Engaging in sexual activities can help burn some calories, new research reveals.
The study published in the journal PLOS ONE found that sex is more effective than walk in burning calories. However, the University of Montreal researchers reported that sex was not successful in providing similar results as jogging. Sexual activities benefitted both men and women by helping them burn around 4.2 calories and 3.1 calories in a minute, respectively, Live Science reported.
"These results suggest that sexual activity may potentially be considered, at times, as a significant exercise," Live Science quoted the authors in their study.
For the study, researchers William Masters and Virginia Johnson selected 21 heterosexual couples, aged between 18 and 35. By conducting a half-an-hour workout on treadmill, researchers measured the calories each participant spent during physical exertion.
Later, they distributed an armband, called SenseWear, among the participants and asked them to wear them while performing sexual activities at home. The device, which works with the help of temperature sensors, accelerometers and galvanic skin responses, is capable of measuring the calories burnt. With the help of the device, they noted down the energy each couple spent while performing sex.
Most sex sessions lasted around 25 minutes and, interestingly, heart rates of the couple reached 180 beats per minute. Men burnt around 101 calories during each sexual intercourse, while women expended around 69 calories. The results were encouraging, while being compared to the calories burnt, through the treadmill workout (276 calories or 9.2 per minute for men and 213 calories or 7.1 calories in a minute for women).
