A new study reported in the journal PLoS One addressed this question by measuring the energy expenditure during sex compared to moderate intensity exercise on a treadmill.
The description of this research in the popular press reflects the diversity of views on this topic. The article titles ranged from the optimistic It's Official: Scientists Say Sex Counts as Exercise to the ambivalent Is Sex Exercise? Sorry, It’s Only “Moderate Exercise” & Only Sometimes to the downright pessimistic No, sex does not count as exercise.
In the study, 21 heterosexual couples (age: 22.6 ± 2.8 years old) were monitored for energy expenditure during sexual intercourse using the portable SenseWear armband. As a comparison control, all participants also completed a 30 minute endurance exercise session on a treadmill at a moderate intensity.
The researchers found that mean energy expenditure during sexual activity was 4.2 kCal/min (6.0 METs) for 24 minutes in men, and 3.1 kCal/min (5.6 METs) for 22 minutes in women. Note that a MET is a unit of energy expenditure normalized to your weight (i.e. 1 MET = 1 kCal per hour per kilogram; 1 MET is approximately the resting metabolic rate). The energy expenditure during the 30 min treadmill session was 9.2 kCal/min (8.5 METs) in men, and 7.1 kCal/min (8.4 METs) in women.
How is moderate intensity exercise defined? According to the CDC, moderate intensity exercise ranges from 3.5 to 7 kCal/min (3 to 6 METs). Examples include brisk walking, playing doubles tennis, and moderate effort on a stationary bicycle.
Thus, sex does indeed represent moderate exercise (3.6 kCal/min or 5.8 METs averaged across men and women in the study). Furthermore, in a previous post, I described the CDC daily physical activity guidelines which recommend 30 minutes of moderate intensity exercise per day (or 150 min each week). Thus, it is possible to satisfy these guidelines through a daily 30 minute session of sexercise.
Figure 1. Is sex moderate intensity exercise? YES, YES, YES!
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