Did you know that if you keep physically active and aren’t overweight, you may live about 7 years longer than those who are sedentary or obese? Statistics show that by losing weight, an overweight person can cut their risk of developing certain diseases considerably. For example, the risk of heart disease is reduced by up to 77 percent for obese people. Exercise like running also boosts your immune system, brain power and focus, helps prevent and cure type 2 diabetes and eases your mind. If those aren’t good enough reasons to get you off the couch and start exercising, how about if we told you running could boost your sexual performance between the sheets? It turns out a physical activity like running does wonders for your sex life. Let’s see how.
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Good Looks
We all agree that a toned body is sexier. Imagine all the extra attention you will get when you reach that perfect weight or when your body is nicely shaped. You will be confident to approach someone on the street. Running helps you keep in shape and look younger. Loving your body and feeling comfortable in your own skin is vital to good sex. According to several surveys, your bum is probably one of the sexiest parts of your body. When you run, your bum is put to work. Get those heads turning.
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Feeling Great
If it’s all eyes on you, this will boost your self-confidence and you’ll feel empowered. Moreover, when you exercise, endorphins are released in your body and this will lift your mood and boost your energy levels. Running also helps fight depression. Many runners get addicted to their daily jog because it keeps their mind focused and made them feel great on a daily basis. Self-assuredness and positivity are sexy. Needless to say a beautiful confident person has more chances to score a home run. And the more you have sex, the higher your sex drive will be.
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Better Circulation
The mechanics of sex is not as enticing or romantic, but it cannot be ignored. It’s nice to picture sex as butterflies and soul intertwining, but sexual intercourse and arousal are all about increased blood flow concentrated in the genital area. Exercise gets your blood pumping and improves your blood circulation, which means enhanced sexual performance and experience.
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Natural Remedy to Erectile Dysfunction
Erectile dysfunction is a condition characterized by the inability to keep an erection. It affects over 18 million American men 20 years old or older. It can damage a man’s self-confidence, it can cause relationships to deteriorate and lead to decreased work productivity. Overall, it is one of the leading causes of stress for people and has an adverse impact on your mental state. Several studies have found that erectile dysfunction is partly triggered by cardiovascular problems. High blood pressure, blocked arteries, or other cardiovascular problems can all lead to erectile dysfunction. After all, an erection is caused by blood getting trapped in the penis. So intensifying your physical activity can help get things going under the sheets again.
Researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles have analyzed the physical activity of 300 men and their sexual function, including the ability to have an erection and orgasm, frequency and quality. They found that people who exercised the most had a higher sexual performance. Specifically, those with 18 METS, or metabolic equivalents, per week, translating into 2 hours of strenuous exercise like running, or into 3.5 hours of use of moderate intensity, or 6 hours of light exercise, enjoyed sex more. METS is a physiological measurement that shows how much energy a person spends when performing a particular activity, as well as how intense it is.
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Don’t worry, be happy
Running helps alleviate the symptoms of stress. So does sex. Endorphins, feel-good substances, are released during both these activities. When you are under a lot of stress, the last thing on your mind is sex. A study carried out by the University of Gottingen in Germany found that people who don’t have sex that often tend to take on more work to ease their frustration. However, this only leads to a vicious circle, where the increased workload brings in even more stress and even less sex. Escape this vicious cycle by going out for a run.
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Stamina
When you’re a novice runner, you’re more likely to run out of battery after a couple of laps. The more you train, the easier it’ll be. Sex is also about endurance, keeping up with your partner. It can be quite physically demanding if you’re not at the same fitness level as your partner. To increase the duration of sexual intercourse, you need to boost your cardio endurance level. Running is an excellent way to do that and a great exercise for your heart. Stamina and strength are qualities highly sought in a partner, and can make a massive difference in the sack.
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Spice it up
Tired of the missionary position day in, day out (or better said night in, night out)? Many people in long-lasting relationships complain of boredom in the bedroom. If you’re fitter, stronger and more flexible, you can surprise your partner and explore with different positions that require greater physical control with less risk of an injury. Being flexible means you and your partner can try more sex positions that can result in better sex. However, know your limits. You want to be able to walk and reach for things the next day, without feeling all stiff and in pain or being immobilized. Some positions might be quite simple and fun to do, while for more advanced ones you’ll need the flexibility of a gymnast or contortionist. Picture a mix of sex and acro-yoga. Best to check with your partner what they are comfortable with. Time to spice it up in the bedroom.
