Sexercise: Does Sex Really Count as a Workout?

Filed Under Exercise

I was speaking with an old friend the other day about exercise and fitness. I’m not going to go into the details of the conversation but there was one comment that amused me. It was “I don’t need to go to the gym, I have a lot of sex and that’s good exercise.” We had a long conversation following that comment and I wanted to share some of what we discussed with you (with her permission).

Is Sex a Workout?

Well, in order to answer this question, we really need to define what is a workout. Workouts can be roughly divided into three categories:

Cardio: This is an intense and continuous workout that elevates your heart rate to between 60% and 80% of max. Examples are Biking and running. Cardio’s benefits are calories burned, elevated metabolism and improved cardio vascular system among others.
Resistance: This is an intense workout that involves more strength and less endurance. You’re pushing or pulling against a resistance (hence the name) and therefore building up your muscles. It’s usually not a continuous workout and is done in reps or sets with breaks in between them. Examples include weight training. Resistance training has benefits like an elevated metabolism and increased strength among others.
Mild Endurance: This is essentially a downgraded form of cardio. For example, walking is a mild endurance workout. It’s not going to elevate your heart rate very much but it’s going to contribute to your overall health with lesser versions of cardio’s benefits.

So, which one of these most resembles sex?

Cardio?

Well, I suppose we would all like to think that our sex life was a series of cardio workouts, hours long sessions of high energy movement, but the truth is a bit less flattering. For most people, sex begins and ends in under 30 minutes. Actual intercourse, which is usually the most high energy part, is under 5 to 10 minutes. Also, while sex does elevate your heart rate, it’s usually not to the same level as a cardio workout. If you doubt me, just try this short test, and I recommend discussing this with your partner first. Do you have the breath to hold a conversation during sex? If you do then you’re not having a cardio workout. As much as we would like to think otherwise, the average sexual encounter is just not high energy enough to qualify as cardio.

NOTE - You can be out of breath and sweaty after sex, but unless you were relatively out of breath during sex for a period of 20 minutes or so, it doesn’t count as cardio, sorry.

Resistance?

This one is an easier one to answer. Do you frequently push or pull a relatively high weight during sex? Ok, without getting into details, I’m going to assume the answer is no. Unless you’re really fond of some unusual positions, the actual strain on your muscles imposed by sex is minimal.

Mild Endurance?

Yep, this one sounds right. I know people are going to be a little hurt by this term. No one wants to think of their sex as “mild” but hey, we’re talking about exercise here not sexual performance. Remember that a lot of sex is foreplay and such (or at least I hope you remember that!) during which we’re moving relatively slow. Our heart rates do get elevated from the excitement but not to the level of true cardio exercise. There may be some moments later on, when things heat up, that resemble resistance training or high energy cardio, but quite a bit of a sexual encounter is more like a walk. It’s slow and steady and doesn’t push your body too hard.

So Can Sex Really Replace Exercise?

Well, I suppose the answer is yes. If you maintain a healthy diet, all your really need is 30 minutes of walking a day. I would recommend adding resistance and cardio exercise, but the basic needs are met by a simple walk. Since we just said sex is the same sort of workout as walking then I suppose we could say that your basic physical activity needs would be met by 30 minutes of sex a day. Still, I’m not sure if I want to view sex as a workout. Makes it seem less fun, no? Just imagine “Honey, I ate a bit too much for lunch today, we need to have sex for 45 minutes instead of 30…”

Summary

That conversation was probably one of the most entertaining and amusing ones I have had about physical fitness. It made me look at exercise in a whole new way, quite literally. The basic conclusion was; sex is a physical activity, and as such, it’s a great part of a physically active life. However, it does not replace a normal workout with resistance and cardio components. So don’t confuse replace jogging with sex, the consequences are going to be bad, for your health and your sex life

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