Relationships August 24, 2017
Burn off that romantic dinner in a sexy way.
Photo via Instagram / @lucadspartanofficialMost people can agree, sex can sometimes feel like a pretty intense workout. And the truth is, you actually burn a decent number of calories while playing with your partner in the bedroom. While it may not be the most effective exercise for targeting specific muscle groups or improving your health and physicality, it is definitely the most fun option.
We here at ENTITY wanted to know just how effective sex is when it comes to shedding those “extra slice of cheesecake” pounds, so we did some digging to answer: how many calories does sex burn? Our answer came in the form of the Mens Fitness generator that calculates calories burned by assessing your gender and weight and the gender and weight of your partner.
We thought we’d have some fun and used the generator to find out which sexual activities and positions burn the most calories.
The weights put into the generator were 169 pounds for women and 196 pounds for men. These numbers are based on the latest average weights of Americans, provided by the CDC. Both weights were rounded up to create a whole number.
The woman burns: 25 calories
The man burns: 29 calories
You probably didn’t consider that kissing would be much of a workout. It is.
Of course, the calories burned during your make out sesh depends on the intensity, but generally, here’s what making out does for your body.
According to the generator’s analysis, making out with your man for 20 minutes is about the same as burning off half an Oreo cookie for each partner or two Doritos chips for the woman and 2.3 for the man.
And while that may not seem like much, they consider it equivalent to about seven minutes of working out or yoga. The longer workout seems like the better option because sliding under your boyfriend definitely sounds better than sliding under a leg press.
The woman burns: 23 calories
The man burns: 23 calories
Well, this just doesn’t seem fair for us ladies. We may be doing all the work, but our man is getting double the benefits. He may just be laying there and enjoying it, but regardless, both you and your man will burn the same amount of calories while you’re toggling his joystick.
This translates to about six minutes of working out or yoga for the woman and five minutes for the man. It’s also equivalent to about three minutes of swimming for each partner. While giving a handjob, this also means you and your partner are burning off about one third of a chocolate chip cookie.
The woman burns: 20 calories
The man burns: 27 calories
Of course, the same handjob rules don’t apply to women when the hand is on the other partner. When your man is using his fingers, he’s still burning more calories than you. However, seven calories isn’t that much of a difference, so we’re pretty sure most women will cut their calorie burning loses.
This is equivalent to the woman dancing for about three minutes and the man dancing for four minutes or both partners playing tennis for two minutes. When it comes to burning off that sexy meal, the woman is burning off about 0.8 oz of red wine, while her man burns off 1.1 oz.
The woman burns: 46 calories
The man burns: 45 calories
This one will probably bring more tears to your eyes than the act itself. While women burn 46 calories while going down on their partner for 20 minutes, their man burns 45 calories.
Using your mouth in his most sensitive area is equivalent to about a 12-minute workout or yoga for a woman and a 10-minute workout or yoga for the man. We can say pretty confidently this will be your beau’s new favorite exercise once he finds out. This also translates to the calories in about one-third of a soda can.
The woman burns: 39 calories
The man burns: 53 calories
While this may not be every man’s favorite thing to do in the bedroom, you can tell him he’ll definitely benefit from doing it. Unlike when you go down on your boyfriend, your man will burn almost double the calories you do when he has his head between your perfectly shaved legs.
This translates to about 10 minutes of working out or yoga for the woman and 12 minutes for the man. In addition, that means you’re able to burn off one onion ring, while your man burns off about one and a half.
The woman burns: 83 calories
The man burns: 39 calories
Missionary is probably the first position that comes to mind, when you’re asking yourself how many calories does sex burn. It’s definitely the most common and favorite position for American couples, even if it is the most “basic” or “vanilla.” You’ll be happy to know, when the woman is on top, she burns twice as much as her partner.
For the woman, this is about the same as walking nearly a mile, while it’s equivalent to just under 0.4 of a mile for your man. It’s also the same number of calories in about six and a half Doritos chips for the woman and three for the man.
