Playing a round (of golf) beats sex for keeping fit

A FEW rounds of golf may not get the heart racing quite as much as a night of passion.

But playing the game burns more calories than sex, making it a better way to stay trim in middle age.

Fitness experts have found an hour on the course burns 236 calories compared to 200 calories for a man during lovemaking and 138 for a woman.

Other activities which also have a bigger impact on our waistline are gardening, at 206 calories an hour, and DIY. An hour of sanding, sawing and painting burns up 235 calories. Horse riding, table tennis and even walking to work all use up slightly more calories in an hour than having sex.

However, according to the study commissioned by Forza Supplements, the best sports to really tackle your weight are boxing and squash, which burn 800 and 748 calories an hour respectively.

John Brewer, Professor of Applied Sports Science at St Mary’s University in London, said it was harder to keep the pace up during lovemaking.

He said: ‘Sex is not a valid way to lose weight because it is not possible to continue for long enough at the intensity required.

‘You may get hot and sweaty but the idea it helps to burn lots of calories is a myth.

‘Golf and similar activities may be more moderate but they are sustained for longer.’

The calorie burn was measured by asking men and women of the same weight, 11 stone, to do 50 sports or activities using fitness trackers to record the results, which were verified by five fitness trainers.

A Canadian study from 2013 found men used up 4.2 calories a minute having sex and women 3.1 calories, saying it can be ‘at times’ a form of ‘significant exercise’.

But the latest study, which ranked 50 sports and activities, put sex at number 33 for men, on a par with yoga or fishing from a riverbank while standing.

For women it was number 37, burning just two more calories an hour than walking a dog.