Sex as a form of Exercise
A friend of mine suggested I write an article about sex and exercise. Specifically, she wanted to know if sex is a good form of exercise with respect to burning calories. There is a lot of conflicting information about this so I will tell you what I know from a kinesiology perspective, as well from a psychological view point.
I came across one article which claims that having sex burns as much calories as running 30 miles per week. As much as I would like this to be true, it simply is NOT. Like exercise, there are many factors that affect how many calories you will burn when having sex. Those factors (like exercise) include Duration and Intensity. The other main factor is POSITION. The position will determine how much effort is involved and how many body parts are involved in the movement.
– Leave it to me to make sex sound like a CLASS LECTURE. 
The reason why it’s hard to say that sex is a good form of exercise is due to the DURATION factor. In other words, intercourse usually doesn’t last long enough to really burn a significant amount of calories. While there are clearly some sexual positions that involve more work than others, unless you can continue working in that position for at least 20 minutes, you’re probably burning about 50 calories per sexual encounter MAX.
If you have a fairly active sex life, you expect to burn about 200 calories a week if you have sex four times for at least 20 minutes.
That means you would have engage in 70 sessions of 20-minute sexual episodes to lose 1 pound. That’s 1400 minutes, or 23 hours of sex.
So from a cardiovascular perspective, you’re better off running.
HOWEVER, from a psychological and physiological perspective, sex is really beneficial because of its endorphin-producing effect. Endorphins are your body’s “feel good” juice! Sex triggers the release of endorphins which in turn helps your body to combat stress and fatigue. It’s great for your mental health and well-being.
Generally, the more sex you’re having, the happier you seem to be. (Makes sense!)
Studies have also shown that people who have more sex have better self-esteem and a more positive self image. I think hookers could use this in an ad campaign.
So that’s it in a nutshell!
- In terms of burning calories, not the best option. C-
-In terms of mental health, stress relief and better self-esteem, it’s one of the best things you can do. A+
