Anyone who’s tried standing sex knows certain positions require quite a bit of strength and agility to pull off. And not only that, there’s data that suggests getting exercise can add some oomph and level up arousal.

So while we’d never tell you fitness automatically leads to good sex (only good communication and lube can do that, after all), exercise is, at the very least, a great source of endorphins.

That’s why we called up some experts and put together this collection of moves geared toward getting your body ready for a raucous roll in the hay.

The routine

When it comes to the moves in this article, you have choices. You can formulate your own routine, deciding how many reps or what amount of time on each move suits your body. Or, you can follow these steps:

  • Start by warming up with 20 jumping jacks followed by 30 seconds of chair pose.
  • Complete the recommended reps stated at the bottom of each exercise, resting for 1 minute in between sections.
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A strong core protects your spine, reduces risk of injury, improves body control, and help you stand for longer,” says Julia Sokol, dance instruction and empowerment expert and founder and CEO of SassClass. “Of course, those benefits carry over to the bedroom.”

1. Plank

Planks may be groan-inducing at the gym, but doing them might help you moan in the bedroom. “Being able to hold your body up can help you stand in an on-top position that feels good for even longer,” says Sokol.

How to do it

  1. Start in a push-up position, with hands directly under shoulders.
  2. Press into the floor with your toes and with the L-shaped area between your thumb and forefinger.
  3. Draw belly button up toward spine and engage your glutes and quads.
  4. Hold for 1 minute.

*For added difficulty, drop to your forearms so your arms are bent at a 90-degree angle. Careful not to sag in your hips.

2. Small leg lift

“Simply pulsating your legs up and down a few inches in the air for a lot of reps helps build core endurance, which can help in almost any bedroom activity,” says Sokol.

How to do it

  1. Lie on your back, with legs straight and arms by your sides.
  2. Press lower back into the floor to protect your spine, then engage quads and squeeze thighs together.
  3. Continue to press your lower back into the floor and exhale as you lift legs up 45 degrees.
  4. Inhale as you slowly lower your legs until feet are hovering above the floor.
  5. Repeat. Try for 10 reps.

3. Hollow hold

“The more control you have of your movements in bed, the more likely you’ll be able to put and keep yourself in a position that feels good,” says Sokol.

How to do it

  1. Lie faceup on the floor, with legs straight and arms overhead.
  2. Squeeze your lower back into the floor and biceps against your ears.
  3. Lift legs and shoulder blades off the floor and pulsate (as shown above)
  4. Try for 20 reps.

“Cardiovascular exercises that incorporate the lower body will increase blood flow to the pelvis,” says Jeffcoat. “Good blood flow is essential in the orgasm response as the clitoris engorges 50 to 300 percent.”

4. Jumping squat

“Jumping squats work your glutes and core, both of which will make you feel more stable and powerful during [standing] sex positions,” says Sokol.

How to do it

  1. Stand with feet hip-width apart and toes pointed out. Tighten your core by drawing belly button in toward spine.
  2. Keeping a tall chest, squat down by sitting hips back and bending knees.
  3. When you hit the bottom of your squat, immediately drive off the floor with feet while extending hips.
  4. Land with soft knees and with feet in squat stance, and immediately move into a second rep.
  5. Try for 20 reps.

5. Mountain climber

“Done from the core-strengthening high plank position, mountain climbers are a fantastic full-body move that works your shoulders, core, glutes, triceps and legs,” says Sokol.

How to do it

  1. Start in a high plank position, with shoulders stacked over wrists. Tuck pelvis and draw ribs down to engage your core musculature.
  2. Pressing into the floor with your palms, lift right leg off the floor and immediately drive it up toward your chest.
  3. Return right leg to the floor before repeating on the left side.
  4. Continue to alternate legs, keeping core braced.
  5. Complete 10 reps.

The why is simple: Strong pelvic floors = stronger orgasms (at least according to a small 2010 study, which suggested that orgasm and arousal are related to greater pelvic floor functioning).

Stop Kegeling if you’re in pain

If you’re experiencing pain during intercourse, sudden or frequent urges to pee, and pain in your bladder and/or rectum, you may have an overactive pelvic floor, says Heather Jeffcoat, DPT, an author and doctor of physical therapy who specializes in sexual dysfunction, pain, and incontinence.

If these symptoms sound familiar, she recommends meeting with a pelvic floor specialist, who can suggest muscle relaxation techniques before doing strengthening exercises.

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6. Kegel

According to Sara Reardon, a doctor of physical therapy and owner of NOLA Pelvic Health in New Orleans, more than 50 percent of people are doing Kegels wrong.

“Kegels are a contraction and relaxation of the pelvic floor. Most people don’t do the second, and essential, part of the movement,” she says.

To do Kegels effectively (and without damaging your pelvic floor), it’s best to first see if you can do a Kegel at all.

The next time you’re on the toilet, try to stop your urine stream and then restart it. If you can do that, congrats — you just did a Kegel. If not, Reardon suggests working with a pelvic floor specialist, who can teach you how to properly activate those muscles.

How to do it

  1. Lie on your back, with knees bent and feet on the floor.
  2. Engage your pelvic floor muscles as if your vagina or penis were sipping up a smoothie with a straw. (This wacky cue helps squeeze and lift and the pelvic floor muscles as opposed to just clenching them.)
  3. Release, then repeat.
  4. Aim for 25 reps (or, squeezes, if you will).

