More Sex (Oh, And Exercise Too) Decreases Heart Attack Risk

Yep — that’s right. A new study by the smarties at Tufts University found that those that infrequently have sex and exercise may be at greater risk of having a heart attack. So, we’re here to tell you to have sex more often and hit the gym a couple of times a week — you’ll live longer.

Here are the details of the study:

Published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers found that right after exercising or having sex, the average risk of having a heart attack increases by 3.5 times…but only for about an hour or so. Conversely, engaging in regular exercise — or having a lot more sex — would reduce the risk of one of these activity-triggered heart attacks. So — less sex could equal increased heart attack risk and more sex equals lessened risk. Pretty much a no brainer, right?

Researchers were quick to point out that people shouldn’t take this study as a reason not to exercise (or have sex…but really? Is anyone looking for reasons not to have sex?). The study emphasizes that exercise (and sex) is important to ensure proper, lifelong conditioning. “Hopefully no one misunderstands our point,” an author of the study told NPR. “We are a little bit worried that people will think that this is a risk for exercise.”

Bottom line: don’t save up sex for special occasions a few times a year and don’t exercise on those annual family retreats that include a scenic hike. Your heart will benefit from regular romps in the sack and trips to the gym.