Fitness For Better Sex.

Sex experts are forever saying the key to great sex is all in your head. But for our purposes, let’’s look at the other love machine-your body. Mental sex isn”t much good without a body that can deliver the goods the mind has promised itself.

“There’’s no doubt that there’’s a link between libido and fitness,” says Eric Gronbech, Ph.D., a professor at Chicago State University who researches the link between fitness and libido. Actually, there are two links: First, when you exercise, you prepare your body for better sexual performance. “There’’s been evidence to suggest exercise increases your testosterone levels,” says James White, Ph.D., professor emeritus at the University of California, San Diego, and author of The Best Sex of Your Life. Not only will exercise help increase your sexual activity but it also lets you build the cardiovascular and physical fitness that’’s going to help you perform for as long as you want.

The second link is more psychological. “As you exercise, you tend to feel better about yourself,” says Dr. Gronbech. You feel more confident, and your appearance improves, as does your overall ability to draw a few delicate moths to the glorious flame that is your golden self. So in addition to your core workout of lifts that work all your muscle groups (see the Core Routine on page 121), here are some specific suggestions, stretches and routines to turn your body into a total sex machine. You can even do some of these on your bed while you”re waiting for your partner to join you. Just make sure you have a firm mattress. If you have an old mattress or a waterbed, use the floor or a weight bench instead.

Do aerobic exercise for amore. Sex is not a sport of power; it’’s one of endurance. The best way to build endurance is by improving your cardiovascular fitness with aerobic exercise like jogging, swimming, cycling or stair-climbing. In one of Dr. White’’s studies, men who performed aerobic exercise reported increases in libido. But more important, they reported having 30 percent more sex and 26 percent more orgasms. “Overwhelmingly, they reported more sexual satisfaction than those who didn”t exercise,” says Dr. White. Try to keep your aerobic exercise to at least three sessions a week, 30 to 45 minutes at a time.

Pump up a pleasure chest. Cosmetically, it’’s obvious why you”d want a well-muscled chest-to attract more mates for sex. Seriously, though, your chest muscles help support your arms and shoulder muscles, which you need any time you”re on top, especially in the missionary position. Keep doing those bench presses.

Work your gut. Your abdominals do more than give you thrusting power; they also help you make subtle changes in the angle of thrust and your position relative to your partner. To keep your abs sexually potent, do a variety of crunches, such as crossover and oblique. Dr. Gronbech suggests starting out with three sets of 10 reps, and working up to 20 reps.

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