Exercise more for better arousal levels

Washington: The key to having a great sex life lies in working out intensively, suggests a new study. "Men and women who are healthy tend to have a better sexual function," said Dr Lauren Streicher, the medical director of the Northwestern Medicine Center for Sexual Medicine.

Aerobic exercise is especially good at improving cardiovascular fitness, which stimulates blood flow throughout the body, including the genital area. "Anything that supports the cardiovascular system is going to support a man or woman's sexual response," said sex therapist and educator Laura Berman. "The healthier your blood flow, the better your arousal," added Berman.

The blood flow in females is "crucial" as "it's the fundamental component that creates lubrication. So better blood flow helps with engorgement, sensation and lubrication in women as well as erections in men," said Berman.

The right amount of exercise needed is at least moderate-intensity 150 minutes or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity per week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cited by CNN. A study published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine in this regard suggested that higher levels of aerobic exercise may further improve sexual performance, stamina and desire in active men and women.

"What's interesting is that we found a dose relationship ... in that more exercise, especially in women, resulted in more benefit," said lead author Dr. Benjamin Breyer, chief of urology at the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center.

Participants were recruited from running, swimming and bicycling clubs, Breyer said, so they were all amateur athletes who were "really active, really interested in sports." Men who ran a 7-minute mile pace for 4 1/2 hours per week saw a 23 per cent reduced the odds of erectile dysfunction.

But the results were even more startling in women. Running the same 7-minute mile pace for only 4 hours a week was associated with a 30 per cent reduced odds of female sexual dysfunction. "Women who were the most fit reported the least sexual dysfunction. They had the least difficulties with arousal, the least orgasm dysfunction," Breyer explained.

"Do you need good cardiovascular health in order to have an orgasm? Yes. In order to have arousal? Yes, because you need good blood vessels," said Streicher. But she stressed that if a woman has painful sex or can't have an orgasm, that's not likely to be fixed by more exercise.