The best sex positions to lose weight

Now and then, the results of a study or survey come out concluding that having sex does, in fact, burn loads of calories.

And it’s not surprising – it is exercise, after all, and in an ideal world we’d all just be getting down and dirty on a regular basis and get to skip doing that NHS ‘couch to 5k’ podcast everyone’s going on about altogether.

While you probably shouldn’t skip doing other exercise (sorry), it is true that some sex positions and techniques will make you lose weight more rapidly than others – so why not hit two birds with one stone, so to speak?

Especially if you’re a woman having sex with a man, it’s easy to fall into the trap of letting him do all the work. So if you do want to burn calories as you’re at it, it’s time to pick up new habits.

We asked Rebecca Dakin – otherwise known as The Great British Sexpert – which positions we should be getting into in the bedroom, and teamed up with badgirlsbible.com to show you exactly how to do them.

“To actually lose weight, you’ll have to do a lot of it,” says Dakin.

“Firstly, it’s all about how long you do it for, and what pace you’re doing it at – there’s got to be a lot of cardio going on and if you want to tone up too, you’ll really have to work your muscles.”

So what unusual, acrobatic positions will we have to learn to do it? According to Dakin, some are actually ones you’ll know pretty well already – you just need to subtly adjust how you do them.

“Even positions such as missionary work well if the women thrusts up towards him as she’s underneath, rather than lying down while he does the work.

“That’ll exercise your glutes, lower thighs and core.”

Another popular – but equally handy – one is doggy style.

“If you’re doing doggy, normally the guy thrusts – but if you change it so the woman’s the one that’s thrusting and pushing back towards him while on all fours, it’s really good for your core muscles and you’re the one thrusting back.”

Perhaps a more obvious one is cowgirl, which as Dakin describes is one you can “really go to town on”.

“This is one which I think you could potentially lose a lot of weight from doing,” she explains. “Though the downside to it is it’s one that guys usually can’t last very long with!”

“So I’d recommend using edging techniques – ask him to communicate when he’s just about to get to the point of no return, and then stop and have a one or two minute breather instead of carrying on.

“Which is also great for enhancing sex all round.”

To make cowgirl more acrobatic, Dakin recommends putting your feet flat on either side of him and bouncing up and down instead of using your knees.

This way, you’re essentially lifting your whole body up and down, which takes a lot of effort.

Now for one you might not have heard of:

“Put your hands up against the wall and do a kind-of press up as he’s thrusting – it’ll give your arms a bit of a workout,” suggests Dakin.

“It’s like one of those Pilates moves that puts you on all fours! And again, engaging those core muscles is good.”

And if you’re feeling adventurous, why not try standing?

“Anything when you’re standing and he’s holding onto your weight is a good one for exercise,” Dakin says.

“You’re holding onto him to keep close, and that’s using a lot of your own strength.”

Remember that as Dakin says, it’s not really about the position – it’s what you do with it.

And most importantly, don’t let it detract from the fun of the sex – if you’re totally distracted with thinking about losing weight while you’re at it, you won’t exactly feel turned on.

“There isn’t a right or wrong thing to do with sex,” Dakin reminds us.

“You take it too seriously and it takes the fun out of it. It doesn’t matter if you giggle, it doesn’t matter if you laugh – it’s all part and parcel of having good sex.”

So by all means wear multicoloured sweatbands and put on Eric Prydz’s ‘Call on Me’ – whatever makes it more fun, do it.

Do you like to make sex a bit of a workout? Tweet us at @YahooStyleUK.

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