Ever since the advent of the fitness boom, advocates of swimming, running, and aerobics have claimed that vigorous physical exercise can rejuvenate the declining sex lives of older people. When I searched the professional literature, however, I was unable to find a single study that addressed this issue. Apparently the fitness gurus were relying on anecdotal evidence—and perhaps more than a bit of wishful thinking.
Psychological and Physiological Interactions
My study was the first to look at the relationships among aging, sexuality, and vigorous physical exercise.
How the Study Was Done
I surveyed 160 Masters swimmers, men and women between the ages of forty and eighty from throughout the United States. I wanted to discover if there was a relationship between vigorous exercise (swimming) and sexual interest and activity—specifically if individuals who exercise regularly have more active and fulfilling sex lives than others their age.
All the people I studied were healthy and in fine physical condition, unlike those in other studies on aging and sexuality. All had been swimming regularly for at least one year. Some had been competing continuously for ten to sixteen years. Their athletic backgrounds were varied: more than half had been competitive swimmers in their youth. A few were former Olympians, but many had never competed athletically before they joined the Masters program. In terms of present achievement, they ranged from average Masters swimmers to national champions for their age-groups.
Their training levels varied as well. At the low end were those who swam only forty-five minutes a day for three days a week. At the high end were a few individuals, mostly men, who were swimming two to three hours daily six days a week. Some supplemented their swimming with weight training, biking, running, or aerobics. On average, these swimmers trained about an hour a day, four to five days per week.
I divided the subjects into two age groups: forty to forty-nine and sixty and over (most of these were sixty to sixty-nine). A four-page survey was sent to 254 randomly selected Masters swimmers. One hundred and sixty responses were received, an extremely high response rate of 63 percent. The subjects remained anonymous unless they said yes to a request for a follow-up, in-depth personal interview. Twenty swimmers agreed to be interviewed, and twelve brought along their spouse or partner.
What I Wanted to Learn
My study attempted to answer the following basic question: Is there a positive relationship between vigorous physical exercise (swimming) and sexual interest and activity?
If I found such a relationship, I also wanted to know:
• Is the relationship linear? That is, does more training result in an ever-improving sex life?
• Does the level of sexual interest and activity continue over more than two decades—from the forties through the sixties?
• How much do these older athletes enjoy their more prolific sex lives?
• And, finally, What accounts for these more active sex lives?
Sexual Interest
In terms of sexual interest, my findings were consistent with those of other studies over the past forty years. Contrary to popular stereotypes, people retain a high level of sexual interest throughout their life span; for most of us, the spirit remains willing no matter how weak the flesh becomes. My subjects reported a level of sexual interest slightly higher than the levels found in other studies. Probably their good health accounts for this difference.
Sexual Activity
It is in the area of sexual activity—particularly frequency of intercourse—that I found some of the most dramatic results. In my study 97 percent of those in their forties and 92 percent of those sixty and older reported being sexually active with a partner (see Table 11.1). These figures are higher than those found in other studies, and of those who were not active, all but one had suffered the loss of a partner through death, disablement, or divorce.
TABLE 11.1.
Percentage of Swimmers Reporting Being Sexually Active (with a Partner)
Percentage of Swimmers Reporting Being Sexually Active (with a Partner)
| Forties | Sixties and Older | |
| Men | 98% | 94% |
| Women | 94 | 89 |
| Average | 96 | 92 |
Among the subjects who were sexually active, 100 percent in all four categories, men and women in their forties, and men and women sixty and older, reported having sexual intercourse at least once a week. How unusual is that? Edward M. Brecher’s 1984 study of sexually active people over fifty found only about two thirds reporting intercourse at least once a week (see Table 11.2). Father Andrew Greeley, professor of sociology at the University of Chicago, reported in 1992 that 37 percent of married men and women over sixty made love once a week or more. Carin Rubinstein found in 1985 that 47 percent of the women over forty she studied reported having intercourse once a week or more.
My swimmers made love an average of 7.1 times per month—about the same as twenty-six- to thirty-three-year-olds in the general population. This is several times higher than the figure for people their own age who do not exercise.
Apparently age has had little effect on the sexual appetites of the athletes I studied. When I compared swimmers in their sixties with those in their forties, I found very little decline in how often they had intercourse (see Table 11.3).
TABLE 11.2.
Percentage of Sexually Active Adults Reporting Intercourse at Least Once per Week
Percentage of Sexually Active Adults Reporting Intercourse at Least Once per Week
| Brecher’s Study of General Population | ||||
| Fifties | Sixties | Seventies | ||
| Men | 90% | 73% | 58% | |
| Women | 73 | 63 | 50 | |
| Whitten’s Study of Swimmers | ||||
| Forties | Sixties | |||
| Men | 100% | 100% | ||
| Women | 100 | 100 | ||
TABLE 11.3.