The woman burns: 33 calories
The man burns: 96 calories
Sadly, when the position is reversed and the man is on top, he burns nearly three times the calories as the woman does. Most men will probably see this as pretty fair since their common complaint is that they are the ones usually doing most of the work.
That means it’s about a nine-minute workout for the woman and a 22-minute workout for the man. This is about one onion ring calories worth for the woman and nearly three onion rings for her boyfriend.
The woman burns: 73 calories
The man burns: 101 calories
We’re totally cringing at the name of this sex position. Seriously? Stop comparing us to little puppies while you’re behind us, it’s just weird. But aside from that, many couples love the doggy style sex position. When answering the question, how many calories does sex burn, this position is on the higher side for both partners.
This is equivalent to about a 19-minute workout or yoga session for the woman and a 23-minute workout or yoga session for the man. That’s about one onion ring for the woman and two onion rings for the man.
The woman burns: 91 calories
The man burns: 33 calories
This position is another beneficial calorie-burning activity for women, which makes sense because they are the one doing all the work. When you’re rocking back and forth on your partner, you burn almost three times the calories.
The cowgirl position is equivalent to the woman walking about a mile, while her man would be walking about a third of a mile. It’s also about 14 minutes of swimming for the woman and four minutes for the man. For women, this is about half a slice of pizza and for men, this is about one-fifth of a slice.
The woman burns: 91 calories
The man burns: 33 calories
Reverse cowgirl burns the same number of calories as the cowgirl position, so when taking charge, the way you face is really up to you.
For women, this means making your man your naughty cowboy is the same as running about 0.8 miles. For men, this means running about a quarter mile. In addition, for women, this translates to a little over seven Doritos chips and two and a half for men.
The woman burns: 73 calories
The man burns: 101 calories
In addition to burning some calories, the legs-in-the-air position will also help you gain some flexibility. Practice makes perfect, right? So, we definitely encourage trying it as many times as it takes to get it right. All your friends at yoga will be dying to know your secret.
And if you’re skipping yoga class altogether, 20 minutes of the legs in the air position translates to 19 minutes of yoga for the woman and 23 minutes for the man. It also is about seven minutes of playing basketball for the woman and nine minutes for the man. In addition, that’s about one hot dog with the bun for the woman and one and a half for her man.
The easy answer is men are usually the more active partners in the bedroom. When a woman is receiving the pleasure and often laying down, it requires less physical activity and therefore is less beneficial when it comes to burning calories.
However, when women are the dominant partners, they have higher chances of gaining some physical benefits from their sexual experiences.
Men also burn more calories because they typically have more muscle than their partners. In conjunction, muscle burns more calories than fat. However, they also need a higher calorie intake than women to perform similar exercise activities.
Another reason men burn more calories than women during sex is because they usually weigh more than their partner, like the couple used in our examples.
When using the generator to analyze two women or two men, the heavier partner typically burned more calories. Likewise, when looking at men and women of the same weight, the difference of calories burned between the two was less significant although it still slightly favored men.
Okay, so from our research we can see sex isn’t the most effective workout in the world. After all, who only eats one onion ring or Oreo cookie at a time? However, it is one of the most fun workouts around and has other added benefits.
If you’re looking to improve your physical health, boxing is a better option. The woman from our examples would burn around 150 calories in 20 minutes and the man would burn over 175 calories in the same time. But, if you want to improve your mental health, good sex is, arguably, worth the trade off in calories.
Sex helps ease stress by releasing the chemicals dopamine, endorphins and oxytocin in your brain. These are responsible for pleasure centers that reward behaviors and increase motivation, fight pain and stress and make you more compassionate and affectionate.
Time to go get your “workout” on. So stop asking the internet how many calories does sex burn and start doing your own research! Again, results may vary depending on intensity and dedication.
We believe in you, girl.
