Sexercise: How To Do It and Is It Good for Your Health?

Sexercise may sound like an 80’s workout video featuring men and women in brightly colored spandex performing questionable moves. But sexercise does not involve sex at all, not really. If you feel that your sex life needs a pick-me-up, sexercise may be able to give you the boost you need. Sexercise improves stamina, arousal, and confidence in the bedroom. But what exactly is sexercise, and how do you do it?

What Is Sexercise?

Sexercise is any form of exercise that improves your stamina and performance in the bedroom. Sex is a physical activity and therefore requires some level of physical fitness to perform. Though sexercise may bring to mind images of yourself curling a dumbbell while riding your partner, sex itself is not part of sexercise. Although sex does get the heart rate going, it doesn’t burn enough energy to be considered a beneficial form of exercise. Sexercise is a form of physical exercise that better prepares you for your sexual encounters and improves your overall sex life.

The Benefits of Sexercise

So, how exactly can sexercise benefit you in the bedroom? Sexercise increases your overall fitness and health. Regular exercise can improve your body image and make you more comfortable in your skin. Studies show that women who have body image issues are less likely to be sexually satisfied in bed and less likely to initiate sex. Being confident in your body allows you to be more adventurous during sex and let go of your inhibitions. Sexercise may also help improve your cardio fitness, which will help with stamina in the bedroom. If you’ve ever been out of breath while bumping and grinding with your partner, you know what a vigorous activity it can be. By improving your fitness through aerobic activity, you will be able to bump and grind a little bit longer, meaning more sexual satisfaction. Sexercise can lead to better satisfaction, not just in your sex life. Exercise has a range of health benefits, including less risk of heart disease, diabetes, decreased blood pressure, and improvements in your mental health.

When you workout, your body releases endorphins, hormones released to cope with stress. Endorphins lift your mood and make you feel more relaxed. People who exercise regularly have lower rates of depression and report having better overall mental health. Because mental health can impact your libido, it makes sense that sexercise can improve your sex life by improving your mood. Lastly, sexercise that focuses on flexibility can make it easier for you to perform certain sex positions.

Best Forms of Sexercise

Yoga

Yoga is a mind and body practice that improves physical health and mental wellbeing. Yoga sexercise involves holding certain poses and postures that strengthen and lengthen your muscles. There is particular attention to breathing techniques in yoga to promote calmness and enter a meditative state. Yoga can improve physical health and flexibility, reduce stress and anxiety, help with addiction, improve sleep quality, and promote overall well-being. Yoga can be a beneficial form of sexercise, especially when practicing poses that enhance flexibility in the groin and pelvic region. Tantra yoga is a form of yoga that focuses on connecting with and releasing sexual energy. You can practice tantra yoga alone or with a partner to liberate sexual energy and be a better lover in the bedroom.

Sex Wedges We Love

Pilates

Pilates is a low-impact, moderate-intensity exercise named after its creator, Joseph Pilates. Pilates aims to strengthen muscles while improving flexibility and posture. Most Pilates workouts focus on building core and glute strength, two significant areas to focus on during sexercise. Pilates can be done at home or in the gym using no equipment or very little equipment. Many dancers do Pilates workouts as an addition to their dance workouts to improve their flexibility and form. Doing Pilates as a form of sexercise will strengthen your core muscles (including your pelvis, hips, and inner thighs), making you feel more graceful. There’s nothing sexier than feeling graceful in your movements, especially in bed. Pilates will help improve your balance and posture, increasing your confidence in and outside the bedroom.

Kegels

Kegel exercises are a form of sexercise that focuses on building strength in the pelvis and vaginal muscles. You can perform Kegels by contracting the pelvis and vaginal muscles while sitting down or lifting your hips into the air while lying on your back with your feet placed on the floor. Strengthening your pelvic and vaginal muscles helps prevent uterine leakage and accidental gas or poop leakage. Our pelvic floor becomes weaker as we age, making us more susceptible to incontinence. Kegels can help prevent this. Kegel exercises can also help to improve orgasms by making them feel more intense. For heterosexual couples, strengthening your vaginal muscles can help you contract around your partner’s penis while he’s inside of you. To make Kegels an even more intense sexercise, try using Kegel balls. Kegel balls are small, round weighted balls inserted into your vagina to strengthen the vaginal muscles. They strengthen your pelvic floor muscles by forcing you to contract them to hold the ball inside of you. Kegel balls can also be sex toys for solo pleasure or having sex with a partner.

Weight Training

Weight training strengthens your muscles and improves overall body composition. Lifting weights and building muscle puts you at less risk for injury and degenerative bone diseases like osteoarthritis. It can also improve your posture, raise your metabolism, increase blood flow, and result in fat loss. Weight training is beneficial as sexercise because it makes you look and feel good. Feeling more confident in your body makes you less inhibited in the bedroom. It also increases your strength, making holding certain poses or postures easier during various sex positions. The best sexercise involving strength training may be strengthening your glutes. Glute exercises create a firmer, rounder butt which, if we’re all honest, is something we all desire having, especially during sex.

Cardio

Cardio exercise is any form of exercise that raises your heart rate for any period. Different forms of cardio exercise can include brisk walking, jogging, swimming, cycling, and dancing. Cardio exercise has many health benefits, including strengthening your heart health, improving brain function, raising metabolism, weight loss, and improving sexual function. Regular cardio exercise has been shown to decrease the risk of erectile dysfunction in men and can increase arousal in women. It can also increase your general health and wellbeing, meaning a better sex life. To get the most benefits out of this form of sexercise, the American Heart Association recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise weekly.

