Here’s one alternative to regular aerobic exercise

IF you never seem to find time for the gym, don’t feel guilty.

Making love offers an alternative to treadmills, which many people find much more enjoyable.

Besides, it is also good for your health in other ways.

The coronavirus pandemic and lockdowns have encouraged many people to start exercising.

However, some of us just can’t seem to get excited about jogging around the park or in gyms.

So, what can you do as an alternative to the regular aerobic exercise that health authorities so heartily recommend?

The answer lies in an often overlooked activity that can easily be practised at home, which not only boosts your pulse rate, but also offers a host of other health benefits. As you may have guessed, it is making love.

Research has shown that regular sexual activity helps protect against cardiovascular disease.

A 2010 study published in the American Journal of Cardiology found that men who have frequent sexual intercourse are 45% less likely to develop heart disease when compared to their peers who only have sex once a month or less often.

Some 1,000 men were surveyed in the study, which is not an enormous sample and one that obviously excludes women, but this finding is nonetheless significant.

In 2018, the French Cardiology Federation (FFC) added weight to this conclusion.

FFC spokesman Prof François Carré says: “Sexual intercourse involves a moderate physical effort that is comparable to climbing 20 steps at a rapid pace. And like all physical activity, it helps develop the myocardium, that is to say the cardiac muscle, and also eliminates toxins from the body.”

The cliché that a headache is a good reason not to have sex is in all likelihood misleading.

Researchers have found that sex can have a beneficial effect on certain types of pain including headache and backache. This is due to a flood of hormones released during orgasm, notably serotonin, dopamine, endorphin, oxytocin and vasopressin, which have a significant impact on sensations of pain.

Although it is not usual to treat pain with sex, that does not mean that it might not be beneficial.

In a 2013 survey of migraine sufferers, researchers from the University of Münster found that two out of three patients who had attempted sex during a migraine attack reported that it relieved symptoms, while one out of three said it made them feel worse.

And let’s not forget that hormones released during orgasm also play a positive role in reducing stress and preventing depression.

The icing on the cake is that regular sex may be as good as a makeover.

Forget botox and anti-wrinkle creams, the battle against age can be fought between the sheets.

This was the conclusion reached by Scottish neuropsychologist David Weeks of the Royal Edinburgh Hospital.

A study of 3,500 men and women that he conducted over a period of 10 years found that participants who had sex three times a week looked an average of seven years younger than those who made love less frequently.