Anka Radakovich canvasses the CrossFit community to find out about lifting, lusting and libidos. 

In the name of sexual research, I have conducted the first CrossFit Sex Survey.

Throbbing replies came from around the globe, from Tasmania, South Africa, Canada,

England and Mexico and even included a CrossFitting cowboy in North Dakota. Over 200 people participated, including those who identified themselves as straight, gay and bi, as well as one person who said, “I’m not sure.”

As part of the survey, I wanted to know how doing CrossFit has altered people’s sex lives. Almost everyone reported that CrossFit made him or her better in bed. And both men and women said CrossFit has increased their sex drives. One guy said his “went through the roof,” turning his “average sex drive” into that of a total horn-dog. “The only problem now,” he said “is that my wife finds me annoying.”

Very few sex studies have examined the link between exercise and arousal or pleasure. Dr. Cindy Meston, a Ph.D. sex researcher at the University of Texas at Austin, conducted a series of studies that tried to discover a link between sympathetic nervous system (SNS) arousal and sexual response. In Sympathetic Nervous System Activity and Female Sexual Arousal, Meston explains how researchers used intense exercise-bike sessions to drive up SNS activity in their subjects, who were also asked to watch neutral and hardcore-porn films. While Meston did not find exercise alone produced increased sexual arousal, she found that it certainly seemed to help when erotic stimulation was added to the mix.

“Exercise in the presence of an erotic stimulus somehow prepares the body for sexual arousal,” she wrote.

Our lesson? Hit the gym, then put on some porn and get busy.

One CrossFitting couple told me that right after a WOD is when they both feel most like doing it. One day they couldn’t wait and started doing it right in their car in the CrossFit parking lot. A few minutes later, when the next class ran the 400-meter warm-up right past their car, they had to stop what they were doing and duck.

Top Fantasies

When CrossFitters were asked, “What are your top three sexual fantasies?” a few trends emerged.

For men, the No. 1 fantasy was having a threesome. For women, the least favorite fantasy was having a threesome. The second most popular fantasy with both men and women was “sex in public,” and the third favorite fantasy equally shared by both men and women was “sex with another CrossFitter.”

One straight male said he lives to have “sex with two CrossFitter girls while a third girl watches.” (The difference between male and female fantasies is that males have more people in theirs.)

According to the survey, what distinguished CrossFitters’ sex fantasies from other people’s was that CrossFitters incorporated CrossFit into their fantasies. One guy’s fantasy went like this: “Someday, I want to own my own CrossFit box and one day after the last evening class of the night, I get approached by two of the hot female clients and propositioned for a reduced membership fee. I then give them some extra personal training.’”

A 24-year-old female from Ohio confessed that she turned her fantasy into reality, admitting, “I have sex with my coach. I get turned on when he yells at me. No one knows. It’s probably the best sex I’ve ever had.” She also reported, “I had my first threesome with a two other CrossFitters. After we were done, we all yelled, ‘Time!’”

Other fantasies included “sex on the mat,” “sex in the front/back office” and “sex while being completely dominated”—a fantasy that was evenly split between male and female respondents. One 26-year-old lesbian from Hawaii said her sexual fantasies were “Batman and Catwoman.” She liked the “damsel-in distress fantasy where I rescue her and have ‘gratified’ sex, meaning the girl who gets rescued is gratified, in costume of course.”

Luc, 42, owner of Blue Coast CrossFit in Kapolei, Hawaii, says his sex fantasies are, “Sex in a boat or on the ocean, sex on the beach, and sex while three of the Muppets give commentary.”

CrossFitters Who Do Other CrossFitters

When asked “Have you ever had sex with a fellow CrossFitter, and how is it different?” one 28-year-old female from Vancouver, B.C. said, “It’s different in that as a girl, even if you’re looking for crazy, dirty sex, you still want to be respected. And when you’re with a CrossFitter, even if it’s just sex and nothing more, you know he respects you. He watched you kick his ass in the workout just a couple hours before, so there’s no way he doesn’t respect you. When you CrossFit together, you see each other in dire situations of struggle. That builds an unmatched respect that carries into the bedroom.”

She adds: “Oh, and if you know he’s into CrossFit, it immediately makes him more datable and/or bang-able.”

A 27-year-old male from Texas whose sexual fantasies included “being bossed around in bed” said, “It’s different with CrossFitters. I had sex with a CrossFitter, and she was a sex goddess. So into anything and always into any and every position possible.”

Bigger, Badder, Better in Bed

CrossFitters who saw directly improved sex lives from doing CrossFit gave testimonials like they were doing an infomercial.

A 29-year-old female from Boston said, “My wife and I have a sparked sex life. Prior to CrossFit, we were ‘too tired.’ Or we had a quick, short 5 minutes of sex and then it was over. I was ‘too heavy.’ Now I’m not too heavy, we are more playful, and we have sex often. We are not embarrassed by our bodies anymore.”

