O f all the ways a person could sweat, a roll in the hay is one of the most fun. But does sex actually burn a good number of calories? Not as many as you thinkβbut you can up your burn by doing it a certain way. One study found that sex burned more than calories, at least for men. A team from the University of Montreal compared the calorie expenditure of running to that of sex and found thatβno surpriseβrunning far outpaced the latter.
Women burned an average of calories during 30 minutes of light running, while men burned Sex, on the other hand, demanded calories from men and just 69 from women, burning an average of 3. Why was sex a better workout for the guys? Men may also be more physically active during sex, he says. Sex sessions in that study typically lasted 25 minutes including foreplay, which is far longer than average. One study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that the average bout of sex lasts just six minutes although that number did not include foreplay.
The bedmates in the study, who were 23 years old on average, may also have been having more vigorous sex than the typical person. Especially among older couples in long-term relationships, sex is unlikely to crank your heart rate or energy output. However, you can hack your sex life. Positions also matter: Research suggests that being on top requires more energy than being on the bottom. Exciting sex seems to crank your heart rate more than a run-of-the-mill romp, and so may provide a better workout.
Regular sex is linked with lower rates of some cancers, as well as improved mental health and mood. Because it sends relaxing, feel-good chemicals through your system, sex also promotes sleep. Those should be all the reasons you need to get it on more often.
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