Courtney Paul Helps You Improve Your Performance in Bed

We get it. We really do. Exercise is key.

But working out multiple times a week for the rest of your life can sometimes sound like a pyramid scheme. The perpetual effort it takes to maintain a healthy lifestyle is why the fitness industry ambushes Americans with body goals based on a myriad of physical and mental benefits.

And while the fitness people hit the mark, they sometimes leave out the love language of the human spirit: Exercise will empower your sex life.

It might be inappropriate for gyms to advertise fitness as a natural sexual stimulant for women and men, but the proof is in the pudding, or more importantly in your post-gym orgasms.

Although only 28 percent of Americans meet the physical activity guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the 2021 General Social Survey carried out by the National Opinion Resource Center (NOTC) located in downtown Chicago indicated that around 3 in 4 adults are sexually active.

Evidently, it takes a lot more to convince someone to put on sneakers than it does to take off their clothes. But folks might be more eager to lift weights or get on a treadmill if they knew all the ways exercise could improve your sex life.

Understanding the why helps you get motivated, but knowing the how is what gets you across the finish line. We reached out to Bravo celebrity fitness trainer Courtney Paul of "Work Out New York" to explain what exercises are best for maximizing health and pleasure.

And the best part? You can do all of these in the comfort of your home.

Let's start by squatting

If you're wondering what Paul's most recommended exercise is for his celebrity clients—including the likes of Alan Cumming, Ashley Graham and Katie Holmes—it's squatting.

He believes it's the most important exercise for the entire body and sexual activity. The movement engages the gluteus maximus, minimus and medius (buttocks), quadriceps (front of the thigh), hamstrings (back of the thigh), adductor (groin), hip flexors and calves. Squatting works out the body parts that support most movements you'll need in the bedroom.

"This exercise can increase your thrust, necessary for deeper penetration, as well as stamina and endurance," Paul said. "This is also an exercise that can increase the motion in the ocean when you got a canoe and not a tug boat."

In other words, regardless of whether size matters or not to your partner, squatting may help put any insecurity to rest.

Kegels

You might remember Kegels from when "Sex and the City's" Samantha Jones did them at brunch. But it's a fact that the scriptwriters did their fitness research. Paul explained that Kegel exercises directly correlate with sexual activity in the bedroom, strengthening erections, performance and orgasms.

"Kegels help strengthen the pelvic floor muscles, which support the bladder and bowels; this will, in turn, strengthen sexual function," he added.

Elbow planks

Holding yourself upright above your partner for a prolonged period demands endurance. It's made up of two components: cardiovascular endurance and muscular endurance. So if you're physically struggling to sustain yourself and getting tired quickly, Paul recommended the benefits of elbow planks.

"The elbow plank and high plank engage the entire core, shoulders and triceps," he explained. "Stabilization for the upper body and long-lasting staying power through thrusts of the lower body. Yes, that's right. We are talking about missionary style. The plank is the movement that will give you the endurance to last all night long."

Push-ups

On television, how often have you seen a male ardently get a set of push-ups in before meeting with a lover? While these individuals might've been doing it to improve their physical appearance—providing their muscles with a pump—regularly doing push-ups is a powerful form of building strength, stamina and endurance.

Push-ups work out various muscle groups, including your triceps, shoulders, pectoral and core, which all directly enhance your skills in bed.

"Sex is basically a compound movement that requires upper body and core strength," Paul noted. "Push-ups done regularly increase your strength in the shoulders and chest, which increases your power to hold yourself from an upright to decline, and even diagonal positions for longer periods of time."

Experimenting with different positions is part of the fun in sex, so push-ups will encourage you to get freaky with it, so to speak. Paul advised practicing different variations of push-ups that'll work different parts of your chest, maximize volume for your partner's touch and, of course, a well-defined chest is also easy on the eyes.

It's time to own it!

Ultimately, taking ownership of your fitness and sex life should be a personal decision motivated solely by desire instead of pressure. However, that doesn't mean it's OK not to exercise. Regularly working out puts you on a path toward a long, healthy life and aids in your resilience to disease and injury. That's just science.

But knowing fitness will also bring you and your romantic partners more intense orgasms should make the journey more exciting and certainly more rewarding. After all, if you combine all these exercises, you'll have the workout equivalent of a sex music playlist.