are about 8,000 nerve endings in the glans alone. The urethral sponge (area between the clitoris nub and the vagina) and the perineal sponge (area between the vagina and the anus) are sensitive to touch and pressure. Basically you have the entire area from your pubis to your anus as a self-pleasure playground. Clitoral stimulation may be your go-to way to get off but don’t forget these other areas. The penis is most sensitive at the glans (the head of the penis), particularly underneath at the area called the frenulum, but also along the underside of the shaft. The frenulum has just as many nerve endings as the clitoris. The penis is not the only area that feels good, pay some attention to the testicles and the perineum (area between the anus and testicles) and don’t forget the anus, which has many nerve endings. Anal play and fingering can add so much more to the experience.

Kegels and Kegel Balls - Exercise With Sexy Benefits

Kegels, or Kegel exercises, were something I had heard about often over the many years since my sexual maturity but only in terms of incontinence and post pregnancy recovery. It would show up in women’s magazines and only occasionally would it mention how it could also improve your sex life. That has changed quite a bit over the decades since then. It almost seems like a role reversal, articles talk about the sex benefits first then throw in the post pregnancy/incontinence stuff as a bonus. While Kegel exercises may be known to many women (but not all I’m sure) Kegel balls or other Kegel specific toys can still be a mystery. Let’s learn about the muscles, the exercise and the equipment.

Icicles No.41 Small Glass Ben-Wa Balls

Important Muscles

Kegel exercises work on the pelvic floor muscles. The Pubucoccygeus, or PC muscles, are muscles that stretch from the pubic bone to the coccyx (tail bone) like a hammock that supports the pelvic organs. They are found in both men and women. In 1948, the gynecologist Arnold Kegel was the first to realize that the weakened pelvic floor muscles were linked to urinary incontinence (inability to control urination), genital prolapse (collapse of the vagina wall) and weakened pelvic muscles due to childbirth. He also developed the perineometer to measure the strength of PC muscle contractions to help diagnose weakened muscles. He then developed exercises to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles. Now known as Kegel Exercises, they consist of contractions that strengthen this muscle. In women, Kegel exercises not only can help with incontinence but also help build up weakened muscles due to pregnancy and childbirth, they can help to increase orgasms and sexual pleasure. Kegel exercises can even help some women who have trouble achieving, or can’t achieve, orgasm. In men they can help with male urinary incontinence, inflammation of the prostate, and possibly even premature ejaculation and erectile dysfunction.

Five Must Try Woman on Top Positions

Are you in a sex position rut? Why not try a woman on top position? Roles are completely reversed in this configuration. This is a great way to be in charge of the action and still feel close with your partner. Being on top allows you to set whatever pace you like and how much penetration you want to receive. It is also makes it easier for you to try climax because you can adjust your body to receive better clitoral stimulation. And besides increasing your chances of orgasm, your partner loves to see you on top. Many people enjoy watching their partner take control and the front row view of breasts isn’t bad either. Don’t worry about any imperfections you think you may have. The last thing your partner is going to notice is that spot you missed shaving or whether or not you’re bloated from dinner, trust me. So relax, jump in the saddle and ride ‘em with these positions!

Standard Woman on Top

This is a great starting point for those who are not familiar with this position. Suddenly jumping on your partner can seem like a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be an awkward endeavor. You can ease into the position quite smoothly if you are already part way there. You can be laying side by side with your partner kissing and then you can move yourself so that you’re laying on top of them. Slide your body down theirs until you’re in the right spot. You can use an arm to push yourself up and lean your body forward so you can use your other hand to guide them into you. Once they are inside of you, you can continue to lay on them and make subtle hip movements or you can push yourself up to a seated position and make more exaggerated hip movements. 

Intro To Sex Toys For Men

When it comes to sex toys it often seems like girls have all the fun. Recently sex toy manufacturers are starting to realize that some men may want something more than their own hand to help them in solo play. Some toys have been around for a long time but haven’t been explored or are simply not talked about much. There are many new toys too. You may be looking for some new ideas for sex toys for yourself or for your partner but some find the idea of male oriented sex toys a bit intimidating. Just as women are breaking free of sex toy stigma and normalizing the use of toys, so should men. To get you started, let’s take a walk through the men’s toy section and explain some of the options you have available to you.

Masturbation Sleeves

Sometimes your hand is not enough. It does a great job but there’s little variety unless, well, you change hands. Masturbation sleeves provide you with an option to enhance this stimulation with a variety of textures, pressure and sensations. The masturbation sleeves that I’m talking about here are not enclosed in rigid plastic but are the soft sleeve where you can feel the pressure of you own hand. Sleeves can come in body safe TPE (Thermo Plasticplastic Elastomor) or silicone. Some are closed at one end, which provides more suction. The open-ended sleeves are helpful if you don’t want too much stimulation at the head of the penis, you’re not a fan of lots of suction, or to use in conjunction with oral sex from another partner. Inside the sleeve can be found a variety of textures making it easy to find one that works for you or, better yet, gives you a variety to choose from.

When Sex Hurts

During an activity that commonly brings about pleasure and joy, painful sex can certainly put a damper on the mood. Painful sex can happen to anyone and there are many common culprits. Many can be treated without medical intervention and some are best addressed with your gynecologist. 

Lack of Lubrication

This is probably the most common. When you become aroused, your body produces lubricant in your vagina. Sometimes this lubricant is not adequate enough for penetrative sex and without additional lubricant, tearing and pulling can lead to discomfort. Keep some lubricant handy bedside and apply liberally. And don’t worry, the amount of lubricant you naturally produce is not a reflection on how aroused you are. 

Too Deep of Penetration

In certain positions or if your partner is very large, you can be experiencing discomfort from deep penetration. The force of a penis of object ramming against your cervix can cause intense pain. If this is the case, try positions that allow for more shallow penetration.