This week, research suggests the keys to more and/or better sex may be different for some men and women.

This week, research suggests the keys to more and/or better sex may be different for some men and women.

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This Week in Sex is a weekly summary of news and research related to sexual behavior, sexuality education, contraception, STIs, and more.

Study: Women Who Get More Sleep Have More Sex

New research suggests that women who spend more time sleeping also spend more time doing other things in bed. A study of 171 women published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine tracked how long women slept and then asked questions to gauge their sexual desire the next day. The women slept an average of seven hours and 22 minutes, and those who slept longer on average experienced fewer problems with vaginal arousal than women who obtained less sleep. Moreover, every additional hour of sleep the women reported translated into a 14 percent increase in the likelihood they’d actually have sex the next day.

Dr. David Kalmbach, the lead author on the study, told CBS News: “Good sleep has been shown to improve mood, energy, concentration, overall health, and, now, sexual desire and arousal.” He added, “If there’s anything women or their partners can do to help promote good sleep for one another, whether it’s helping out around the house to reduce workload, planning romantic getaways, or just practicing good sleep hygiene, it could help protect against having problems in the bedroom.”

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Of course, this does not mean that women should sleep away the day—then there really would be no time for sex. Kalmbach said in a statement, “I think the take-home message should not be that more sleep is better, but that it is important to allow ourselves to obtain the sleep that our mind and body needs.”

Meanwhile, Men Who Get More Exercise May Have Better Sex

While women are sleeping to improve their sex lives, men should be hitting the gym, according to one new study. The study, also published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, surveyed nearly 300 men who reported their activity levels as well as aspects of their sexual functioning, including their ability to get erect, the quality and frequency of their erections, and their ability to orgasm. Researchers then divided the men into categories ranging from sedentary to highly active and compared the sexual functioning of the groups.

They found that men who reported more exercise (both in terms of frequency and intensity) also had higher sexual function scores. To reap the sexual benefits of exercise the men had to do two hours of strenuous exercise (such as running or swimming) per week, 3.5 hours of moderate exercise, or six hours of light exercise per week. Men who achieved this threshold of exercise were likely to have more intercourse, better erections, and stronger orgasms than those who did not.

In contrast, men who exercised less reported lower levels of sexual function. Low sexual function was also related to diabetes, past or current smoking, and coronary artery disease—conditions that may also be improved through increased exercise.

These results were the same regardless of race; the authors explained that this is an important contribution to the science on exercise and sex, as African-American men have been underrepresented in previous studies on this topic.

And Finally: Men Who Watch Porn Might Have Better Sex Too



Yet another study from the Journal of Sexual Medicine suggests that porn will help men enjoy greater arousal with a partner.

This departure from the usual messages about porn—which suggest that men who watch it will become desensitized to sex and disconnected from real situations—is based on 280 men, nearly half of whom were in serious relationships. The men were asked about the number of hours they spent watching sex films each week, filled out a survey on their sexual functioning, and then viewed a film that portrayed consensual vaginal intercourse in a lab and reported their level of arousal.

The men who viewed more porn at home were less likely to report erectile dysfunction and more likely to become aroused while viewing porn in a lab. Though it’s not surprising that men who like porn at home also like it in a lab, the authors explain that these results are important because they refute the idea that men who watch porn become desensitized to it.

Co-author Nicole Prause told the Huffington Post in an email that “viewing more sex films was associated with a stronger sex drive, including the desire to have sex with a partner.” This suggests that “sex films may be able to ‘stoke the fire.'” She added, “The most common error of thinking with respect to men and porn is that all porn is bad for men all of the time. The truth is probably that some porn is good for some men in some situations.”