Question

How many times have you heard the saying “you can burn 500 calories having sex!”?

Answer

The reality is that you’ll get much more productivity from a super light 30 min jog than from a 40 min replication of foreplay and fun from your favorite episode of Sex and The City.

Explanation

I’m willing to bet that if you’ve heard this in the past then I betcha that coincidentally, you’d be attending quite a few baby showers 6-8 months later, LOL.

Well I say this because I remember walking around with a couple of “fitness” people and somehow it came out in conversation that one of them needed to work out because they had missed a class.

Automatically the other person said “Don’t worry about it! Just have sex tonight! You’ll burn 500 calories and you’ll be good to go”…

Having worked in the medical field for quite some time I thought I must have missed something because I didn’t think that was accurate. It just didn’t make sense. I was totally confused but this person sounded so sure of it and I just didn’t want to look like a fool by questioning anything.

It bothered me, I have to say. And let’s be honest, wouldn’t you be curious to know if that was the case?

Imagine having some fun action in the bedroom for a week… we’d be in the best shape ever. But, is it true?

Well my friends, I am sorry to disappoint but the fact is, you’ll get much more productivity from a super light 30 min jog than from a 40 min replication of foreplay and fun from your favorite episode of Sex and The City.

FACT:

A light 30 min run will burn approximately 213 calories in women and 276 in men while 25-30 min of sex will burn barely 101 calories in men and just 69 (no pun intended) calories in women!!!

Of course, those numbers will grow if you go longer (again, no pun 😉 ) or make things “steamier”.

So, if what you are looking for is a quick way to burn some calories and get that heart working, the bedroom shouldn’t be your first choice :-/ Sorry guys…

Now, let’s not just push sex out the window either because, while it may not replace your exercise, a healthy sex life has incredible benefits that you may or may not know.

So allow me to enlighten you with some secret benefits that come from having a healthy sex life:

• Helps lower blood pressure (assuming you have controlled BP. This means, if you have hypertension, that it is being treated and controlled)
• Better immune system by increasing your IgA production by up to 30%!
• It reduces your risk for heart disease
• Increases libido (so if you have a hard time getting in the mood, this will improve the more you do it)
• Better sleep
• Overall stress reduction
• And of course, boosts self-esteem

Closing Thoughts

While the bedroom action may not make a dent in the number of calories you need to burn a week to keep your workout routine productive, consider wearing your smartwatch to track your numbers more accurately 🙂. You may be surprised! Most importantly, remember that keeping an active and healthy sex life can improve your lifestyle and strengthen your relationship.

As always, much love to all of you <3

Coach Fatima

Sources

Heid, Markham. “You Asked: How Many Calories Does Sex Burn?” Time, 9 Aug. 2017, time.com/4891579/how-many-calories-does-sex-burn/#:%7E:text=Women%20burned%20an%20average%20of,of%203.6%20calories%20per%20minute.

Casazza, Krista, et al. “Myths, Presumptions, and Facts about Obesity.” New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 368, no. 5, 2013, pp. 446–54. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.1056/nejmsa1208051.

TheMewsPractice. “The 10 Health Benefits of Regular Sex.” The Mews Practice Guildford, 24 Dec. 2021, www.themewspractice.com/the-10-health-benefits-of-regular-sex/#:%7E:text=Participating%20in%20sex%20one%20to,to%20those%20who%20don’t.

“The Benefits of a Healthy Sex Life | Center for Women’s Health | OHSU.” Center for Women’s Health, www.ohsu.edu/womens-health/benefits-healthy-sex-life. Accessed 18 Mar. 2022.