SNEAKING in sex before sleep could be the key to a good night’s rest, scientists say.
A roll in the hay – or even some solo play – releases a surge of feel-good hormones that help you snooze more “efficiently” and wake up less during the night.
Sex before sleep could be the key to an uninterrupted snooze[/caption]
Women seem to reap the most benefits from pre-sleep orgasms, researchers from the Appleton Institute at Central Queensland University observed.
But timing is everything, they noted – as they asked couples to make their nighttime romps the last thing they did before bed.
Scientists recruited seven heterosexual couples with an average age of 26 for their study – published in the journal Sleep Health – asking them to follow a rigid sex and sleep schedule.
Participants had to be living together in South Australia, not be pregnant or have children, and already engage in sexual activity more than once a week.
People with diagnosed sleep disorders were excluded from the study.
They were monitored for a total of 11 nights.
For seven of these, couples were asked to sleep side by side but abstain from having sex.
Participants were allowed to masturbate on two of these nights, but they had to do so alone and sleep in separate bedrooms.
They reunited for a further two nights to have sex before sleep.
“During the no sex condition, couples were asked to participate in their usual pre-sleep behaviours with no sexual activity,” researchers said.
“During the solo masturbation and partnered sex conditions, participants were instructed to participate in the sexual activity as the last behaviour they perform prior to attempting to go to sleep.“
Participants were asked to wear headbands that monitored their sleep duration and quality throughout the night and complete a sex and sleep diary the following morning.
They recorded whether they’d engaged in sex or solo play, or remained chaste, whether they’d been able to orgasm, how long it took them to fall asleep and how motivated they felt the next morning.
“Overall, participants went to sleep later, spent less time awake throughout the night, had a higher sleep efficiency, and felt more ready and motivated the following day when they engaged in sexual activity with a partner the night prior compared to when they did not engage in sexual activity with their partner,” researchers observed.
On average, participants reported taking an average of 19 minutes to masturbate and 33 minutes to have sex.
They were also asked to record how intense their orgasms were.
There was a link between intense climaxes and better sleep quality, as well as greater motivation for the next day.
Solo play was also shown to have a positive effect on sleep.
The best sleep routine and environment
Thomas Høegh Reisenhus, TEMPUR® sleep specialist & sleep counsellor, reveals the key components of a good bedtime routine and environment…
A sure-fire way to facilitate a better night’s sleep is to practice good sleep hygiene.
Establish a sleep routine that works for you and stick to it.
This will help your body establish a consistent, natural sleep-wake cycle which can do wonders for your overall sleep quality.
As such, try to avoid making up for lost sleep with a lie-in.
Instead of sleeping in, spend your morning reading a book in bed or having a leisurely coffee in the kitchen.
Ensure that your bedroom, bedding, and sleepwear are fit for purpose too.
The ideal sleep environment is dark, quiet, and cool – much like a cave.
If you find unwelcome sources of light are keeping you up, consider investing in an eye mask or black-out curtains.
Adding soft furnishings can be a great way to reduce noise, with the surfaces having an absorptive quality, but if this doesn’t work, consider embracing a soothing soundtrack to block it out.
In terms of temperature, try to keep your bedroom at 18°C. You can further reduce the risk of waking up due to overheating by ensuring that all your bedding and sleepwear is made with natural, breathable materials such as cotton and linen.
Bear in mind that everyone is different; what might work for most, may not work for you!
Whilst knowing how much sleep you should get, how to overcome common barriers, and practicing good sleep hygiene can facilitate a great night’s sleep, if you continue to struggle with sleep or fatigue persistently, do not hesitate to visit a doctor or health professional for support.
Meanwhile, participants spent more time trying to get to sleep and woke up more during the night when they abstained from sex altogether.
Sleep tracker data showed that on nights where volunteers had a cheeky bedtime sesh, they only woke up for an average of 16 minutes during the night.
But they were awake for an average of 23 minutes on nights of enforced celibacy.
Experts found their sleep efficiency – the total time spent in bed during the night – also improved by 2 percentage points to 93.4 per cent.
Participants also spent more time in the lightest stage of sleep when they didn’t have sex, compared to when they engaged in a bit of solo play.
“Women slept longer and spent less time awake throughout the night following both solo masturbation and sexual activity with a partner conditions,” researchers observed.
They reckoned a surge of feel-good hormones post orgasm – including oxytocin – may be at the root of participants’ improved sleep.
It could also be due to mood-boosting and bonding effects of sex and orgasms, they added.
Researchers noted that they relied on participants to report their night’s activities and sleep quality, so they weren’t able to corroborate whether they’d actually followed the study schedule.
They also pointed out that their study only followed a small pool of participants, all of whom were heterosexual and weren’t asked about whether they were happy in their relationships.
They went on: “Another limitation of this study is the potential influence of lag effects, where increased sexual desire following better sleep may affect subsequent sleep behaviours.
“Although participants were instructed on specific nights for engaging in sexual activity, this protocol may have restricted natural variations in sexual behaviour and their potential influence on sleep.
“Future studies could consider allowing for more free-living scenarios to capture these natural dynamics.”
