Think about the best sex you’ve ever had. Now, consider how you felt afterwards: exhilarated, calm, and pleasantly tired…not unlike how you’d feel after a great workout. Well, that’s no coincidence. In fact, there’s a huge (and perhaps surprising!) link between sex and exercise.
If you enjoy getting sweaty at the gym and between the sheets, you might’ve noticed that both activities are stress relievers, says Jenni Skyler, PhD, LMFT, a certified sex therapist and resident sexologist for Adam & Eve, and director of the Intimacy Institute based in Aspen, Colorado. That’s because they release a similar group of feel-good hormones, such as norepinephrine, dopamine, and adrenaline.
And while the two activities boast similar benefits when done separately, they can enhance each other, too. If you’re looking for a sign to book your favourite strength training group fitness class before date night, here it is: Not only can exercise benefit your cardiovascular health and mood—it also has the power to improve your sexual arousal, satisfaction, and well-being, according to a study in Sexual Medicine Reviews.
Why is this, exactly? And how can you optimise your workout routine to boost your, ahem, performance in the bedroom? Ahead, read up on the short- and long-term effects of exercise on your sex drive—plus, exactly *when* to work out to get the biggest bang for your burpees.
1.Exercise can have immediate effects like increasing blood flow—which can, in turn, improve your sex drive
Turns out, pumping iron = pumping blood. Acute (or moderate) exercise increases blood flow to the genitals, activating the sympathetic nervous system, says Amelia M. Stanton, PhD, a researcher and assistant professor in the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences at Boston University. All of this ups the feeling of physiological sexual arousal around the vagina.
Certain workouts can also benefit you sexually, too. When you’re doing resistance training, the body releases androgens such as testosterone, the very hormone responsible for sexual desire, says Nan Wise, PhD, a licensed psychotherapist, cognitive neuroscientist, and certified sex therapist based in West Orange, New Jersey. The same applies to cardiovascular training, especially once you hit a certain intensity. When you reach that point when you’re breathing heavily and it’s difficult to hold a conversation—also known as zone four cardio—you’ll experience a release of testosterone, as well as a ‘runner’s high,’ Skyler says. This comes from endocannabinoids, a.k.a. another feel-good substance released in your brain after cardio.
Plus, training cardio can increase your cardiovascular capacity because your respiration and heart rate tend to increase during this type of exercise. The heart rate increase you experience when working out is similar to the physiological feelings you experience when you’re turned on or in the honeymoon stage of a new relationship, Wise says. You know how your heart starts beating really fast, and you can feel butterflies in your stomach? Well, this chemical state—which happens in the body, but is activated by the brain—is replicated when you work out and your heart rate goes up. This form of physical arousal can kick your sex drive into gear, she says.
Yet another reason working out can improve your sex life? A regular workout routine can help you feel more in touch with your physical self. Exercise is ‘one of the best ways’ to practice being present in your body, says Wise, because you’re focusing on the sensations you feel as you move, like whether you’re tired or sore. This can enhance your capacity to feel present sexually, too.
Although exercise does have immediate physical effects that can enhance arousal, there isn’t a ‘one-size-fits-all’ ideal time frame between working out and having sex because everyone’s body is different, Skyler says. By leaning into your own preferences, you’ll work out when you have the most energy and can then reap the rewards of your increased sex drive, Wise says.
So, if you’re more of a morning person, work out in the a.m., and if you’re more of a night owl, work out in the late afternoon. But, word to the wise exerciser: People usually experience benefits first thing in the morning or at lunchtime, per Skyler, because it builds their confidence for the rest of the day and, therefore, can put them in the mood for sex.
Plus, while some people might feel confident and ready for bedroom activities immediately after their workout, others might need an hour—or four—to cool off before feeling their best. ‘Testing out your own system is the best way to figure out your timeframe,’ she says.
