Q.
Does sex count as cardio? How many calories does it burn?
A.
We get this question a lot. And we don't
list sex in our cardio tracker for several reasons.
For reference, a cardio workout is anything that raises your heart rate for an
extended period of time, usually 20-30 minutes. It works all of the major
muscle groups, and you should find yourself sweating and breathing hard during
the most intense part of the workout.
Cardio works large muscle groups repetitively (such as how running uses your
large leg & arm muscles and swimming uses your whole body). Sex does not
typically use major muscle groups (or at least in a full range of motion the
way that these examples do).
Cardio must reach a specific level of intensity, meaning that you must elevate
your heart rate to an aerobic level and sustain it there—about 60-85% of your
max heart rate, or on a Rate of Perceived Exertion Scale (where you estimate
how hard you are working on a scale of 1-10, about a 6-8.5). Although you may
be breathing heavily during sex, this isn’t necessarily because your heart
rate is up. It has more to do with hormones and what’s going on with your
nervous system. (Think of how your may breathe harder or feel your heart rate
increase if you’re scared—that doesn’t mean you’re getting a cardio workout.)
How many calories you're burning during sex really depends on too many
factors. It's like asking "does walking burn a lot of calories?" It depends on
your speed, distance, duration, intensity, etc.
Now, if you really feel that your sexual activity meets all of these
requirements—although I'd recommend taking your heart rate several times
during it to make sure—then you could probably count it as cardio. But
according to most calorie counters, the calorie burn is pretty minimal—less
than walking and not much more than just sitting. Plus, how accurate is that?
It’s important to distinguish that not all activities are a workout. Sure,
being "active" burns more calories than not being active. But just because
you’re burning a few additional calories does not mean you are exercising or
that you’re receiving the same benefits of a true workout.
Written by Nicole Nichols, B.S. & Certified Fitness Instructor
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