Local sex expert Dr. Rica Cruz weighs in on this hot topic: Could sex count as exercise?
Did you know that you burn calories while sleeping? You can also burn calories while sitting down, standing up, and fidgeting. The precise numbers depend on factors like your age and weight, but the fact of the matter is that by merely existing, you burn calories. If you’re looking to add more non-exercise ways to burn calories in your day-to-day, sex therapists around the world suggest this activity—sexual intercourse.
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Many sex therapists have already given their two cents about which positions are best for burning calories based on old research on the subject. However, in her exclusive interview with MEGA Active, CEO and Founder of Unprude Dr. Rica Cruz said that it is not prescriptive and that you’d have to do it for a long, long time to see any results.
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Crunching the numbers
According to Dr. Rica, there’s no “best” position for anyone. “Because sex is not prescriptive—it’s what you want and what works for the both of you,” she said. It also depends on different factors like where you and your partner are. After all, how can you be expected to do the helicopter position if you’re having a quickie at a fire exit?
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In terms of pleasure, she did mention using the Coital Alignment technique so women can feel the penis inside while also getting clitoral stimulation. Backed by her own research and interviews with Filipino women, Dr. Rica said that many women need that clitoral stimulation in order to orgasm.
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However, in terms of sexual intercourse counting as a form of exercise, she said that she doesn’t think it’s a weight loss method. “I really don’t subscribe to that unless I have sex the whole day, and it depends on what you’re doing,” she mentioned. Dr. Rica added that the calories burned through sex are simply a byproduct of the act—similar to how sleeping burns some calories, too—but that shouldn’t be the main purpose of it.
Doing our own deep dive into the subject, we found studies that show that men and women on average burn around three to four calories per minute during sex. Meanwhile, lovemaking lasts 5.4 minutes on average, so the total calories burned based on those numbers are minimal.
All in all, you could count sex as a form of exercise as it requires physical effort. But while you do burn some calories from doing it, it’s not an alternative to proper exercise nor is it a weight-loss strategy. If you go into a sexual encounter expecting to lose weight, be prepared for disappointment, just as Dr. Rica said.
