Here’s a reason to put your sneakers on: exercise can improve your sex life.
It’s not necessarily about changing how your body looks, or being strong enough to swing from the chandelier. Regular movement improves smaller, less visible bodily functions that increase your desire and capacity for sex – like the release of arousal-promoting hormones and enhanced circulation in the nether regions. Perhaps just as critically, it gets your mind in the right frame to do it.
While the links between physical activity and having great sex might seem obvious, they are not as linear as you might expect.
Here’s what you need to know.
How can exercise improve sexual function?
Two of the main ways exercise can upgrade your sex life are that your body gets better at arousal and your mind less likely to interrupt it.
The physical impacts relate largely to circulation. Good blood flow underpins arousal: it promotes the function of fluid-secreting glands and sensation-conducting nerves in women, and facilitates erections in men.
Exercise also improves rest, which leads to increased energy levels. Certain types of activity can strengthen pelvic floor muscles, which boosts sexual satisfaction in both men and women, and positively affects the levels of hormones and neurotransmitters tied to sexual response.
Scientists measure sexual function in many different ways, including the subjective sense of desire and arousal, the presence of lubrication (in women) or erection (in men), the ability to achieve orgasm and overall satisfaction with one’s sex life. A recent review of multiple studies found that across those domains, women who engaged in various forms of exercise – including cardio, yoga and pelvic-floor work – scored significantly higher than women who did not. (These studies were randomized controlled trials, which differentiate between exercise effects and sex habits likely to already be present in people who exercise.) Other studies have found similarly positive effects in men, although their quality and the effects they have measured have been a little spottier.
The psychological effects relate to exercise’s tendency to improve mood, energy and body image. Both chronic stress and a busy, self-critical mind interfere with arousal, although that plays out differently for women and men, said Debby Herbenick, a psychologist and researcher who directs Indiana University’s Center for Sexual Health Promotion.
To be clear, exercise is not a magic fix for anxious thoughts about appearance and performance. But, Herbenick says, it can “decrease cognitive distractions and enhance arousal and orgasm”.
Does the type, timing or intensity of exercise matter?
What type? When it comes to physical benefits for your sex life, aerobic exercise – the kind that makes you sweat and increases your heart rate – has the best evidence, in part because it is what has been studied the most.
But for the psychological benefits, it’s less important to focus on what the movement is than on how it makes you feel. Exercise that you do because it makes you feel healthy and fit is more likely to make you feel good about yourself. In turn, that positive self-image helps your brain minimize arousal killers such as stress and anxiety. It’s best for people to “choose the exercises that they enjoy rather than try to choose an exercise just to enhance arousal or orgasm”, said Herbenick.
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When? Workouts can act as an aphrodisiac for some women – but not straight away. Cindy Meston, a sex researcher and professor at the University of Texas at Austin, ran lab studies in the 1990s and 2000s aimed at understanding how the timing of exercise affected sexual function. She found women’s genital blood flow was actually suppressed right after vigorous exercise, then rose above baseline 15 to 30 minutes later, once hardworking muscles had stopped hogging the body’s blood supply.
Herbenick’s research has corroborated this finding, but structuring your sex life around your workouts “is not realistic for everyone”, she says.
What about intensity? Workout intensity seems to matter more than timing. In Herbenick’s research, low-intensity or low-repetition exercise had little effect on arousal or orgasm – but push too hard, and the exercise can backfire. Stick to the middle of the range; if it makes your entire body ache, it’s less likely to turn you on.
How can I apply this in real life?
You don’t need to sweat the details to enjoy the sexual benefits of exercise. For most people, it’s enough to move regularly, with some effort, in a way that feels good and sustainable. Real life is messy, and exercise might mean swimming laps or walking the soccer fields while your kids are in the pool or at practice, said Herbenick.
Exercise has been proven to improve sexual function in women taking anti-depressants and those who have had hysterectomies. People who exercise for other health reasons may also earn sexy dividends. Diabetes and heart disease can impair the same blood vessels and nerves that arousal depends on, so exercise prescribed to manage those conditions often improves sexual function as a side effect.
If you’re an athlete training hard for something demanding, good communication with your partner is key, said Herbenick. Talk to your partner honestly about when you actually have the energy and comfort for sex, rather than assuming your body will cooperate on cue.
