Are you thinking about rubbing one out tonight? Good for you, babe! Practicing self-love is essential for relaxation, understanding your body, and enjoying yourself. But has the thought of "How many calories do you burn masturbating?" ever crossed your mind? A self-love session can leave you out of breath, so it must mean you're burning calories, right?
Today we fill you in on how many calories you burn during your solo session and whether you can quit the gym or not. 😉
How Many Calories Do You Burn Masturbating?
Well, there isn’t a clear-cut answer, as experts disagree a bit on this topic. Let me walk you through what you should know.
First of all, partnered sex burns the most calories. According to a study published in PLOS One, women burn around 69 calories, about 3 calories per minute during partnered sex, whereas men burn around 101 calories.
During masturbation though, you burn a lot fewer calories. Ob-gyn and sexual health expert Jessica Shepherd, M.D. says, "If you think about masturbation, the calorie burn is going to be far less than that." This is because you're not hopping around and changing positions or thrusting vigorously.
Shepherd says, "In order to expend calories, you need to get your heart rate up for an extended period of time."
So, how many calories are burnt during masturbation?
Here is where folks disagree.
- Very low estimates: According to anecdotal reports, a solo session can burn only five to six calories. It will all depend on how fast and hard you go at it, the duration, and, of course, if you climax or not.
- Kinda crazy high estimates: However, some sources say a woman might burn 300 calories during masturbation because “around 500 muscles tend to tense up during the climax.” What about jerking off? For men, they estimate they “only burn 150 calories” when masturbating.
- Conservative estimates: Other claims take a middle road and state “you burn on average 70 calories” during masturbation.
No matter what though, we can conclude that reaching the Big O through masturbation won't burn the same amount of calories as a cardio workout. So please don't quit your gym membership.
But hey, this does not mean that masturbating is not healthy!
Let’s explore self-pleasure benefits.
So, I'm Not Burning Much During Masturbating, What Are The Benefits?
Yeah, sorry to disappoint but it’s not likely that you are burning a lot during masturbation. But you can enjoy a bunch of other benefits.
#1 It Can Improve Your Sleep
Nan Wise, Ph.D., a cognitive neuroscientist and certified sex therapist, explains, "The stress relief from good sex or from masturbation can enhance sleep because it gets you into a good state—a less-stress state."
According to the National Sleep Foundation, masturbation can also boost your estrogen levels, which will deepen your restorative REM sleep.
So, if you want to sleep like a baby tonight, tuck yourself into bed and treat yourself to a masturbating session.
#2 It Can Boost Your Mood
Rubbing one out releases serotonin and dopamine, the happy, feel-good hormones. So, if you're feeling a little blue, give yourself some self-love. It will help put you in a better mood.
#3 It Can Help Relieve Pain
In a small study, sex researcher Beverly Whipple found that "vaginal self-stimulation" can significantly increase your pain tolerance. "When masturbation led to orgasm, it increased pain tolerance by 75 percent in study participants."
So, if you're experiencing pain, consider masturbating before reaching for your pain meds.
#4 It Can Help Boost Your Libido
When you masturbate, you create arousal, and with arousal comes desire. Basically, the more you masturbate, the more your brain will tell you that you want it.
#5 It Can Help You Figure Out What You Like
Masturbating can help you figure out what you like and enjoy. When you know what you like, you can then communicate with your partner and let them know what you like in the bedroom.
If you're new to the whole touching yourself thing, take time to get to know yourself. Experiment with your hands or vibrator. You can also switch things up by switching locations, getting steamy in the bathroom, and experimenting with water using the showerhead.
How Can I Burn More Calories While Masturbating?
While masturbation is not the most effective way to burn calories, there are still ways you can burn more. Here are a few tips.
Turn Up The Intensity
Like any exercise, the more intense you get with it, the more calories you will burn. If you want to burn calories, you need to get your heart rate up. You can try different positions or techniques that will require more muscle movement, like standing up or masturbating while you are doing squats. This will involve your leg and thigh muscles and help you burn more calories.
Use Your Body More
Some of us just want to lay back and enjoy when it comes to self-pleasure, but if you want to burn calories during masturbation, simply try moving your body more.
Try grinding on your toys, or using a suction cup dildo and squat over it for controlled manual stimulation. Or place a vibrator under you and squat over it, teasing your orgasm to the edge. This will get your heart pumpin’ for sure.
Add Some Toys
Adding some toys to your solo session can provide you with additional stimulation and some sort of resistance, which can help you burn more calories. The following sex toy is great for those turbo-mode masturbating sessions.
Bewitch'd - Vibrating Wand Massager is great for some solo action. It is a powerful, cordless vibrating wand massager designed for your pleasure. With 10 modes and patterns that you can choose from, you'll never get tired of it. It has a bendy vibrating head, ensuring you get all those angles. This wand really aims to please.
With Bewitched, you can change positions or incorporate some exercises like squatting or doing some hip thrusts while masturbating to burn more calories. Once you use Bewitched, you will never want another vibrator again. This wand knows how to work its magic.
Stay Active
The goal to burn more calories is to increase your heart rate. Yes, a relaxing masturbation session in the shower or bath is fantastic, but it's not going to increase the calories that you burn. So to burn more calories, you want to stay active and vigorously stimulate your clit.
Add Other Forms of Exercise
Keep things interesting by adding other forms of exercise to your solo session. You can maybe add a yoga ball to your masturbation session to add a form of balance and core engagement.
Tantric masturbation is a good idea if you want to learn more about your erogenous zones. It will also help strengthen your muscles and get your heart pumping faster.
Use Kegel Balls For Strengthening
Using kegel balls while you masturbate can strengthen your pelvic muscles, which is important for sexual pleasure. The kegel balls will also provide an additional workout for your muscles.
An important thing to remember is to do what feels good to you. Masturbating should not feel like a chore or like work. If these tips mentioned above feel like that, don't do them.
Another thing is no matter how hard and fast you go at it during your solo session, it won't burn as many calories as it would by doing a cardio workout. So, sadly, masturbation does not replace the gym, but it would have been nice.
Final Thoughts: How Many Calories Do You Burn During Masturbating?
Masturbating does burn calories, but many experts disagree on how many calories exactly. It's not nearly enough to replace your workout at the gym. Even Though you can add exercises and toys to your solo session, it will still not be enough to keep your body in shape. But that does not mean that masturbating isn't healthy for you. Self-pleasure includes many benefits, like improving sleep, putting you in a better mood, and even helping you discover your body.
So here's a tip: if you want to burn a lot of calories, hit the gym, and after that, reward yourself with a masturbation session. Masturbation should be pleasurable and fun; it should not feel like a job. So enjoy yourself and have fun with it!
