Can Regular Exercise Lead To A Better Sex Life? Here’s What The Experts Say

You’ve probably heard about all of the health benefits of regular exercising: reduced risk of heart problems, type 2 diabetes and obesity, to name a few. But exercise can have huge benefits to another aspect of your life – your sex drive.

Sex itself is an intense physical exercise that tests your endurance and stamina. And while doing regular exercise can be a bit of chore, if it were more likely to enhance your sex life and lead to better orgasms, would you be more inclined to do it?

We spoke to sex psychotherapist Orlagh Gahan to find out how exactly exercise can impact your life in the bedroom. 

There is no doubt that exercise, fitness and overall levels of stress are right up there on top of the list of things which affect our sex drive which often dips or disappears when we are experiencing periods of stress. Exercise helps to reduces stress as the brain releases feel good chemicals and hormones into the body, the same in-fact as during sex, orgasms or when we receive hugs.

“Regular exercise which gets our blood pumping means we feel fitter, more positive and motivated all round,” she said. 

She explains that exercise can have such a huge impact on your sex life as it gets you out of you head and reduces stress:

“Exercise gets us out of our heads and into our bodies, often a blocker to initiating sex is being too caught up in our thoughts and not connected with what’s happening in our body. Physiologically studies tell us that exercise can increase libido, enhance arousal and improve sexual performance which has a deeply positive impact on intimacy in relationships. Most importantly, exercise can help us feel good about our bodies and worry less about the wobbly bits, and therefore more open and responsive to our partner.”

Exercising together can be a great way for couples to reconnect and don’t forget sex is also a great exercise, that’s why we call it Sexercise!

“I have worked with couples who have been married for 20 and 30 years but who never had a single conversation about sex, because it’s just not something many generations learned to talk about together,” says Orlagh.

Once people feel good, they feel more comfortable to initiate closeness, and with that, sex becomes more regular. People often speak about how attractive they find their partner when they are sweating, working out and getting fit, according to Orlagh: “It’s like a natural aphrodisiac.”

Every day, personal trainers see firsthand what exercise can do for your physical and mental health. Aimee Fitzgerald, a fitness instructor at Fit4Less Finglas, describes how even in the gym, she notices her clients have much more confidence in their sex lives after committing to regular exercise.

Clients have said that because of the release of endorphins, it makes you feel good because you look good so it makes you feel more confident in yourself. The better you feel the more confident you are. I’ve noticed myself that I’m much more confident around men now just because I feel better in myself.

“Another client said her stamina has definitely improved in the bedroom, her self-confidence has gone up a lot since she started training. Before that she said she would have felt more self conscious while having sex and being naked around somebody,” Aimee added.

With the release of endorphins you get from exercising, your mind and body is raring to go for some on-on-one time in the bedroom. With this new found confidence, clients in the gym are more than open to talk about their new and improved sex life.

A female client said that her boyfriend trains as well and he’s always really horny after the gym and she finds that as well, coming home after a pump in the gym they’re just ready to go!

While it seems that exercise can double your desire in the bedroom, there is a danger that excessive exercise can have a negative effect on your sex life.

“There is no doubt that excessive exercise has a negative impact on sex drive as the body is being pushed into a stressed state and when the body or mind is under stress, our libido drops significantly. Similarly, when we are in fight, flight or freeze mode due to stress or trauma our sex drive diminishes,” said sex psychotherapist Orlagh.

Other than that, the combination of regular exercise and sex appears to be a match made in heaven. If ever there was a reason to hit the gym…

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