7. Squat

Dr. Evan Goldstein, DO, and CEO and founder of Bespoke Surgical, recommends squats especially to folks who find receptive intercourse painful. “Painful sex is often a result of tight, overactive pelvic floor muscles, doing squats correctly can help train folks to contract and relax and strengthen those muscles, helping counteract the painful problem,” he says.

How to do it

  1. Stand with feet hip-width apart and toes pointed out at a 5- to 15-degree angle. Brace core by tucking ribs under your body.
  2. Keeping core braced, sit hips back (as if sitting into a chair) and bend your knees. As you lower, maintain a proud chest to protect your lower back.
  3. When hips are lower than knees or your lower back starts to round, press knees out and squeeze glutes for 3 seconds.
  4. Press into forefoot and return to standing, squeezing glutes at the top before releasing them.
  5. Aim for 25 reps.

Calling all the anal enthusiasts and anal-curious folks! Goldstein says being able to contract and relax your glutes and anal sphincter can help prep your body for anal penetration and make it more pleasurable when it’s happening.

8. Hip thrust

“Hip thrusts work your bedroom muscles: core and glutes,” says Sokol. “Doing them will help make your thrusts more powerful.”

How to do it

  1. Sit on the floor with knees bent, shoulder blades pressed against a box or bench, and feet flat on the floor.
  2. Keeping chin tucked and eyes forward, press into feet and activate glutes to push your hips into the air.
  3. Continue raising hips until your body forms a straight line from knees to nose.
  4. Squeeze your glutes together at the top. Hold for at least 3 seconds.
  5. Crease hips to return bum to the floor.
  6. Completely 25 reps.

Make it harder: Once you master the bodyweight version of this move, add weight, holding a kettlebell or weight plate as you thrust.

9. Barbell deadlift

In addition to working your lower-body muscles (hamstrings, quads, and glutes), deadlifts work your entire core — including your pelvic floor.

How to do it

  1. Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, with a barbell positioned in front of your feet.
  2. Brace core, hinge at hips, and bend knees slightly. Lower down until you can grip (overhand, underhand, or mixed grip is fine!) the bar with straight arms.
  3. Squeeze shoulder blades together. Keeping a tight midline, pull the bar up along your body to return to standing.
  4. Squeeze glutes, quads, hamstrings, and core at the top. Hinge at hips to return the bar to the floor.
  5. Aim for 15 reps.

If you don’t have a barbell handy, you can do this move with dumbbells or kettlebells. In fact, because you’ll be holding two weights instead of one, your core will have to work extra hard to keep you stable.

10. Walking lunge

Walking lunges are a go-to move for building a strong peach. To make them more effective at improving your sex life, Reardon recommends adding a Kegel at the bottom of each step.

How to do it

  1. Stand with feet hip-width apart and hands on hips. Engage your core, then step forward with right leg, lowering until both legs make 90-degree angles.
  2. At the bottom of your lunge, do a Kegel — remember to release your muscles after contracting them.
  3. Squeeze your glutes, then push off left foot to step left leg through into the bottom of a lunge.
  4. Complete 15 reps on each leg.

“Hip mobility allows you to access a huge range of sexual positions that are potentially pleasurable,” says Sokol.

Hip stretches are important, but if you have a tight pelvic floor, you might want to try restorative yoga rather than just adding a few stretches to your routine here and there.

“While not the only way to help folks lengthen tight PC muscles, yoga can be a good way to down-regulate the central nervous system and promote reduced tightness,” says pelvic floor physical therapist Sallie Sarrel, PT, ATC, DPT and co-founder of the Endometriosis Summit.

11. Lizard Pose

“Lizard Pose can help increase mobility in the hips that you can into for any physical activity, including sex,” says Sokol.

How to do it

  1. Start on all fours, with hands under shoulders and knees under hips.
  2. Press into your palms to shift back into Downward-Facing Dog.
  3. Bring your left foot to the outside of your left hand, and bend your knee 90 degrees.
  4. Slowly sink into your hips, but make sure your knee remains at a 90-degree angle.
  5. Hold for at least a minute on either side, inhaling and exhaling deeply.

12. Figure four

Positions like Splay-Leg Missionary and Scissoring are a doozy for the hip flexors. Sokol recommends incorporating a movement like this into your daily routine to increase hip mobility over time.

How to do it

  1. Lie on your back, with knees bent and feet flat on the floor, close to your bum.
  2. Cross left leg over right leg, placing left ankle just below right knee.
  3. With both hands, grasp your right thigh to gently pull it toward you.
  4. Use left elbow to press left thigh away from you, intensifying the stretch.
  5. Hold for a minute on either side, remembering to breathe deeply.

13. Frog

“Any time you need your hips opened, frog is a great choice,” says Sokol. *Devil emoji*

But, she says, “It should never be your first stretch. You need to be thoroughly warmed up before tackling it.”

How to do it

  1. Start on hands and knees on a yoga mat (or a soft surface to protect your knees).
  2. Take knees as wide as is comfortable, opening feet slightly wider than knees. Point toes outward in a flexed position.
  3. Look 6 inches in front of your hands to protect your neck.
  4. Hold for two minutes or however long feels comfortable.

Gabrielle Kassel (she/her) is a queer sex educator and wellness journalist who is committed to helping people feel the best they can in their bodies. In addition to Healthline, her work has appeared in publications such as Shape, Cosmopolitan, Well+Good, Health, Self, Women’s Health, Greatist, and more! In her free time, Gabrielle can be found coaching CrossFit, reviewing pleasure products, hiking with her border collie, or recording episodes of the podcast she co-hosts called Bad In Bed. Follow her on Instagram @Gabriellekassel.