7 Best Stretches for Sexual Performance (With Illustrations)

9 min read
7 Best Stretches for Sexual Performance (With Illustrations)

Passionate, healthy sex, when done well, delivers a hip-thrusting full-body workout. It engages the entire body, especially four key areas: glutes, quads, core, and upper body.

If you want the best sex life for you and your partner, adding strength and stretch workouts to your daily routine is a great idea.

A study into yoga in male sexual functioning showed participants' scores significantly improved after a 12-week course. Functions included desire, intercourse satisfaction, performance, confidence, partner synchronization, erection, ejaculatory control, and orgasm; who would have thought a little regular stretching and breathing would be so good for our sexual health?

The advantages of stretching for sexual function

Stretching—through yoga or other fitness techniques—has not only been proven to aid sexual performance (through improved flexibility, stamina, and strength) but also to increase the quality of sperm, boost fertility, and enhance sexual activity and desire while reducing stress and anxiety.

Stretching—through yoga or other fitness techniques—has not only been proven to aid sexual performance. 

This male reproductive health and yoga study uncovered these crucial factors and showed the benefits of starting the practice in childhood through to older age. It's also shown to help with premature ejaculation and erectile dysfunction, as discussed in this study, the role of yoga in the management of premature ejaculation.

  • Increases mobility and flexibility
  • Reduces pressure on the nervous system
  • Encourages blood flow and circulation
  • Improves relaxation and lowers body tension
  • Helps keep you supple and limber
  • Reduces the chances of injury
  • Raises energy levels and stamina

Strengthen your core and your sex life

There's a lot of talk about the benefits of core strength, and rightly so. Push-ups, crunches, squats, and regularly getting into the plank position all work our abdominal muscles, which are responsible for much of our movement and body strength. A strong core strengthens the pelvic region, resulting in a more attractive physique and better sex.

Arousal and blood flow are directly linked

Stretching the hips and legs gets plenty of blood flowing around the pelvic area and into the genitals—improving our ability to become aroused. This added blood flow helps improve the function of your pelvic floor muscles, again leading to better sex. Carrying out Kegels to work your pelvic floor isn't just for women; it can be just as beneficial for men.

1. Upward facing dog

Illustration of Upward Facing Dog Position

With just your hands and the tops of your feet in contact with the ground, the thigh muscles, belly, and core are all engaged, strengthening vital areas of your body used during missionary position sex.

How to do upward facing dog

  1. Lie face down on your yoga mat, with legs extended behind you and your feet—tops down—a few inches apart.

  2. Place your hands by your body, next to your ribs, with your elbows tucked neatly close to the ribcage, and your head, neck, and back in a straight line.

  3. As you inhale, press your hands to the floor, straightening your arms to lift the torso straight up and the legs a few inches from the floor.

  4. Continue to breathe and press firmly on the floor while engaging the leg muscles.

How it improves sexual performance

It stretches the chest and spine, strengthens the wrists, arms, and shoulders, and aids upper body strength. It also strengthens and stretches your abdominal muscles and improves circulation around the pelvic floor and genitals. It's a great option to counter the slouch of sitting at a desk throughout the working day.

2. Cat/Cow

Illustration of Cat Cow Position

How to do the cat/cow

  1. Start in the cat stretch: Start on your hands and knees with rounded shoulders and your back arched towards the sky/ceiling; pull your pelvis inwards and tuck your head and chin towards your chest.

  2. Extend into the cow stretch: The cow is the opposite arch of your back; from the cat pose, tilt your head and face upward and push your butt out as far as you can.

How it improves sexual performance

It's a great workout for your arms and hips while practicing natural and steady hip thrusts. The more you practice, the more strength and motion you'll develop in these essential areas.

3. Frog Pose

Illustration of Frog Pose Position

The frog stretch is a versatile all-rounder. It benefits various sex positions, including straddling, being on all fours, or those requiring you to spread your legs.

How to do the frog pose

  1. Get on all fours and position your forearms in front of you with your elbows directly underneath your shoulders.

  2. Spread your knees as wide as comfortably possible, then push your hips and bottom towards your feet and rock gently backward and forward.

  3. Rock this way for 30 seconds and then rest in the initial stretch for 30 seconds.

How it improves sexual performance

Including the frog stretch in your routine will help gradually improve the flexibility of your hip flexors and inner thighs, allowing you to spread your legs wider. It opens the hips and abductor muscle group. It also helps with core stability and your glutes.

4. Crescent Moon

Illustration of Crescent Moon Position

The crescent moon is a half-kneeling, low lunge, back-bending stretch.

How to do the crescent moon

  1. Standing at the front of your yoga mat, step back with your left leg and drop into a lunge. Your right shin should be vertical while the ball of your left foot takes the weight of the back leg.

  2. Slowly lower the left knee to the ground to take a half-kneeling position and place your hands on either side of the right foot. Straighten the left leg to find your balance, then return the knee to the floor and stretch the left foot so the top connects with the ground.

  3. From this position, lengthen the core for your first stretch. Then, with your hands palm-down on your right knee, stretch your head, neck, and shoulders backward to open the front of the body for the second stretch.

  4. Lock your hands together behind your back and repeat for the third stretch.

  5. For the final stretch, reach both arms towards the sky, lifting the knee and straightening the leg. Hold each stretch for five deep breaths.