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Better Reproduction
We rarely think of sexual intercourse for its reproductive function, but when that time comes, we probably expect immediate results. No one wants to keep trying adding additional members to their family years on end. That’s when sperm count, concentration and motility become all of a sudden critical. According to a study conducted by Harvard researchers on 189 healthy men aged 18-22 and published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, the most active men who did 15 hours or more each week of physical activity had the highest sperm concentration and sperm count, 73 percent greater than the least active men, who were active only for five or fewer hours per week. The researchers also found that the men who watched the most TV had the lowest sperm concentration. The sperm concentration of the participants who watched 20 hours or more a week was 44 percent lower than in the case of the men who watched no TV.
There comes a time in our life when we select our partner depending on their life-bearing characteristics, whether we do it consciously or unconsciously. These are thought to be ingrained in our psyche since the hunter-gatherer times and we feel attracted to more athletic partners. According to anthropologists, a man was considered apter for reproduction if he had a high endurance for hunting animals, among other qualities, while a woman was seen as a better catch if she had wide hips and big breasts for feeding the baby. This characteristic was passed on through the generations. University of Cambridge researchers has found that men who are long-distance runners are considered more desirable partners, because of several characteristics, such as an increased sex drive, higher sperm count and better physique. This perception is likely to stem from our hunter-gatherer past when high endurance running was vital to catch animals and provide for the family. The study looked at both the finish times and finger length of 542 marathon runners participating in the Robin Hood marathon in Nottingham in the UK. It’s believed that those whose ring finger was longer than their index finger were exposed to more testosterone in the womb and were faster runners. This exposure led to higher sex drive, increased sperm count, better cardiovascular health and more masculine features like facial hair and deep voices.
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Higher Sex Drive
Nothing is more annoying than a partner that always has headaches – both men and women. Low libido is caused by a number of factors, such as stress, fatigue, low testosterone levels, or, you’ll be surprised, not having enough sex.
Boost your sex drive by increasing your testosterone levels. When you run, your testosterone goes up. Previous studies have found that higher testosterone levels in men and women are linked to higher sex drives. Moreover, since running helps lose weight and abdominal fat, men have a higher sex drive because more blood is able to flow to the penis.
Have your heard the saying ‘Appetite comes with eating’? Well, it goes for sex as well. The more you have it, the more you want it. Endorphins are released both during sex and running. The more frequently endorphins are released, the easier it will be to get sexually aroused. It goes the other way too: the less you have it, the less you want it.
Another common inhibitor of sexual desire is fatigue. You might think you’re too tired after work for either exercising or sex. The truth is, although you might feel tired to start with, the release of endorphins afterward increase your energy levels and you’ll soon feel refreshed.
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Greater Sex Life
Ok, you might be a high-performance sex Olympian, going at it for hours, and testing one position after another, but if you don’t enjoy it, what’s the point? By enjoying we mean the o word. Studies have found that women with higher levels of testosterone had more orgasms. The good news is running leads to a testosterone spike. There’s also talk in the grapevine that some women experience exercise-induced orgasms. The research found that up to 15 percent of women have experienced orgasm while exercising, with 13 percent of them from running. Who needs men anyway these days to get an orgasm, you might think?
Men also experience a greater sex life if they keep running. They often worry about their sexual performance, so they’ll be pleased with the results in time since building up endurance makes them last longer. Being able to test more positions will keep them going for longer too.
It takes two to tango. A survey carried out by Brooks Run Happy Nation Report found that 66 percent of runners had more sex when they run with their partner. Imagine your sex life if your partner loved running just as much as you. How about buying your partner some running shoes for their birthday?
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Longer (sex) life
Sex is so awesome we couldn’t even imagine life without it. However, your sexual performance decreases with age. If you want to keep going, consider doing more physical activity. Running is great for boosting your overall health, keeping your body toned and your mind happy. A 10-year research project involving 1,000 middle-aged men at Queens University in Belfast and published in the British Medical Journal, concluded that staying sexually active and having regular orgasms will help you live longer. Another study of Harvard University this time on 160 swimmers revealed that athletes in their 40s and 60s had just as much sex as non-athletes who were 20 years younger. Harvard University also showed in another study that men over 50 who make a habit of running are 30 percent less likely to become impotent.
Running can better your sex life in so many ways, as we’ve seen. But don’t overdo it: overtraining can backfire at you. It can reduce your testosterone, the sex hormone, diminish your sex drive and performance and cause quite a few other health problems. A study revealed that running increases testosterone levels, but anything more than two hours could make your testosterone levels plummet and that circulation of testosterone is suppressed.
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