Ever wondered how many calories you can burn through on a steamy Valentine’s night?
Well, depending on your position, you might not need to worry about getting your 10,000 steps in.
In fact, the most adventurous one could burn over 200 calories.
That means, in theory, a passionate night under the sheets can be a better weight-burner than a short run.
Picture shows a couple under the sheets in bed. Data shows the average number of calories lost during 30 minutes in each sex position for all men and women who took part in the survey. The squat position for women will definitely keep you in shape as it burns 188 calories every 30 minutes
Even just having sex in the spoon position for 15 minutes could burn 51 calories, experts say.
Lovers can use an online calculator to estimate how much they will burn by having sex.
It was created by From Mars, which describes itself as being an online health clinic for American men that sells Viagra, hair loss and acne medication.
The calculator is, surprisingly, based on simple research carried out by online golf shop GolfSupport.com.
It saw 112 heterosexual couples given Fitbits to find out just how many calories they burn just by romping.
The survey, which does not confess to be gold-standard science, asked couples to wear the gadgets while having sex in 12 different positions.
The number of calories lost during 30 minutes in each position is the average taken for all men and women involved in the experiment.
Coming out on top was the squat position for women (188 calories).
Although similar to the cowgirl, it is slightly different as it involves raising the knees into a squat rather than placing their weight on them.
This position doesn’t burn quite as many calories for men (50).
The squat was followed by the energetic ‘butter churner’, which burns 179 calories for women and a huge 211 calories for men over half-an-hour.
The ‘butter churner’ is, however, described as a position for those ‘brave enough to try it’.
The manoeuvre involves the woman lying on her back with her legs raised above and behind her head, with the man stood up over the woman’s raised legs.
From Mars has created a calculator showing how many calories you can burn while having sex in different positions. These calculations show the energy burn of 15 minutes’ romping
You could view your Valentine’s Day sex as a work out, according to personal trainer Lee Mitchell.
He said: ‘Valentine’s Day sex is slightly more special than your everyday sexual encounters.
‘As a calorie burning activity, there are of course plenty of gym-based workouts that will easily surpass a 30-minute spell under the covers.
‘However, you simply cannot discount the fact having sex in a variety of positions can and does burn more calories than you’d expect.
‘Sex also has the added benefits of improving your cardio health, increasing your happy hormone levels (serotonin) and improving your sleep.’
Several studies have looked at how many calories couples burn during sex without breaking it down into position.
Heterosexual couples spend about 20 minutes on both foreplay and sex and burn about 100 calories, according to a review of 18 studies published in 2022 in the Archives of Sexual Behaviour.
One of the 18 studies, which only had eight participants and seven of which were men, found on average 130 calories are burned during sex.
Sex is considered to be ‘significant exercise’ in a 2013 study published in Plos One, which looked at the energy expenditure in young healthy adults during sex and compared it to running on a treadmill.
Researchers at the University of Quebec in Canada discovered couples in their early 20s burn between 69 and 100 calories in their average session. This equates to 3.6 calories per minute.
That is about the same energy expenditure as running for 10 minutes on the treadmill.
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