  6. Finally, bring your left leg back as you step out of the lunge, and carry out each step for the opposite leg.

How it improves sexual performance

Practicing the crescent moon strengthens and stretches quads, hamstrings, calves, hip flexors, the core, and more. It counters the strain put on the body from sitting in front of a screen all day. It's also another great stretching exercise that boosts blood flow to the pelvic floor muscles.

5. Holding Squat

Illustration of Holding Squat Position

Just seeing the holding squat position shows how it should help those who enjoy taking control while practicing positions straddling their partner. Squats are great for toning and shaping legs and butts, and the strong legs it creates are ideal for sexual endurance.

How to do the holding squat

  1. Stand upright with your feet apart at shoulder width. Bend the hips and knees slowly, squatting until your thighs are parallel to the floor, all while keeping your back straight. Ensure your knees never pass the front of your toes to avoid injury.

  2. Stay in the squat position, with toes and knees in line and heels firmly in contact with the floor, for five or six deep breaths, then slowly rise to the standing position with your arms straight by your sides.

  3. Repeat for up to 30 reps, or however many feel comfortable for you. Remember: always listen to your body. Working too hard or stretching too far can cause injury, undoing any good work the stretches are designed for.

How it improves sexual performance

There are various versions of squats, but they all work the glutes, hamstrings, quads, and core, enhancing mobility, strength, and flexibility. Correct form strengthens the back; add dumbells, barbells, or resistance bands to improve the effects. Once again, the below-the-waist movement will improve blood flow to the pelvic region.

6. Figure Four

Illustration of Figure Four Position

The figure four stretch is one of the best hip-opening and hip-flexor health techniques.

How to do the figure four

  1. Lie on your back with your feet placed flat on the ground at shoulder width. Lift your left ankle and place it on your right knee to create a figure four shape using your legs.

  2. There are two ways to carry out the stretch. For the first, lock your hands under the right thigh and pull it towards you, feeling the stretch in your left hip. For the second, roll your hips to the right until your left foot is on the floor. Hold the position for 30 seconds to 2 minutes, depending on your fitness and flexibility.

  3. For either method, switch legs after each set of stretches and carry out a comfortable number of repetitions as feels appropriate.

How it improves sexual performance

It's a great move for the lower body, back, hips, and glutes, and it's a great sex exercise for splay-leg missionary sex.

7. Side Split

Illustration of Slide Split Position

Not too many people can perform the splits without plenty of practice. With that in mind, take all the time and practice you need to become proficient at this particular stretch.

How to do a side split

  1. To stretch and strengthen the muscle groups and joints necessary to complete the side splits, you'll start in a basic lunge position, lowering your hips and knee for 20 seconds. Do this three times, resting in between each one. Switch legs and repeat.

  2. As you progress, add the same practice to a low lunge, where the back knee and top of the foot touch the floor behind you. You may also lift your back foot with the corresponding hand (left hand for left leg and right hand for right leg) to add hip flexor stretches to your routine.

  3. The next stretch to enhance your progress is the half-split stretch. With your left leg behind you and your knee and top of the foot against the floor, stretch your front leg straight ahead and bend your head and neck over the knee. You'll feel the necessary muscles and joints stretching but never push harder than your body tells you is okay.

  4. Over time—and as it feels comfortable to do so—introduce attempts at the full split stretch. Slowly slide your front leg forward until it feels tight, using your hands to support you and hold yourself in place for 20 seconds.

  5. Carry out three repetitions each time, as with your previous stretches. Don't worry about your legs being bent; with practice, they'll straighten out into the perfect side split.

How it improves sexual performance

The splits stretch creates the most impressive flexibility in the hips, hamstrings, glutes, and inner thigh muscles. It creates an incredible range of motion, allowing those able to get into advanced sexual positions and reduce the risk of injury, all increasing the quality of their sex life.

Safety tips when stretching

1. Warm up

Cold, stiff muscles are far more likely to suffer injury than suitably warmed-up supply and stretchy ones. Warm up with simple steps, a little light bouncing, a shake-out, or other easy movement; you could even warm through your muscles and joints with a hot shower.

2. Strive for symmetry

We all have a strong side, so training both sides of the body to the same level is essential. When stretches demand mirroring left and right, make sure you do, even if that means concentrating a little harder on your weaker side.

3. Don’t ignore a subtle pain

Listen to your body; it will tell you when you're doing something it doesn't like. There's good pain—the one we get from tired, aching, healthy activated muscles—and bad pain, which we want to avoid at all costs. Stretch to the point of discomfort but never pain.

4. Focus on good posture

Correct form is essential with any exercise, sport, or movement—practice makes permanent, not perfect—so ensure that each move is exactly how it's meant to be performed. Repeatedly doing something the wrong way increases the chances of injury and won't deliver the desired results.

5. Don’t overdo it, but practice regularly

You can benefit from daily stretching, but for positions that encourage increased flexibility, it's important to let your body recover between practices. Take a rest day between harder workouts to let your body and muscles recover.

Summary

Who would have thought that a little stretching and regular exercise could have such an impact on our sex lives? Adding yoga and stretching to your fitness routine can help you enjoy new positions you couldn't achieve before, delay ejaculation, and deliver more stamina, stronger thrusts, and more intense orgasms.

 Adding yoga and stretching to your fitness routine can help you enjoy new positions you couldn't achieve before.

With increasing endurance levels and more calories burned through a few new exercises, isn't it time we all got to grips with a healthy yoga habit?

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