Whether it’s a 10 minute-quickie in the kitchen, or an hour long romp in the bedroom, whether you do it first thing in the morning, or just before going to sleep. For many of us, sex is the obvious answer to most, if not all of our problems.
What is not so obvious, however, is what happens to our body when we’re getting down to doing the nasty. Some of these changes can be good, which explains why a body that has had lots of sex is most likely to stand the test of time.1 The others? Not so much, for they put you at a risk of contracting infections. Either way, it helps to know what your body goes through while you’re banging the living daylights out of each other. So here we go.
9 Strange Ways Your Body Changes During Sex
1. You Get Flooded By Happy Hormones
With all those endorphins, lovingly nicknamed ‘happy hormones’ released during the deed, sex basically drugs you. Your brain gets you super high on not one, but multiple stress-relieving hormones such as oxytocin, dopamine, serotonin, and adrenaline. And when you orgasm, the floodgates really open up. It’s a mix of all these happy juices during sex that gets you high and keeps you coming back for more and more. No wonder sex is one of our favorite drugs to experiment with!
2. Your Blood Vessels Expand
Let’s face it. Sex is intense. And this means your reproductive organs need to be just as geared up to deal with all those powerful thrusts and what not. This is why your vulva transforms from its soft, dainty self to an engorged organ that’s firmer and tougher. This is also why the penis suddenly beefs up in size, all erect and attentive as opposed to drooping low with its foreskin pulled over its head.
To make this happen, your blood vessels have to dilate themselves to release more blood. All this blood rushes into your veins, resulting in engorging your organs and the release of slippery secretions. This prepares them for all that rough and tumble you and your partner are about to put them through.
3. You Become Extra Sensitive
All that blood flooding your body from head to toe makes you extra sensitive to touch. And with your brain simultaneously commanding the release of neurotransmitters aimed specifically at enhancing those bodily sensations, your skin is only going to get more goose-pimply. Your erogenous zones in particular, like your neck, earlobes, fingertips, nipples, and your inner thighs practically have the power to make your head explode, since these are places with the highest concentration of nerve endings.
4. You’re Probably Being Invaded By Bacteria
This is gross, but still necessary to talk about. Our reproductive organs are exposed to hundreds of microbes during the day just as the rest of our body is. Now keeping all that wet fingering, the repeated in and out movement, and the oral and butt action (for some of us are kinkier than we’d like to admit) in mind, it seems very unlikely that some of these microbes won’t find their way into your urethra. As a result, you could contract some painfully stubborn urinary tract infections (UTIs) or even a yeast infection.
But don’t worry, there’s a way around that too. The next time you’re done with the act, pee immediately after. This will help flush out all that bacteria that clings to the walls of your urethra with their appendages. Remember to not pee immediately before sex though, because then your flow post-coitus won’t be strong enough to wash away the bacteria!
5. You Shed Some Calories
If you’re someone who experiments with different sexual positions, you’ll know that sex requires some considerable hard work. Whether you’re balancing yourself on your knees to do the doggy while your partner delivers some powerful strokes, or whether you’re working those leg muscles while straddling your partner for the classic cowgirl, you are bound to shed a little weight.
Of course, this won’t be as effective a workout as the one you do at the gym. Nevertheless, if a half an hour session of steamy sex helps you shed a few extra pounds, it’s still something!
6. You Will Gain A Cup Size
Remember what we said earlier about the vulva getting bigger and firmer during sex? Apparently the same happens to your breasts. They get bigger.
Filed under the win-win category for both men and women, women find their boobs literally becoming quite a handful as they get aroused during sex. Sexual stimulation encourages your blood vessels to expand, thus pushing out more blood. The boost in blood circulation causes the enlargening of the areolas and hardening of the nipples, making them more sensitive to the touch. All these factors contribute to a woman’s aroused breasts swelling up to a size that’s about 25 percent larger than in the non-aroused state.2
If anything, this should be an incentive for men to spend more time on foreplay. Also, if they play their cards right, some women can even achieve orgasm just by breast and nipple stimulation.
7. Your Heart Gets A Healthy Workout
Sex is exercise made fun. And any and all kinds of exercise is the answer to maintaining a healthy, happy heart. The more you work your body, regardless of what the activity is, the more you push your heart into pumping more blood. All that excitement and arousal during sex further increases your heart rate which explains why you feel your heart racing every time you start making out. By the time you reach your orgasm, your heart is practically running a marathon.
An interesting fact to note: a moderately intense session of sex is pretty much the same level of workout for your body as walking four to six miles per hour. Which one sounds like more fun to you?
8. Your Muscles Get Tenser
Don’t think your muscles are sitting idle while you get frisky with your partner. Your pelvic muscles in particular work very hard as they involuntarily contract while you struggle to deal with that earth-shattering orgasm.
In fact, with a little practice, you can easily learn to actively tense and release your muscles to your advantage. Not only does this encourage your sexual organs to toughen up, but also further contributes to enhancing those heady feelings of arousal and pleasure.
9. You Go Into Relaxation Mode
Forget antidepressants. Your orgasm could be your fastest ticket (and the one with the least number of side effects) to ultimate relaxation mode. This is because as your body reaches an orgasm, it signals the release of mood-boosting endorphins. Plus, there is also a sudden rush of serotonin and prolactin. These two hormones reach their highest levels when you’re fast asleep, which should give you an idea of how potent their calming effect is on our jittery nerves. This is basically equivalent to overdosing on happiness drugs and is very effective in chasing away those stressful feelings and thoughts from your mind. It can also make you feel pleasantly drowsy. This is what makes you long for that extra-cuddly spooning session post sex, while your body prepares to retire temporarily.
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