Sex as Exercise: The Hard Facts

"The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don't want, drink what you don't like, and do what you'd rather not."
--Mark Twain

Many people may agree with Twain, tired of eating rice cakes and running in circles, but what if your favorite thing to do was actually good for you? Would that make it easier to exercise? Well, it's your lucky day.

Research shows that women who participate in regular exercise tend to have more active sex lives, are more easily aroused and reach orgasm more quickly than their more sedentary counterparts. It's common knowledge that exercise is good for sex, but is sex good exercise?

Absolutely. Recent research suggests that during sex, your body experiences physical changes equivalent to an intense workout. Sex gets your heart racing, increases energy, raises your metabolic rate, stretches all kinds of muscles and, of course, burns calories.

Psychologists and health experts believe sex can do more than just put a smile on your face; it can also boost the immune system, provide stress relief and be a valuable addition to your exercise routine.

According to most sources, the "average" lovemaking session (30 minutes) burns between 50 and 100 calories, but consider that the number of calories burned during sex (or any activity, for that matter) is a function of many different factors. Several variables like body weight, environmental temperature, duration, intensity, effort, frequency and position will affect the actual number of calories burned.

Having sex three times a week burns around 7,500 calories per year. That's roughly the equivalent of jogging 75 miles, or about 1.4 miles per week, according to Healthcentral.com. The more intense the sex, the more calories burned: up to 15,000 calories annually (at a frequency of three times per week). 15,000 calories is equivalent to about four pounds of weight loss per year, just from having sex three times a week. Not too shabby.

You could lose four pounds over the course of the year for doing something you wanted to do anyway. You can't say that about eating celery and watching Desperate Housewives. However, eDiets Chief Fitness Pro Raphael Calzadilla says you shouldn't toss your cardio workout just yet because the calorie burn during sex is minimal. But it is a fun way to spice up your routine and burn a few extra calories.

Even kissing burns calories. Professor Bryant Stamford, of the University of Louisville, postulates that a deep, passionate kiss may double your basic metabolic rate and burn as many as two calories a minute. So kissing for 15 minutes could burn as many as 30 calories, and if you are kissing passionately for 15 minutes, that could potentially lead to the aforementioned calorie-burning exercise. Warm up with some kissing and heavy petting, followed by "maxing out" in the bedroom.

Having more sex can improve health, beauty, mood and most likely, your relationship. So more sex is good, but can you get too much of a good thing?

According to Dr. Claire Bailey of England's University of Bristol, there is little or no risk of women overdosing on sex. In fact, she says, regular sessions will not only firm a woman's tummy and buttocks, but also improve her posture.

Try adding some "sexercise" to you regular routine, and enjoy burning calories while you burn up the bed sheets. It's time to get fit and frisky.