Frequency of Intercourse Among Swimmers Studied (times/month)
Frequency of Intercourse Among Swimmers Studied (times/month)
Forties | Sixties | |
| Men | 7.6 | 7.1 |
| Women | 7.0 | 6.6 |
TABLE 11.4.
Percentage of Sexually Active Adults Reporting a High Level of Sexual Enjoyment
Percentage of Sexually Active Adults Reporting a High Level of Sexual Enjoyment
| Brecher’s Study of General Population | |||
| Fifties | Sixties | ||
| Men | 90% | 86% | |
| Women | 71 | 65 | |
| Whitten’s Study of Swimmers | |||
| Forties | Sixties | ||
| Men | 100% | 98% | |
| Women | 94 | 88 | |
Sexual Enjoyment
Not only are my physically active subjects making love more often but they seem to be enjoying it more. Ninety-four percent of the swimmers I studied report a high level of enjoyment. This is quite a bit higher than in Brecher’s study (see Table 11.4). The differences between the women in the two studies are particularly striking. For example, 88 percent of women over sixty who swim reported a high level of enjoyment. Contrast that with only 65 percent of the women in the general population.
Is More Better?
Having established a strong link between regular swimming and increased sexual activity and enjoyment, I turned my attention to another question: Is the relationship linear? Does more and more exercise lead to an ever more bountiful sex life?
Sorry, workout fanatics. My data provide no support for any such relationship. There seems to be a threshold level of exercise that produces an enhanced love life. This level corresponds to the lower end of training intensity in the swimmers I studied—three days a week, forty-five minutes a day. Beyond this level, increasing your training apparently does not result in ever-increasing sexual interest or activity.
In fact, whereas moderate exercise apparently revs up the libido, it may be that too much exercise virtually shuts down the sex-hormone factory in both men and women. A study of triathletes by researchers at California Polytechnic University in San Luis Obispo found that doubling men’s workout time from 90 to 180 minutes per day significantly lowered testosterone levels and sperm counts. Many of these men completely lost interest in the one activity they used to like even more than swimming, cycling, or running.
Why? When you exercise too much, your brain is unable to produce as much of the hormone FSH. This causes a man to make less testosterone. As a result, he loses interest in (and often cannot make) love.
The same thing happens to women who exercise too much. When a woman overexercises, it upsets both her hormonal balance and her ability to become sexually aroused, according to Barry J. Klyde, an endocrinologist with New York Hospital—Cornell Medical Center. Too much exercise reduces the amount of estrogen a woman produces, which can cause her to stop menstruating. This condition is frequently seen in female distance runners. An inadequate supply of estrogen can also produce the symptoms of menopause in younger women. Sexual desire may diminish as the vagina shrinks. The vaginal lining thins, and lubrication ceases. All these effects contribute to common female sexual dysfunction—painful or uncomfortable intercourse.
My study supported these conclusions. I found that when men and women engage in extremely heavy training—eighteen hours a week or more—sexual desire decreases. This is not surprising. If you have ever engaged in very heavy training, you know that the last thing on your mind when you get home from working out is making love. Instead, you can’t wait to get some food inside you and then plunk your tired body down on the nearest sofa or bed.
Scientific research leaves no doubt that regular exercise in the form of swimming can enhance your love life. But beyond a certain level of training, if you want to improve your sex life, spend more time with your partner, not in the pool.
Other Studies
Since my study on exercise, aging, and sexuality was first presented, several studies have endorsed my conclusions. Researchers at the University of California at San Diego compared two groups of sedentary, middle-aged men. One group was placed on a nine-month program of moderate aerobic exercise; the other group maintained their lethargic habits. The exercisers reported a dramatic increase in the frequency of their lovemaking that the couch potatoes did not report. The researchers noted that as the men became more fit, their sex lives improved accordingly. How’s that for an incentive to swim?
Another study, conducted by Linda De Villers, a Santa Monica, California, psychologist and sex therapist, polled some 8,000 women. Almost half reported an increase in sexual arousal, activity, and enjoyment after beginning regular exercise programs. In her practice, De Villers reports, “It is unusual to have somebody in therapy for low sexual desire who is a regular exerciser.”
What Accounts for These Results?
In a very real sense, swimming is a sort of sexual Fountain of Youth, allowing people to indulge in sex just as often at age sixty as they did at age thirty. But what accounts for this astonishing fact? Are there important hormonal factors that account for it? Can it be explained mainly by psychological factors? Or is it a combination?
