Exercise puts the spark back into your sex life

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. For more workout ideas, visit my Workout Center.
• 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.

Exercise can be fun

Exercise and physical activity can be a fun way to spend some time. It gives you a chance to unwind, enjoy the outdoors or simply engage in activities that make you happy. Physical activity can also help you connect with family or friends in a fun social setting. So, take a dance class, hit the hiking trails or join a soccer team. Find a physical activity you enjoy, and just do it. If you get bored, try something new.

Exercise promotes better sleep

Findings from a recent Stanford University Medical School study may come as no surprise: older and middle-age people reported sleeping better when they added regular exercise to their routine. After 16 weeks in a moderate intensity exercise program, subjects were able to fall asleep about 15 minutes earlier and sleep about 45 minutes longer at night.
Researchers selected 29 women and 14 men with mild sleep complaints for a 16-week controlled study. All participants were age 50 to 74, lived sedentary lives, and suffered no cardiovascular disease, stroke or other clinically diagnosed disorder known to cause sleep disorders. All were non-smokers and moderate drinkers. None were seriously overweight or taking hormone replacement therapy, sleep medications or other medications known to affect sleep.
Participants exercised at least four times a week. Twice a week they participated in an organized aerobics class, which included 30 minutes of endurance training. The other two times they exercised on their own, doing 40 minutes of brisk walking or stationary bike riding. To assess impact on sleep, researchers looked at factors such as how long it takes to fall asleep, total hours of sleep per night, how often one wakes up, how one feels when waking up, and daytime function.
The link between aerobic exercise and sleep may seem obvious, but until this study, there has been very little controlled research to support this "conventional wisdom." Researchers were especially concerned about the overemphasis on sedative hypnotic medications for older adults. Though they are only 20% of the population, older Americans receive almost half the medications prescribed to aid sleep. The potential side effects of these drugs-confusion, falls, extended drowsiness, agitation, and interactions with other medications-can be especially problematic for this age group. Until this study, there have been very few attempts to identify effective non-drug approaches to treating mild sleep disorders.
The study also provides further evidence of the interactions of mind and body. In this case improving physical health shows a positive impact on the mind.
RX: Self-Care Tips
Try exercise to help your sleep. Here are some tips.

• A drop in body temperature aids sound sleep. So time your exercise five to six hours before bedtime.
• Make your exercise vigorous enough to make you sweat a little. Previous studies have shown that non-aerobic stretching and concentration exercises alone did not impart sleep.
• Stick with it! Participants in this study did not report improved sleep until they had been exercising for 16 weeks.

Exercise boosts energy

If energy is a problem for you, it may be hard to contemplate exercising at all but, remember Newton's law of motion - an object at rest stays at rest, while an object in motion tends to stay in motion. You didn't know there would be a science lesson, did you?
The point is, if you can take that first step, it'll be easier to take the second step and even easier to take the third step. Before you know it, you're actually exercising and, even better, your fatigue starts to fade away. Some tips:

• Put on your workout clothes - When you're tired, even the thought of changing clothes can keep you on the couch. Put on your workout clothes as soon as you get up or when you get home to get rid of the barrier right away.
• Make it easier to get going - Make a rule that you can't turn on the TV or sit down at the computer until you take a walk or do something active.
• Make it fun - If you're trying to create more energy, the last thing you want is a workout you hate. Choose an activity you enjoy, put on your favorite music and ease into it.
• Enlist some help - A dog that needs to be walked or a child who needs to burn off some energy are great motivators.

Exercise improves mood

• Cardiovascular Exercises and Aerobics: Intense exercise increases the release of those chemicals (endorphins, adrenaline, serotonin and dopamine) in your body. Cardiovascular exercise and aerobics are great for creating the intensity required for a mood-raising chemical high.
• Yoga Yoga has been shown in studies to reduce tension and stress while improving mood. Yoga focuses on a range of stretching, breathing and motion that create a release of negative emotions in the body. Yoga, interestingly, has been shown to be particularly effective for men (compared to other exercises like swimming).

Exercise combats health conditions and diseases

Research consistently shows that regular exercise, combined with healthy eating, is the most efficient and healthful way to control your weight.

In addition to helping to control weight, research shows that regular physical activity can reduce your risk for several diseases and conditions and improve your overall quality of life. Regular exercise can help prevent:

• Heart disease and stroke. Daily physical activity can help prevent heart disease and stroke by strengthening your heart muscle, lowering your blood pressure, raising your HDL ("good" cholesterol), and lowering LDL cholesterol ("bad" cholesterol), improving blood flow, and increasing your heart's working capacity.
• High blood pressure. Regular exercise reduces blood pressure in people with high blood pressure (hypertension).
• Diabetes. By reducing body fat, physical activity can help to prevent and control type 2 diabetes.
• Back pain. By increasing muscle strength and endurance and improving flexibility and posture, regular exercise can prevent back pain.
• Osteoporosis. Regular weight-bearing exercise promotes bone formation and may prevent many forms of bone loss associated with aging.

Regular physical activity can also improve mood and the way you feel about yourself. Exercise is likely to reduce depression and anxiety and help you to better manage stress.

Controlling your weight

Regular exercise is an important part of effective weight loss. It helps to control your weight by using excess calories that otherwise would be stored as fat. Physical activity also helps prevent many diseases and improve your overall health.

Your weight is determined by the number of calories you eat each day minus what your body uses. Everything you eat contains calories, and everything you do uses calories, including sleeping, breathing, and digesting food. Any physical activity in addition to what you normally do will burn those extra calories.

Balancing the number of calories you expend through exercise and physical activity with the calories you eat will help you achieve your desired weight. The key to successful weight loss and improved overall health is making physical activity a part of your daily routine.