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Pumping iron to pump your libido
Tips from Gold's Gym East Greenwich & Pawtucket
Updated: Tuesday, 15 Jun 2010, 9:38 AM EDT
Published : Tuesday, 15 Jun 2010, 9:38 AM EDT
(FOX Providence) - There's another reason to start hitting the gym. You can actually find exercises that may help out with your married life.
Melissa Rector from Gold's Gym East Greenwich and Pawtucket, joined The Rhode Show to explain how and why exercise can boost your libido.
Pump Iron to Pump Up Your Libido?
by Martica Heaner, M.A., M.Ed., for MSN Health & Fitness
Q: Is weight lifting the best way to boost your sex drive or does all exercise increase testosterone levels?
A: Although the steroid hormone testosterone, present in both men and women, can affect your libido, so do many other factors. Studies have shown that regular exercisers report a higher sex drive. This may be related to surges of testosterone that can occur immediately after resistance training like lifting weights, or right after endurance training like running.
But testosterone levels can vary for many reasons. For one thing, the hormone seems to fluctuate throughout the day, depending on what are known as circadian rhythms.
In men, levels are highest in the morning and concentrations are minimal in the evening. Women generally have lower levels compared to men, but levels can vary tremendously in both men and women.
Women may have a different exercise response than men. Although there may be increased levels in men and women that can be detected immediately following certain workouts, overall levels may be decreased after other types of exercise, such as regular endurance training.
Even food intake may play a role. If a person drinks a protein-carb shake before and after a workout, the levels can go down. And aging men, for example, have lower levels and may get a lower boost from a tough weight-lifting session than a younger man.
Plus, it's not only levels of the actual hormone that may affect a person, but the amount of receptors present on cells that can interact with the testosterone.
Testosterone helps stimulate muscle growth, but different types of muscle fibers are more (or less) receptive to the hormone. This means that the effects of testosterone may also depend upon the proportion of muscle fibers a person may have (which is mostly genetically determined), and what kind of exercise they do to train the muscles.
Like everything else going on in the body, especially with hormones, the response of testosterone is highly complex: It's not like you just push a button by doing a bench press and Whoa! spurts of testosterone liven up your libido!
Plus, a revved up sex drive may also occur from other sympathetic hormones like epinephrine (adrenalin) that make a person more energized, or even opioids like beta-endorphins that can produce a "feel-good" effect. Or it may be that the psychological self-confidence that you get from being physically fit, accomplishing fitness goals (exercising on a regular basis, for example) or simply losing weight boosts your self-esteem and helps you to feel sexier.
One recent study in the International Journal of Obesity found that overweight and obese women who lost weight by using the diet drug sibutramine reported improved sexual arousal and orgasms—and the more weight loss, the better.
No matter what, all types of exercise are good for you, and by keeping your body in good working order, everything should keep functioning the way it should!
For more information on all the benefits of strength training read Designing Resistance Training Programs (Human Kinetics Publishing, 1997), by Steven J. Fleck and William J. Kraemer.
Improve Your Sex Life with Exercise
Make sex more fun
By Paige Waehner, About.com Guide
If health and fitness aren't enough to get you to exercise, how about improving your sex life? Sure, exercise can help you look good and maybe that will help you get more sex, but I'm talking about increasing your potency and making sex more fun.
You already know why exercise is so important for your health, but you may not know that studies have found a direct correlation between physical inactivity and a lack of potency.
So, exercise can increase your potency, and it can also make your sex life more enjoyable. Here's what you'll need to get the most out of your sex life.
• Cardio Endurance - For enthusiastic sex, you'll need to build cardio endurance. It makes your heart strong and keeps your body going. Shoot for 3 or 4 days of cardio exercise like running, walking, swimming or any activity you enjoy.
• Muscular Endurance - Sex also requires you to hold...er...occasionally unusual positions for short periods of time, so conditioning your body can be a plus for longer lasting sex. If you're new to strength training, start with a basic strength workout 2-3 times a week or learn more about weight training to see how you can set up your own program.
• Strength - As long as we're talking about holding yourself in position, strength is something else you'll need. Your basic strength workout will help you build more strength, just make sure you challenge your muscles with enough weight. You
should use enough that your last rep is difficult, but not impossible and, if you're a woman, don't worry that you'll bulk up. Women don't produce enough testosterone to build big muscles, but you will build amazing strength.
• Flexibility - Being limber can enhance anyone's sex life by making it a bit easier to get into your favorite position with a minimum amount of fuss. Try stretching after your workouts or incorporate a little yoga into your routine. Yoga is also relaxing, which can help you reduce fatigue and get in the mood.
Keep in mind that both sex and exercise have been proven to help reduce stress, so doing both on a regular basis should help you stay relaxed and happy. Exercise also helps increase your sexual desire. Elizabeth Scott, About.com's Stress Guide discusses this in her article, Stress and Sex, pointing out that, "...at times stress can actually prevent us from being ‘in the mood’. With the libido-dampening effects of excessive stress, sex sometimes goes by the wayside." Exercise, along with a healthy diet and adequate sleep can boost your libido so you're up for anything.
Don't forget that sex burns calories. Sure, it has to be fairly vigorous to get your heart rate going, but a 130-lb person can burn about seven calories per five minutes of vigorous sex. Keep it up for an hour, and you'll burn off 88 calories...not bad for having a little fun, plus, you will impress your mate with your incredible endurance.
If you're pregnant, read about Sexual Relations During Pregnancy to find out safe ways to enjoy sex while you're Exercise As An Aphrodisiac ( health.discovery.com )
Exercise can keep your heart healthy, your body slim and your psyche sound, and now comes the news that it can act as an aphrodisiac too. Although you may not feel so sexy after a sweaty workout, don't be surprised if you find yourself feeling in the mood for love.
Research now suggests that along with all of the other health benefits exercise confers, it can also give a big boost to your sex life. The reason has less to do with getting stronger than with the release of endorphins in the brain (as a result of physical exertion) that influence how we feel.
These are the same neurochemicals responsible for a "runner's high" or the sense of exhilaration that comes from skiing down a mountain or after an intense aerobics class. It turns out these brain chemicals may also be linked to the release of hormones that power the sex drive.
Research has shown that women who exercise regularly tend to have more active sex lives, are more easily aroused, and reach orgasm more quickly than those who don't work out.
Less vigorous Eastern forms of exercise take another approach. Instead of stimulating brain chemicals to rev up the sex drive, yoga and tantra provide postures designed to help resolve specific sexual problems. Some are said to work by stimulating blood flow to the genital area while others are directed toward maximizing sexual performance and satisfaction. While there's no scientific proof that these ancient exercises add up to effective aphrodisiacs, practitioners seem pleased with the results.
If exercise has no appeal, then twirling around on the dance floor can get the juices flowing just the same. In fact, whether the music is a minuet or mambo, moving to the beat is an age-old, socially sanctioned mating ritual.
Whatever your preference — from the treadmill to the dance floor — it seems clear that the more you move your body, the better your sex life can be.
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