Either way, you’ll feel the effects of those feel-good endorphins within a few minutes to a few hours of exercising, Skyler says, which might put you in the mood immediately. Stanton specifically found that genital arousal is most heightened 15 to 30 minutes after a moderately intense workout, like running on a treadmill for 15 to 20 minutes. And unless you’re running a marathon, a moderate workout won’t make you so exhausted that you can’t perform in the bedroom afterwards.
2. Maintaining a regular exercise practice boosts your physical, mental, and sexual health
For one thing, your testosterone levels will continue to increase as you lift weights long-term (think: a few months), kicking your sex drive into high gear and increasing your libido.
Because doing cardio regularly can increase your cardiovascular capacity, it’ll help you last longer in bed, which benefits both those with vulvas and penises. ‘The more cardiovascular fitness you have, the more confidence and capacity you have in the bedroom,’ Skyler says.
Plus, because regular exercise also increases blood flow, you’ll have more endurance and vitality during sex, Wise says. More blood circulation in the body provides the tissues with oxygen and other nutrients that give you more endurance, both at the gym and in the bedroom. And the opposite is true: Because your body can take in more oxygen, all of your body systems can run better too, she adds.
Not to mention, you’ll literally become stronger, allowing you to try different, and perhaps more physically demanding, sex positions and acts. (And if you’re lasting longer, that means you’ll have more time to experiment with tons of new positions, too.)
But on a more psychological level, exercise’s effects on your mental health—such as reduced chronic stress hormones—will also help your sex drive in the long-term. When you get stressed, the body is automatically flooded with the stress hormone, cortisol. However, sex and exercise ‘are natural healthy ways to reduce the nervous system’s overactivation,’ Wise says.
Exercise specifically reduces cortisol flooding so your parasympathetic nervous system (the system that helps you relax) can reset and be more effective at its restorative bodily functions, like digesting food, repairing muscles, and removing toxins from the body, Wise says. And, of course, when your parasympathetic nervous system spends more time in the restorative state, you’re less stressed, and more likely to become aroused. Additionally, when the sympathetic nervous system (the system that enacts your fight-or-flight stress response) is aroused, it’s accompanied by cortisol, which lowers your testosterone, hijacking your sex drive and making it hard to focus on pleasure, says Wise.
The biggest long-term effect that exercise can have on your sex drive, however, is the feeling of confidence you’ll gain from working out over time. ‘If you feel good exercising and then walking down the street, or going out to dinner, you’re going to feel good in the bedroom,’ Skyler says.
3. Regular exercise can uniquely benefit those going through perimenopause and menopause
Going through menopause can decrease your libido, due to hormonal shifts. But those who exercise regularly often experience reduced menopausal side effects and have better sexual functioning, Wise says. (So, whether you haven’t yet reached menopause or you’re already there, you should still start exercising to reap these benefits!) Pelvic floor training, specifically, increases sexual satisfaction and decreases sexual dysfunction in women of all ages, she says.
Strength training can also help mitigate other symptoms of menopause, too—such as loss of muscle mass and bone density—especially when coupled with eating protein for your muscles, and upping your calcium intake for bone density, Skyler says.
However, when it comes to the vaginal dryness that some might experience in (peri)menopause, it’s unclear whether exercise can help with that, Wise says. While exercise can help increase arousal, lubrication does not always correlate with sexual arousal. If vaginal dryness is causing discomfort and pain during sex, it’s best to consult your doctor and assess treatment options, recommends Wise.
4. Exercise can also improve the sex lives of people with other health concerns, too
While exercise is helpful for counteracting sexual dysfunction symptoms among those going through (peri)menopause, it can also help other groups experiencing libido-diminishing side effects, such as those who are on SSRI medications, those who have had hysterectomies, and those with cancer.
For starters, exercise is a well-known mood booster, and it can even potentially decrease someone’s levels of anxiety and depression, per research in Trends in Molecular Medicine. Mental health conditions such as those can potentially inhibit someone’s sex life and make them crave physical intimacy less, so exercise can also be helpful for this group, Stanton says. And while you can’t necessarily counteract the sex drive-related effects of an SSRI, you can diminish them with exercise, Skyler adds.
