Exercise is key to a healthy heart, and anything that raises your heart rate is good for you – the good news is that sex counts towards this physical activity! When you are aroused, your heart rate rises, with the number of beats per minute reaching its peak during an orgasm. Research suggests that the average orgasm raises the heart rate to that of light exercise, such as walking upstairs, but of course it depends how vigorously you are having sex. Of course, this level of exercise isn’t enough to keep an adult healthy, so you should add regular exercise into your lifestyle as well.
Hugs are surprisingly good for you, lowering the blood pressure and heart rate – one study showed that a couple, who held hands for ten minutes, followed by a twenty second hug, had healthier reactions to stress. You can mimic the effects with other activities as well, such as non-sexual stroking – this only seems to reduce the blood pressure in women though, not men.
There’s no better stress-buster than sex, whether it’s penetrative, non-penetrative or oral. Those participating in stress tests, such as public speaking, showed lower stress levels when they’d had sex than people who had had no sex at all. The intimacy of penetrative sex helps people to feel relaxed and can provide similar results to activities such as exercise or meditation. Likewise, regular sex can help to strengthen your immune system. Weekly sex is suggested to be a great way of fending off illness, though more research needs to be conducted to make this conclusive.
There has been a noted link between those who feel healthiest and those who have sex, with those in a close relationship or married being most likely to say that they felt they had good or excellent health. The emotional and social support, in addition to the physical aspect of sex, can help to improve our feeling of wellbeing.
Studies suggest that a happy marriage or loving relationship can also help to fend off illnesses such as angina and stomach ulcers in men. It is thought that the lowered blood pressure, in addition to a lower level of stress, can help with these problems. If you’re celibate, all is not lost – studies have shown that nearly 700 older nuns are living until well into their 90’s and past 100 simply through leading an active lifestyle.