Breathe, Stretch, Shake: 4 Sexercises That Rock Your Body For A Better Sex Life
If you need a reason to move off your couch and hit the gym, this is probably it. Regular exercise doesn't only help you drop the pounds, maintain your weight, and combat health conditions like high blood pressure and heart disease, it also improves things in the bedroom. Sexercises, specific types of exercises that can improve your strength, flexibility, and stamina in bed will not only help you impress your partner but get you in peak condition to reach orgasm.
"Exercising releases endorphins in the body, producing energy that reduce stress. A reduction in stress means more libido for both genders," Dr. Jeanette Raymond, a licensed psychologist and relationship expert in Los Angeles, and author of Now You Want Me, Now You Don't! Fear of Intimacy: Ten ways to recognize fear of intimacy, and ten ways to manage it in your relationship, told Medical Daily in an email. When there's a reduction in stress, there's also a reduction in muscle tension, which lowers the likelihood of experiencing pain during sex.
These sexercises may not replicate the movements of sex, but they will help you improve your sexual performance — and spice up your sex life — by increasing endurance and testosterone levels.
1. Bicep Curls And Tricep Dips
Strengthening your biceps and triceps will not only give you enviably toned arms, but it will also provide you with the upper body strength necessary to stay strong while in the missionary position. Strength training can actually lead to an increase in testosterone levels, which is known to play a role in sexual drive in both men and women. A 2003 study found that boosting testosterone levels was associated with increased sexual desire in women who complained of menopause-related low libido and reduced sexual arousal.
Drew O’Connell, founder and president of Now Fitness, says that women who practice tricep dips will have better upper body strength for “reverse cowgirl.” “[You] can lean back on your man and get him deeper in, stimulating your G-spot and other very sensitive areas,” O’Connell told Medical Daily in an email. Upper body strength exercises can help women support themselves when they’re on top.
2. Fast Walking
A simple brisk walk in the park can improve circulation and blood flow. Cardiovascular activities like fast walking and running can improve your sex life for the same reasons they prevent heart attacks. Nicole Prause, a research scientist in the Department of Psychiatry at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, believes these cardiovascular exercises have two benefits. “In the short term, they get your heart rate up. This excitation is "reinterpreted" as excitement for the partner if a sexual opportunity arises while your heart is still high from exercise,” she told Medical Daily in an email. The second effect involves general body satisfaction, which is reliably related to sexual functioning. Cardiovascular exercise promotes better sex through increased self-esteem about the body, not through some physical transformation.
3. Kegels
Every woman knows doing Kegels is a good sexercise because it helps strengthen the pelvic floor muscles, which control the flow of urine and hold the pelvic organs in place. However, Kegels are also a good exercise for men, boosting endurance and control by toning the pubococcygeus (PC) muscles. Men who want to do Kegels should practice stopping the flow of urine mid-stream. Men and women looking to have stronger orgasms should also do Kegel exercises.
“By strengthening those muscles through Kegels, men and women can have stronger contractions, a.k.a. orgasms. For men, strong PC muscles from Kegels also allow them to move the penis up and down which can create pleasurable sensations inside their partner,” Kait Scalisi, a New York City-based sex educator, writer, and consultant, told Medical Daily in an email.
4. Squats
This kind of exercise not only helps tone your legs and butt, but it also gets your blood flowing to other areas of the body , helping to boost sex drive. Squats help women physically by boosting sexual arousal and getting blood flowing to the genitalia. They are also important because they “help to strengthen the muscles responsible for orgasm, including the pelvic diaphragm and urogenital muscles,” Scalisi said. An orgasm is not necessary for pleasure, but most women report wanting to experience the release that comes with climax.
Get up and rock your body with these four sexercises that will lead to better sex.