A new study suggests that men who perform just a few minutes of strenuous exercise are more likely to feel aroused than those who do not work out. German researchers determined that men who carried out a three-minute strength test were far more responsive to sexual stimuli after physically exerting themselves. They maintain that just a few minutes of physical exercise is enough to jump-start the body’s response to arousal.
The men in the study who were asked to exert more energy in three minutes showed a higher heart rate and faster pupil dilation when presented with sexual images than people who exerted very little energy, suggesting that the after-effects of working out make a person more easily aroused. The researchers found that heightened physical responses to exercise, such as elevated heart rate and breathing, lend themselves to an even greater physical response to sexual stimuli. The authors of the study wrote: “Taken together, our findings provide strong evidence for enhancement of sexual processing by acute stress exposure in men and suggest differential involvement of parasympathetic versus sympathetic mechanisms.”
Want to jump-start your libido? Let’s get physical!