The Testosterone Hypothesis
Many studies have shown that moderate physical exercise produces increased levels of the male sex hormone, testosterone. This occurs in both men and women. It may be that this hormone accounts, at least in part, for our results. But I am skeptical: testosterone levels remain elevated for only a short while after exercising. Furthermore, the relationship between testosterone level and sexual activity in humans (as opposed to other species) is not direct. Increases in testosterone are associated with increases in aggressive behavior, but such an influence on sexual behavior has not been established. Men with testosterone levels below a certain threshold are unable to perform sexually. After the threshold is achieved, however, there seems to be no increase in sexual activity. Although the testosterone hypothesis seems an unlikely explanation for the increased sexual activity, future studies will continue to look for a connection between the two.
The Growth Hormone Hypothesis
Another possibility, not yet explored, has to do with the production of human growth hormone (hGH). Chapter 5 pointed out that human growth hormone leads directly to physiological changes associated with youth: an increase in muscle, a decrease in body fat, an increase in the elasticity of skin, and so on. This is true whether the hGH is produced naturally by the body or injected. Human growth hormone is secreted in bursts by the pituitary gland during and immediately after vigorous exercise, and also during deep sleep.
An increase in hGH production makes the middle-aged and even older person younger in a number of critical respects. One of the characteristics of younger people is that they engage in sex more often than older people. So it is possible that increased sexual interest and activity are by-products of the increased production of hGH. This intriguing hypothesis, too, awaits further study.
Psychological Factors
What about psychological factors? One of the sorry realities of modern life is stress, which, as mentioned in Chapter 3, is a major factor implicated in heart disease. Stress also often leads to depression. According to Dr. Helen Singer Kaplan, director of the Human Sexuality Program at the New York Hospital—Cornell Medical Center, chronic stress can be devastating to sexual functioning, turning love-making from a pleasurable sharing of intimacy into an impossible act. Even mild stress dulls the zest for life.
Body image also plays an enormous role in sexual feelings, according to Dr. Shirley Zussman, director of the Association for Male Sexual Dysfunction in New York. The improved self-esteem that comes from a healthier, more attractive body carries over into sexual situations, she says. “The way you view yourself and the way you appear in your mate’s eyes is very important. If you feel your partner sees you as desirable, you’re more able to free yourself and enjoy the sexual experience.”
Dr. De Villers agrees. Sexual confidence and satisfaction are highly correlated with a fit body, she says. For example, she points out, many women are reluctant to assume the female-superior position during lovemaking, even though it is often the most satisfying position. The reason is a brittle self-image. “They complain, ‘He can see my fat stomach.’ ”
Swimming helps you lose excess body fat and sculpt an attractive, vital body that you will be happy to have your partner see. This changed perception of yourself will increase your self-esteem. If you are confident about yourself, you will have a better time in bed.
In my study the Masters swimmers reported that they often receive indications that they are forestalling, or at least slowing, the “normal” aging process. They have more endurance and are stronger than before they began exercising, confirmed by the fact that many of them are actually swimming faster as they get older. They socialize with attractive younger people, who respect them and their accomplishments. At the pool they see many people with appealing, fit bodies, people who give them positive feedback about their own attractiveness. Indeed, they say they look better and feel better about their bodies. It’s no wonder they feel sexier too.
Social psychologists Ellen Berscheid and Elaine Walster studied physical attraction in men and women. Not surprisingly, they found that people are sexually and romantically attracted to those they find physically attractive. This is true both before and after marriage.
William Griffith found that arousal of sexual desire leads to an increased sexual attraction to people seen as physically attractive and an increased aversion to those perceived as physically unattractive. Applied to the effects of aging on physical attractiveness, he argues that, in both men and women, normal aging is associated with declining physical attractiveness as defined in our society. Robert Redford and Linda Evans notwithstanding, our standards of beauty are closely linked with youthfulness.
In my study, I asked the subjects to rate themselves for physical attractiveness compared with others their age. I asked them to use a five-point scale, ranging from very attractive to very unattractive, with 3 being “about average.” The results were astonishing: eighty percent rated themselves in the top two categories; 20 percent rated themselves as average. None rated themselves below average. Clearly these are people with strong self-images, people who feel good about themselves.
Is there any basis in reality for these extremely positive self-assessments? Perhaps there is something in pool water that bloats egos. Apparently not. In the interviews as well as written surveys, I asked the swimmers’ partners to rate their physical attractiveness. These “significant others”—husbands and wives, boyfriends and girlfriends—rated the swimmers as even more physically attractive than the swimmers had rated themselves.
It is evident that the swimmers I studied view themselves as younger than their chronological age and more attractive than others their age. Equally significant, the most important people in their lives agree.
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