Sexercise Sex Positions

While it’s true that sex is not the most effective form of exercise, it is still a workout. Anything that gets your body moving and your heart rate pumping is aerobic exercise. However, some sex positions might get your heart rate going more than others. The sex positions that burn the most calories involve more physically demanding movements that may test your stamina and flexibility. If you’re in a heterosexual relationship with a man, you’ve got it easy when it comes to most sex positions. Men do a lot of the work during sex (we can’t penetrate ourselves after all), meaning they often get the most calorie burn. If you want to burn more calories during sex, take on more of the workload. Certain sex positions allow the female partner to have more control, meaning you’ll get more calorie-burning benefits. What better form of sexercise than sex itself, right?

Cowgirl or Reverse Cowgirl

Cowgirl and reverse cowgirl are women-on-top positions that put you in charge of the reins. You’ll be on top of your partner in cowgirl or reverse cowgirl, humping, pumping, and bouncing your way through a sweaty, orgasm-inducing sexercise session. To make cowgirl and reverse cowgirl a better workout, increase your speed. The more air you get bouncing up and down along your partner’s shaft, the more you engage your pelvic and core muscles. If you want to engage your triceps muscles more, try leaning over onto your partner’s chest and holding your weight up by resting on your forearms. As a bonus, you may be more likely to experience an orgasm during cowgirl and reverse cowgirl. Woman-on-top sex positions give you more control over the depth and pace of penetration. You’ll also have a better chance of stimulating your clitoris, which most women need to reach climax.

Doggy Style

Besides being one of the most popular sex positions among men and women, doggy-style penetration can also burn a whopping 98 calories for the female partner and 151 calories for the male partner. How’s that for sexercise? The female partner is on all fours during doggy style as her partner penetrates her from behind. Being on all fours forces her to engage her core, arms, glutes, and quadriceps muscles. Engaging your glute muscles more while your partner thrusts from behind if you want to burn even more calories during doggy style. Consciously engaging your muscles will make them work harder, thus creating a larger calorie burn. And if you want to turn doggy style into sexercise, perform up-down planks. While on your hands and knees, drop your right arm down to your forearm, followed by your left arm. Return to the start position lifting yourself one arm at a time. Continue this movement for as long as you like (or can manage), alternating which arm drops down first.

The Butterfly

The butterfly sex position involves the female partner being on her back with her legs straight up in the air, resting on each side of her partner’s chest. Her butt will be on the edge of the bed so her partner can penetrate her from a standing position. Although it may seem that lying on your back with your legs up isn’t doing much sexercise-wise, you’d be surprised. Keeping your legs straight while your partner penetrates you engages your hamstring muscles so that they receive the ultimate stretch. If you want to deepen the stretch, your partner can use his hands to push your legs down towards you. You’ll also feel your pelvic floor, lower abs, and glute muscles working as your hips will be slightly lifted while doing this position. Lift and lower your hips in unison with your partner’s thrusts to engage these muscles more. Squeeze these muscles together as you lift and lower for better muscle contraction and more of a calorie burn.

The Wheelbarrow

Look at what the wheelbarrow sex position entails, and it won’t be hard to figure out why it’s considered sexercise. The female partner will start on her hands and knees on the floor to do the wheelbarrow. Her partner will then grab her legs and hold them up by his waist. Doing so will allow him to penetrate her from behind. Meanwhile, the female partner will be holding herself up using the strength in her arms. The wheelbarrow is a vigorous activity for both partners involved, especially for the female partner. You’ll activate all the muscles in your arms, including the triceps, biceps, and shoulder muscles. You’ll also be engaging your core. As your partner thrusts in and out of you, you’ll need to maintain your balance which is where your core strength comes in handy. The wheelbarrow is not many couples’ favorite sex position simply because it is difficult to perform. However, if you’re looking to burn more calories during sexercise, the wheelbarrow is effective.

Standing Sex

Standing sex requires both partners to be equally engaged to make this sex position work. It’s not the easiest sex position to perform, which is why it makes for great sexercise. To do standing sex, each partner will stand facing one another. The female partner will wrap her arms around her partner’s neck or shoulders and wrap one leg around his waist. The male partner will grab his partner’s lifted leg and hold it there while he uses his other arm to grab and lift her other leg. The female partner can carefully lower onto her partner’s penis. Both partners will work together to grind against one another while the male partner maintains his standing position. The male partner may have to use his upper body strength to lift and lower his partner’s hip up and down his shaft. The female partner can also participate by using her partner’s shoulders as leverage to lift herself up and down on his penis. Standing sex is intense for both partners and requires balance, core strength, and stamina. The male partner should try standing against a wall for more support to make it easier. Or couples can try a modified version of standing sex in which the female partner lifts only one leg and stands on the other. Either way, standing sex makes for an intense round of sexercise.

How Often Should You Do Sexercise?

Sexercise should be as often as you want. General guidelines for exercise recommend at least 30 minutes daily of regular physical activity. Sexercise can easily incorporate into your normal fitness routine. For best results, focus on forms of sexercise that address specific problems you may be having in the bedroom. If you are having difficulty with flexibility, focus on exercises that stretch and lengthen your muscles. If stamina is your problem, frequent cardio workouts may be able to improve your energy in the bedroom. Include your partner in your sexercise routine to make sexercising more fun. Doing it together can improve your bond and your performance in bed.

The Takeaway

Sexercise is a fitness routine that aims to improve sexual function and satisfaction. Most forms of exercise can be considered sexercise, especially those that develop muscles used during sex (like the pelvis and core muscles). Sex itself can be a workout, especially if you do the correct sex positions. However, don’t rely on sex for your sexercise as there are more beneficial forms of physical activity to improve your experience in bed. With regular sexercise, it’s possible to increase your sexual satisfaction in bed by increasing your overall physical fitness.