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When stuck together – and many of us tending to overeat – can you use your intimate encounters to keep yourself trim? We know that getting fit can help you have a better sex life, but can having a better sex life help get you fitter?
Now, we don’t mean to kick this off negatively, but it is clear that anyone who believes that sex could be a more effective form of exercise than, say, jogging is sadly mistaken. Of course, that’s leaving out the pleasure factor, where surely sex wins hands down.
Researchers from the University of Montreal compared the calories used running to that of sex and found that running was far better at burning them off. It turned out that women burned an average of 213 calories during 30 minutes of jogging, while men burned 276. Contrast that with 30 minutes of sex, where men burned 101 calories and women 69, burning an average of 3.6 calories per minute.
Still, some maintain that a vigorous 30 minute session can burn as much as 150 calories, which is the equivalent of jogging for 15 minutes. And if you have moderately active sex twice a week, that adds up and you could even burn up to an extra 5,000 calories a year.
Should you want to be more precise about how many calories you are burning for any particular position and pace, there is a calculator available for free on the internet: http://www.sexcalculator.co.uk/. This asks you a few simple questions then pumps out an accurate number of calories burnt.
Though as we’ve seen, sex may not be the best form of exercise for burning calories, it definitely scores for the most fun, so try spicing up your sex life and see if can help to shift some pounds. Be warned, though. If you’re going to treat your erotic time together as mainly concerned with doing an exercise workout, your partner may not be best pleased.
Sex positions that help burn calories
However, that said, we should point out that some sex positions are clearly better than others at burning calories, with the obvious rule of thumb that the more you move the more you’ll burn. And, of course, moving between different positions is a great, fun way to tone different muscle groups and keep limbs lean and flexible.
Overall, studies have shown that being on top requires more energy than being on the bottom, which is no doubt stating the obvious. Even then, the classic missionary position with her on the bottom for 10 minutes will burn a measly 14 calories for her and 47 calories for him.
Then again, there are ways to burn more energy while doing this most common position – and also improve your core strength. Men, you should use your arms to hold yourself up as if you are doing the plank position at the gym. You should also ensure that you are thrusting with your pelvic muscles – this will help flex your core muscles and deliver a similar workout to ab crunches.
Women, you can strengthen your core muscles by using pelvic lifting with your core rather than your lower back. Missionary position sex can also provide a good bum workout if you squeeze your glutes while thrusting.
Doggy style sex positions can really help men to work their core muscles – either standing or kneeling on the bed behind their partner. For women, doggy style sex helps to work a range of muscles – including your core, as well as quads, hamstrings and arms. If you hold yourself up on your arms you can help build up your biceps. And if you brace your arms against a wall, it can work out your arms and shoulders even more.
Image from the Lovers’ Guide video download Satisfaction Guaranteed: 7 Secrets
It turns out, though, that the best sex position for women to burn off calories is the cowgirl. In this position, the lower part of the woman’s legs will be braced on the bed or the floor, which will engage your butt and core muscles. Coming up onto your feet, almost as if you’re in a squatting position, can also help work your bum, legs and hips. Cowgirl allows you to burn off as many as 135 calories in a 30 minute session.
Clearly, standing sex positions can allow for both partners to get sweaty, build muscle tone and lose weight. If a couple has stand-up sex with her in front, the woman would burn 30 calories and the man 51 in 10 minutes. But if he was holding her up for 10 minutes during sex, he would burn 65 calories and she would burn 40. So, again, this can be a great position for toning up, this can really work a man’s major leg groups and core, and also can help women work their core, too.
The number of calories burned during sex will vary widely from one session to another, but obviously the more sweaty and out of breath you get the more you’ll be burning. Just don’t lose the sexual connection with your partner in favour of getting fitter.