These are the sex positions burning the most calories

Sex has been found to boost both physical and mental health - enter stage right, some of the best fitness-boosting sex positions...

Sex positions that burn calories
(Image credit: Getty Images / Christian Adams)

Have you ever wondered which hot sex positions are to burn the most calories? Us too. But on a slightly more serious note, sexercise is no mocking matter: sex is a great form of exercise and has been proven to boost both physical and mental health. What better (and, ahem, fun) way to boost your wellbeing than by sexercising?

Online golf shop GolfSupport.com selflessly sought to find out the best sex positions if you want to burn the most calories. To find that out, they gave Fitbits to 112 heterosexual couples, and asked them to put them on while doing bits.

The number of calories lost during 30 minutes in each sex position is the average taken for all men and women taking part in the survey. Next the store asked what position women found to be the most pleasurable in the bedroom (more of that later).

Two bear-shaped sweets 'embracing', close-up


(Image credit: Getty Images / Christian Adams)

OK, so the results revealed that women burn the most calories during The Squat – more exactly 188 calories. This is perhaps unsurprising, as the real-life squat can help strengthen and tone the muscles in your lower body. Women who were immersed in this position and were doing it at a faster, more intense pace lost up to 224 calories. That's four and a half slices of bread. Unfortunately, the the same can't be said for men, who only burn 50 calories in this position (but gain a lot of fun?).

In second place is a more advanced position - the Butter Churner. If you are brave enough to try it, you can lose approximately 179 in 30 minutes. Impressive stuff. For men, this position burns the most calories out of all the other sex positions, as they are more in control. In fact, a man can burn around 211 calories while churning some butter - making it the best sexercise for them.

In third place, The Kneeling Wheelbarrow. Women can lose approximately 149 calories in this position, while men will burn around 167.

And now, to reveal the positions that burn the least calories for women. It's Spooning and The Eagle. While Missionary didn’t make the top 12 positions for women, it comes close in number 13, with women only burning about 47 measly calories in this position. The same can't be said for men, who lose almost triple the number of calories during Missionary (144 calories).

Finally, what position makes women orgasm the most? Well isn't that the million dollar question. The research discovered that Doggy Style is the position that makes most women orgasm (79%). This is followed by The Squat (72%) and Reverse Cowgirl (71%). The positions that result in the least orgasms for women are Standing (17%) and 69 (7%).

Here's the summary:

The sex position burning the most calories for women is The Squat (118 calories).

Butter Churner (179 calories) and Kneeling Wheelbarrow (149 calories) are also great for women who want to exercise while having fun.

The Butter Churner is the best sexercise for men – they can burn around 211 calories while churning some butter.

Spooning, The Eagle and Missionary are the positions burning the least calories for women,while men put the least effort in during Cowgirl and Reverse Cowgirl.

Doggy Style is the position that makes most women orgasm (79%). This is followed by The Squat (72%) and Reverse Cowgirl (71%).

The positions that result in the least orgasms for women are Standing (17%) and 69 (7%).

Olivia – who rebranded as Liv a few years ago – is a freelance digital writer at Marie Claire UK. She recently swapped guaranteed sunshine and a tax-free salary in Dubai for London’s constant cloud and overpriced public transport. During her time in the Middle East, Olivia worked for international titles including Cosmopolitan, HELLO! and Grazia. She transitioned from celebrity weekly magazine new! in London, where she worked as the publication’s Fitness & Food editor. Unsurprisingly, she likes fitness and food, and also enjoys hoarding beauty products and recycling.