10 Ways To Spice Up Your Sex Life in 2016

If having better sex isn’t at the top of your New Year’s Resolution list, you may need to reprioritize. A healthy sex life is a straight ticket to improved wellbeing and overall quality of life. But mastering the Kama Sutra isn’t the only way you can boost your between-sheets performance. A few easy tweaks to your diet, exercise routine, and lifestyle could be all you need to spice things up in 2016.

Here are ten tips to (literally) get you going.

Research suggests that the mineral zinc can boost testosterone levels in men, says, Kristin Kirkpatrick, R.D., manager of Wellness Nutrition Services at the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute. She points towards shellfish, some fortified cereals (just check the nutrition label), and turkey as decent sources of the stuff.

“You don’t have to be able to do kick ups around a pull-up bar to be awesome in bed,” says Jeff Bell, master trainer and co-founder of Belleon Body NYC. But it’ll help if you can do a decent pull-up. Why? Because if you can lift your own weight off the floor you can sure as heck lift your girlfriend’s. Oh, and pull-ups shred your back, shoulders, bis, and tris. So there’s an aesthetic appeal as well. (Here, 9 ways to amp up your pull-up game.)

Capsaicin is a chemical compound shown to improve blood flow to vital organs, like the one due south of your navel, says Kirkpatrick. You can find capsaicin in hot chili peppers or red pepper flakes. Add a few dashes to your favorite dishes.

Holding yourself sturdily over your girl without flopping your torso against her or crushing her beneath your weight has a huge impact on your performance in bed,” says Bell. (No matter how kinky she likes it.) Consider the Renegade Row exercise your insurance policy against mishaps. (Here’s how to do a Renegade Row.)  Bell suggests you try 8 to 10 reps but stop if you’re feeling too shaky. Not able to keep your back straight? Bell recommends beefing up on the basics of core strength with planks. If you can’t hold one for over two minutes, says Bell, you’re probably not ready for the Renegade Row. If you push past your comfort zone before your ready, you’re just raising your risk of getting hurt.

Sweet potatoes, tomatoes (sauce included), carrots, and fruits like apricots and grapefruit all contain carotenoids, which are good for your overall health and your sex life. A 2015 study in the Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology found that men who ate more carotenoids were judged as having sexier skin coloration.

So start noshing carrots for an afternoon snack and add yams to dinner if you’re looking to feel better about yourself naked and would rather avoid self-tanner.

You know women like a guy with a good butt, and it’s even better if it helps his performance in the bedroom. Build your butt muscles with squats and this bridge move. You’d be surprised how many guys get this basic, foundational hip and glute exercise wrong,” Bell says. Getting this exercise correct can help with your thrusts at the gym, he says. Which can mimic the kind of thrusts you’re engaged in during “quality time” with your lady.

Improve your hip motion between the sheets by perfecting the bridge. (And try this version of the bridge with a leg extension when you’re feeling strong and confident.)

What better way to help work the same magic on your circulation as capsaicin than adding some cinnamon to your favorite hot drink? “Compounds in cinnamon also promote blood flow,” says Kirkpatrick. Sprinkle some of this natural sweetness onto your oatmeal, into your coffee, or over a few slices of apples. 

If you aren’t already aware of a kegel, make this imperceptible exercise your friend. This exercise can make you last longer and enhance how much pleasure you feel once you peak, says sexuality educator and author of The Ultimate Guide to Prostate Pleasure, Charlie Glickman, Ph.D. (Kegels also help improve bladder control.) To “kegel,” you’ll first need to find your pubococcygeus (PC) muscle, the one that, per Glickman, “makes your erection bounce.” If you’ve missed out on this locker room trick, another route to the PC is squeezing groin muscles as if you were holding back the urge to pee. Squeeze completed? Okay, now release. That’s one kegel. Repeat 10 to 30 times, depending on how boring the meeting you’re trapped in is.

Because the best part about these bad boys, says Glickman, is you can do them anytime, anywhere—even, and perhaps most importantly for your own pleasure, during sex. And if you’re in the mood to beef up your kegel routine, he adds, consider trying Private Gym, a very, very personalized training program specifically tailored for boosting men’s pelvic muscle strength (it’s FDA approved, too).

While a few drinks may dampen the self-consciousness you feel when you finally take your clothes off, one too many can leave you a little softer than you’d like. Keep things moderate when imbibing to save yourself any embarrassment.

Apart from posing a serious threat to your heart, liver, and overall mood, anabolic steroids can also shrink your family jewels, screw with the functionality of your nether regions, and risk leaving you impotent. So seriously, just don’t. No woman wants a jacked dude who can’t deliver in the bedroom. As for cigarettes, remember that slide about how you should eat foods with compounds that increase blood flow? Well nicotine does precisely the opposite, constricting blood vessels and cutting off blood flow when it’s needed most. Namely: When you’re trying to make love to your honey. Twenty men in a 2012 study on smoking cessation published in the British Journal of Urology International found they had larger and longer-lasting erections once they gave up cigarettes for good. If reducing your risk of heart disease and lung cancer weren’t enough to stop smoking in 2016, the fact that it can boost your sexual performance should be sufficient incentive!