For people experiencing a low libido, a moderate amount of sympathetic nervous system activation through exercise is helpful for improving sexual arousal because it triggers genital blood flow, Stanton says. The key word here is “moderate”—you don’t want to over-activate the sympathetic nervous system and majorly fatigue your body, but you also don’t want to under-activate it and end up not seeing any results.
5. Moderate exercise is the best type of workout for your sex drive
Resistance training and weightlifting in a moderate fashion can release testosterone, which will increase your sex drive, Wise says. But there’s one type of training that can really help you reap the best results: Pelvic floor and core training, both of which have similar benefits when it comes to increasing blood flow to the genitals, and therefore, improving sex drive. Pelvic floor muscle training is specifically beneficial for those going through (peri)menopause, those who are on SSRI medications, those who have had hysterectomies, and those with cancer, when it comes to increasing sexual satisfaction and arousal, and decreasing sexual dysfunction, Wise and Stanton say. Try kegels (unless you have pelvic floor issues or pain during intercourse) and core work through strength training exercises or the stationary bike.
But don’t sleep on cardio. In fact, the best way to maximise your sex drive through a workout is by running on the treadmill for 15 to 20 minutes, according to Stanton’s research. She recommends running at a moderate-to-high intensity level that gets you to 60 to 80 percent of your VO2 maximum, which is the max threshold of oxygen your body can use at a time, Claudette Sariya, CPT, a NASM-certified personal trainer and founding instructor of Sole Fitness, based in New York City, previously told Women’s Health US. (The higher it is, the more endurance you have.)
A caveat: With a moderate workout like this, you shouldn’t feel too fatigued to have sex immediately afterwards. But a gruelling workout—like a training session for an Ironman or marathon—can have negative immediate effects on your sex drive. Sure, the workout itself may increase your testosterone, which can help boost arousal in the long-term. But because you’re also using up so much of your body’s energy resources, you might feel too depleted to have sex that day, Wise says.
So, when you’re planning your workouts for the week—whether you’re optimising them for your sex life or not—just make sure you’re listening to your body, Wise says. Some days you’ll be craving a more strenuous workout, and other days, you’ll want a lighter one.
6. Working out *with* your S.O. can improve your relationship, too
When you work out with a partner, your nervous systems are syncing—a process called entrainment, Wise says. So, you’re not just experiencing the individual benefits of working out; you’re experiencing them together. ‘There’s a synchrony that happens, like a falling into a similar sort of pattern between the brain, the heart, and the nervous systems,’ Wise says. Your heart rates might even sync up, she adds. This can be beneficial because it helps co-regulate your nervous systems, so your emotions are aligned.
It can also help both of your moods improve and boost your emotional bond, simply because joint exercise involves the physical and emotional intimacy of doing an activity together, Skyler says. Plus, it can be straight-up hot to watch your partner sweat—whether you’re sharing a pull-up bar or bed.
Meet the Experts: Jenni Skyler, PhD, LMFT, is a certified sex therapist and resident sexologist for Adam & Eve, and director of the Intimacy Institute based in Aspen, Colorado. Amelia M. Stanton, PhD, is a researcher and assistant professor in the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences at Boston University. Nan Wise, PhD, is a licensed psychotherapist, cognitive neuroscientist, and certified sex therapist based in West Orange, New Jersey. Claudette Sariya, CPT, is a NASM-certified personal trainer, group fitness instructor, on-camera coach, and founding instructor of Sole Fitness, based in New York City
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Addison Aloian is the assistant love & life editor at Women’s Health and a NASM-certified personal trainer (CPT). She covers all things lifestyle, astrology, relationships, and fitness. In her free time, you can find her lifting weights at the gym, running on the West Side Highway in New York City, and watching (and critiquing!) the latest movies that have garnered Oscars buzz. In addition to Women’s Health, her work has also appeared in Allure, StyleCaster, L’Officiel USA, V Magazine, VMAN, and more.
