So sex is exercise? Well yes and no. It depends on your definition of exercise. If you compare the two purely by the physiological change that occurs then yes, because sex elicits a change in human physiology akin to exercise.

According to Associate Professor at Australia’s Curtin University, Kevin Netto the heart pulse arterial pressure are higher during sexual intercourse, which is akin to performing some exercise. You burn calories while having sex, but just like normal exercise, how many calories one burns is related to how intense that exercise is. As research shows it depends on how active or passive someone is during sex.

If someone wants to ‘hit two bids with a stone’, by gaining the pleasure that comes with sex and losing calories by exercising at the same time, they will have to be extremely active in bed and not laze around…

But what about masturbation? Increases in heart rate and systolic blood pressure have been reported during masturbation. But both the level and duration of these increases weren’t as high or long as with intercourse. Judging by measurements of heart rate, masturbation really only equates to light exercise, such as slow walking