5 SEX POSITION THAT DOUBLES AS EXERCISE

Missionary

In a way, the missionary position is the physical equivalent of the old “I’m busy washing my hair” excuse — it’s the brush-off used when you’re lazy, tired, or just not that interested. But despite being one of the most passive contortions for a woman, man-on-top can still provide a pretty good workout.

“It depends on how enthusiastic you are about it, but missionary can be great for the core muscles,” says Stacy Berman, a New York City-based certified fitness trainer and founder of Stacy’s Boot Camp. “If your partner is thrusting toward you, you want to have an equal and opposite thrust back, and that requires a lot of core strength. It actually will start burning.”

Patti Britton, author of The Art of Sex Coaching and immediate past president of the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists, agrees that you’ll definitely be feeling it in your abs. “You can strengthen your core by focusing on pelvic lifting using your core, not your lower back. That’s where women tend to get stuck — they tend to rely on their lower back to give them propulsion.” (The risk of which isn’t a joke, either. Worst-case scenario, you could throw out your back or sustain some other injury — not exactly a bedroom turn-on.)

Missionary position can also provide a good butt workout. “The more she does buttock squeezes, the more she could accentuate her riding toward him to give herself a good glute workout,” Britton says.

Doggy-Style

Like with the missionary position, penetration-from-behind sex engages the woman’s core because she has to stabilize herself on all fours, says Berman. You’ll also be working your quadriceps and glutes to help brace yourself against the impact.

However, you can use a modified position to get a good arm workout, too. Rather than having your hands flat on the bed, “if the woman has her hands on a wall in front of her and sort of uses her upper body to help thrust, that would be a good shoulder and upper body workout,” Berman says.

Cowgirl

With a standard cowgirl position, the lower part of the woman’s legs are braced on the bed or floor, which will engage her butt and core.

“Much like riding a horse, she’s going to flex her lower abs and pelvic muscles,” says Yvonne K. Fulbright, a certified sex educator and author of Touch Me There! “Pressing into the man’s abs and sides with her quads or calves can engage those muscles as well.”

Modifying the cowgirl position can work additional muscle groups. “To make it even more intense, she can come up onto her feet, almost like a squat over him. That’s all butt, legs, and hips,” says Berman. “If she gets up onto her feet and leans onto her hands, she’ll also have to use her upper body to balance.”

Lotus

Like the missionary position, the lotus sitting position is one of the more passive sex positions. However, many of the same muscles worked in the cowgirl position are going to be used in this contortion: the core is engaged to stabilize the body, and the glutes are worked during thrusting.

Standing

Standing is one of the more challenging positions because often the woman has to allow her partner to lift her in some way, says Britton.

If the man and woman are facing each other, core and upper-leg strength comes into play: if she’s standing on one leg, those leg muscles are worked to keep her upright, and core muscles are engaged to keep her balanced. If she’s wrapping both legs around her partner, she’ll need good arm strength to hold onto her partner. And regardless which one of these contortions she’s in, “she has to have stamina if she’s standing,” says Britton.

If the man and woman are facing the same direction, the same muscles engaged in doggy-style are used: she’ll work her core for balance, and her arms can be worked if she’s bracing herself against a wall or headboard and using them to help thrust