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Sexercise yourself fit

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You're looking to get fit but you're too cash-strapped for an expensive gym contract? If you've got a willing partner, sexercise might just be what you're looking for.

According to a report in the Daily Mail 76% of women would include a night-time romp into their schedules if they thought it would help them burn calories. About two-thirds of women who do have gym memberships said they were happier to do activities such as sex or even vacuuming if they thought it would burn as many calories as an exercise workout.

According to Kerry McCloskey, author of 'The Ultimate Sex Diet', a half-our sex session will burn up to 150 to 250 calories, and up to 350 calories depending on how active you are.

Celebrities such as Kim Catrall and Mel B list sexercise as one of their top diet tips.

Sex is good for you

Not only will regular sexercise get you into shape it will also improve your overall health. Sex has a host of health benefits.

- Sex relieves stress, according to Scottish researchers people who have regular sex handle stress better

- It helps increase blood flow to the brain and other organs.

- During intercourse oxytocin is released which helps alleviate pain.

- It boosts immunity, researchers found that people who have sex once or twice a week have higher levels of an antibody called immunoglobulin A which helps protect against colds and flu

- It improves heart health, researchers found that having sex twice or more times a week reduces the risk of a fatal heart attack by half

- Frequent ejaculation in 20-something men may reduce the risk of prostate cancer later in life.

- It strengthens the pelvic floor muscles in women. During sex doing a few Kegel exercises increases pleasure and also reduces the risk of incontinence later in life.

- Sex makes you live longer. During intercourse the hormone DHEA is released into the body. DHEA helps balance the immune system, improves cognition, promotes bone growth, maintains and repairs tissues and keeps skin healthy and supple.

Get the moves right

Try these positions to the get the most of a workout romp.

COWGIRL

This position will help to work glutes, core muscles and quads.

STAND AND CARRY

This position will help to work leg muscles and core muscles.

THE MISSIONARY POSITION

This position will help strengthen core muscles and glutes.

DOGGY

This position will work glutes and quads.

Exercises to try

If you feel a bit intimidated by the above positions try some of these exercises first to help strength your muscles.

Pelvic bridges - Lie with your back flat against the ground, and your abdominals pulled in tightly. Bend your legs so that they are at right angles to the ground. Your arms should be resting at your sides. Raise your pelvis and lower back vertebra-by-vertebra, keeping your back straight and abdominals contracted. Contract your buttock (gluteal) muscles tightly. Hold this position for 5 seconds and then slowly lower.

The ab crunch - Lie flat on an exercise mat, knees bent and feet flat on the ground. Cup your hands at the sides of your head or cross your arms on your chest. Use your abdominal muscles to lift the upper body closer to the legs. Return slowly to the original starting position. Repeat the exercise.

Abduction - Lie on your side, with your lower leg bent and your upper leg extended in line with your hips. Rest on your upper arm to lift your upper torso off the ground. Tighten the muscles of the front of the thigh (quadriceps) of both legs. Lift your upper leg from the floor and hold for 5 seconds. Feel the tightness in the outer thigh (abductor). Lower to the starting position.

Tricep extension - Sit on a bench, and grasp a dumbbell in both hands. Hold the weight directly behind your head, upper arms perpendicular to the floor.

Squats with dumbbells - Stand in an upright position, feet shoulder-width apart, with a dumbbell in each hand, arms extended at your sides. Your knees should be slightly bent and your torso should have a slight forward lean. Squat down, keeping your shins close to perpendicular to the floor, until your thighs are approximately parallel to the floor. Look forwards, leaning your upper torso slightly forward. Stand up and return to the starting position, pushing your hips in and your head up.

(Sources: www.fitnessmagazine.com, http://www.cbsnews.com/2300-204_162-10005431.html?tag=page, www.webmd.com, Health24 )

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