Sex Doesn’t Last As Long As You Think It Does

As a species, we can, and should, do better.

Sometimes, sex barely lasts more than a disappointing 10 seconds, and other times it takes so long that you feel your soul begin to leave your body as you melt into a puddle of sweat. But it turns out the average amount of time people have sex for is really not very long. But it’s not 60 seconds either. I’ll give you a hint: it rhymes with 7.3 minutes.

Surprise! It is 7.3 minutes. Like I said, not very long.

An October 2015 survey by sex toy retailer Adam & Eve revealed that on average, foreplay lasts a good 20 minutes, while the actual sex part of sex only lasts 7.3 minutes. But seriously, high fives to the 12.5% of people who said their sexy time lasts more than an hour.

While there’s no set amount of time sex should last, there are ways to last longer (without Viagra) if you aren’t very happy with your…endurance.

For starters, say hello to your right hand. Some good old-fashioned self-love will seriously help you last longer, because it’s kind of like desensitizing yourself to the sensation and learning to control your orgasms. Masturbating before a date is always an option, especially if you haven’t had sex in a while, and you want to effectively avoid an I-touched-a-boob-and-I-liked-it situation.

Next, work your pelvic floor muscles regularly by literally clenching your butt cheeks over and over again. If this sounds like kegels, it’s because it is. Kegels aren’t just for pregnant women and people who pee a little when they sneeze.

A study in Stockholm showed that men basically cured themselves of their troublesome premature ejaculation and lasted four times longer, just by doing kegels for 12 weeks. Plus, you could be doing them all day and nobody would know, so clench away.

Another possible solution includes switching to a vegetarian diet to have more stamina, but that doesn’t sound too fun. There are certain sex positions that can help you last longer, though, and that does sounds fun.

There are lots of ways to beat the norm and have sex for way longer than all the sad, sexually average people around you. 7.3 minutes my ass.