Sex imposes a unique but rarely discussed set of fitness demands - many of which are easily trained. For the orgasm opportunist, it's important to have excellent cardiovascular fitness, strong and mobile hips, core strength and body control, and of course specific strength and endurance in the muscles of the pelvic floor. Let's examine these in turn:

The need for cardiovascular fitness is obvious – it enables you to sustain sex both for long periods of time and for short but taxing sessions. However, the benefits of cardiovascular fitness in sex do not end there. Vascular fitness in general is important for blood flow to the genitals in both sexes, having the potential to increase the strength of erections in men and the efficiency of vaginal lubrication as well as the facility of orgasm in women. Declining quality of erection in men can, in fact, be a marker for vascular dysfunction, whereas exercise, and aerobic exercise in particular, has been linked to improvements in erectile function (and reductions in rates of erectile dysfunction), endothelial cell function, and production of vascular nitric oxide If that was just gibberish: exercise improves your cardiovascular health, which in turn improves blood flow, which in turn makes your genitals more awesome. To accomplish improved cardiovascular fitness and reap the benefits, expect to train with both short and taxing as well as longer and more sustained endurance activities.

While infrequently considered, the sexual importance of hip strength, mobility and endurance is not hard to understand. Good hip mobility will allow you to enter into a wider array of positions, and silly as it sounds, reduce the risk of injury. With immobile hips, your body is likely to use the lumbar spine to compensate for a lack of motion in the hips . This is problematic for a number of reasons: the muscles of spinal flexion and extension are much weaker, and repeated lumbar rotation and end-range flexion and extension imposes a non-trivial risk to the intervertebral discs as well as the facet joints of the vertebrae . It is much better to achieve range of motion and power in the far stronger hips. To that end you will train to develop both strength and endurance in hip flexion and hip extension – and do so with both anterior-posterior, as well as axial load vectors (think of flexing and extending your hips in different positions, e.g. with your partner on top compared to standing). These will be key to achieving and sustaining the thrusting rhythm and pace that will best match both your partner and the moment. To keep you performing through a range of angles and positions, you will also train hip abduction and adduction as well as hip internal and external rotation.

While the importance of core strength and stability varies based on position, it is generally important for transmitting force from the upper body to the lower body . For our purposes here, think embracing your partner above while moving your hips below. A core with strength and stamina will also help you keep your balance and sustain movement in certain positions, e.g. for a man where he picks up his partner (as well as the partner picked-up!) or for a woman on top. With a strong and stable core, upper body pulling strength and stamina may also be developed. The ability to pull both horizontally and vertically will also assist in maintaining exotic positions (think of holding and pulling your partner towards you while picking or being picked up), and, with proper transmission through the core, can work in coordination with the hips to assist pacing.

While there's nothing sexy sounding about the bulbospongiosus or pubococcygeus muscles, they are foundational to the pelvic floor, and there are few more important muscles for sexual health and performance. These muscles, commonly referred to as the BC and PC muscles, are critically important for both sexes. For men they contribute to erection and ejaculation, while for women they help to close the vagina and contribute to clitoral erection. In both sexes they contribute to the feelings of orgasm. For optimal sexual performance you'll want to develop both muscles, and you'll need to train them for both strength and endurance. Prepare to meet your friend, the kegel. A simple, but highly effective exercise for training the pelvic floor, kegel and pelvic-floor exercise regimens have been show to reduce premature ejaculation in men, , reduce rates of erectile dysfunction in men , improve both orgasm and arousal response in women , improve postpartum sexual function in women , and add address urinary incontinence in both sexes . While not a panacea, the value of kegel exercises and pelvic floor fitness cannot be overstated, in some cases exceeding the clinical outcomes of even the most impressive medications. Just don't do your resisted kegels in the gym.

Note that in addition to the specific needs and methods outlined above, resistance exercise in general will also help promote a favorable hormonal environment , which in turn can help maintain and improve sex drive and genital health. In men, resistance exercise can have a positive effect on testosterone, which may lead to increased production of nitric oxide and other vasoactive substances in erection . In women, resistance exercise can have a positive effect on estrogen which has itself been shown to have protective effects on endothelial function and nitric oxide availability . The long and short of this (mostly long), is that resistance training has a positive effect on sexual health.

So now you have a sense of the fitness demands of sex, and an idea of how BodBot will select training methods to address them. Of course, that's only a piece of the picture. To be the love child of Apollo and Venus, the Diomedes of 'don't stop', the Oppenheimer of 'Oh oh OH MY GOD', that we know you to be, it's worth discussing orgasms and, for men, premature ejaculation.

A word on orgasms: there are clinical indications that there are at least three classes of orgasm in women, and at least two classes of orgasm in men. That said, the pattern of nerve distribution between individuals within genders is not uniform and can vary great a deal. It should be stressed that not all individuals will be physically capable of all classes of orgasms , though it is certainly worth exploring for your own enjoyment as well as for your partner(s). The different types of orgasm in women can be roughly classified as clitoral, g-spot and deep-spot/cervical (subdivision can also be made, and a fourth - of more distant origin – orgasm introduced from the nipples may also be classed). The distinctions between them are actually material, in so far as each type of orgasm is innervated differently. The clitoral orgasm relies on the pudendal nerve, the g-spot orgasm on the pelvic and the deep-spot/cervical orgasm on the hypogastric nerves . Different positions and techniques can be used to best stimulate the different regions and their corresponding nerve supplies. E.g. anal intercourse is perfectly well capable of stimulating the pelvic nerve. Simultaneous stimulation of different groups of nerves can also lead to orgasms of different textures. The general point here is that while general and specific fitness can enhance your sex life, thoughtful anatomy-based experimentation - in conjunction with care and attention to your partner's response - is still critically important.

A word on premature ejaculation: premature ejaculation is a physical and malleable process. From a physical perspective, strengthening the pelvic floor muscles will help increase the latency to ejaculation. From a nervous system perspective, premature ejaculation can be viewed from two directions – top down and bottom up (pun not intended). Top-down, the balance between dopamine and serotonin appears to play a role in premature ejaculation – with high levels of dopamine relative to serotonin correlated with faster times to ejaculation . Activities aimed at promoting serotonin secretion – for instance going for a walk and/or eating a substantial amount of carbohydrates before sex, may help to shift this balance more in the favor of a prolonged sexual encounter. Bottom-up, both nerve density and sensitivity on the penis contribute to sex outcomes. Quite simply, practicing prolonged erections through self-stimulation is a simple and efficacious method for shifting the properties of these nerve populations.

Finally, do note that we haven't touched the mental and emotional aspects of sex and orgasm. These are undeniably important, but beyond the scope of simple physical fitness. That said, there are few superior methods of gaining confidence in a task than by training for it. So go forth, be safe, and go for the gold (that is NOT an R. Kelly reference).

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