A 38-year-old female from Austin, Texas, said, “My level of desire has gone through the roof, and for an already horny woman, this is saying a lot. I never turn my husband down anymore, and besides, he says my hand jobs have greatly improved.”

A 31-year-old male from Santa Cruz, Calif., said, “It makes you more daring and adventurous … CrossFit changes your attitude. It makes you more confident and outgoing sexually.

The increased testosterone production from high intensity training greatly increases sex drive.”

A 35 year-old-male from Pittsburgh said, “Once my wife started CrossFitting, the fireworks began to fly. She was much more confident and eager to have sex. We are now back to having sessions,’” he says, as opposed the pre-CrossFit days when he had to beg.

Luc from Blue Coast CrossFit said, “CrossFit butts are awesome.”

The 22-year-old cowboy from South Dakota, who turned a hay barn into a mini CrossFit box, said, “I’ve always been fit between ranch work, sports and firefighting, but once I discovered CrossFit, I became an animal! It made it easier to throw my girlfriend around. She weighs 100 lb.” He also thought that I’d “look better in a cowboy hat and a Daisy Duke top,” but that was just his opinion.

Exercise-Induced Orgasms

A recent sex study explored exercise and women’s orgasm. The study, conducted by Debby Herbenick and J. Dennis Fortenberry, was published in Sexual and Relationship Therapy. Conducted at the University of Indiana (once home to famed sex researcher Alfred Kinsey), the study was one of the first of its kind to explore exercise-induced orgasms. It found that some women have random orgasms at the gym that were “absent from fantasies.” The exercises that got the ladies going were multiple sets of abdominal exercises, including sit-ups. But the ab exercises that triggered the random big O’s were reps of knees-to-chest, which gave women phantom “core-gasms.” Weightlifting, biking/spinning and climbing poles or ropes

also aroused the ladies, just as it did for Garth Algar in Wayne’s World.

“I felt kinda funny. Like I did when I climbed the rope in gym class.”

The results were based on surveys filled out by 124 women who said they had experienced exercise-induced orgasm and 246 women who had experienced exercise-induced sexual pleasure. Twenty percent of the women said they couldn’t control their arousal, were not fantasizing or thinking about sex at the time, and felt embarrassed to get so aroused at a gym.

One male respondent of our CrossFit and sex study said, “I have never become aroused at a box, because I am all business there, but I did become aroused filling out this survey.”

None of the CrossFitters who responded to this survey reported having orgasms at a box, but one couple said they have orgasms before they go to the box. “It’s a great warm-up,” they said.

A 22-year-old cowboy from North Dakota said he gets aroused at his box. “Mainly anytime a girl in Spandex shorts does a squat or deadlift and her ass looks amazing and I get dirty thoughts in my head,” he said. “But since I was busy working out myself, I didn’t get an erection—that would make wall balls different.”

True Sex Confessions of CrossFitters

“I’m male, 40, living in Portland, Ore.,” wrote one respondent.“ I started doing CrossFit years ago. I also joined the local leather/kink scene a few months after CrossFit. I’ve always been kinky but never thought I would fit into a community. CrossFit had a profound impact on my sex life.

“At first, the physical changes were noted by partners. I had always been self-conscious of my body. I’m about 5’10” and weighed 135 until I was 30. I now weigh 170 and have noticeable curves, bulges and cut lines. Still thin compared to the CrossFit firebreathers, but much bigger than before. For the first time in my life, a female partner saw me nude and said, ‘You have a beautiful body.’ “As a result of this, I developed confidence to go naked at public play parties. I suddenly realized that I was one of the few males in the kink scene who worked out. I’m a switch, and I was bottoming heavily at this point of my life and spent a lot of time tied to crosses being whipped, kick-boxed, caned and flogged. Now it was all happening in public, to large crowds. I never thought I would be seen naked on a stage in front of 500-plus people at Portland’s annual KinkFest event.

“And when I top, I feel ... toppier. Meaner. More masculine. I use my body more as a device, or an impact toy. But I’ve never had women stroke my abs or ass before and fixate on muscular areas. It is a very nice feeling: I’m used to being the one pawing at a woman like a little boy on Christmas, and it feels good to be a toy for once. I can manipulate women in a manhandling way, consensually tossing them, carrying them, etc. The new strength allows me to access more dominant positions and for longer periods of time. I have literally done it for four or more hours, and it felt like a WOD.”

As far as benefits go, the general consensus was that most people seemed delighted at the secondary benefit of CrossFit improving their sex lives while not consciously trying to.

On a personal note, I noticed that after only two months of doing CrossFit, my arm no longer got tired when I “paddled the girl in the pink canoe” or “polished the pole.” Many people reported increased “handy” skills.

A 26-year-old male from Dallas, Texas, said, “Before CrossFit, sex was softer. Now that we have put on significant muscle and shed excess fat, sex is more animalistic. Because of this, I’ve added a new category of porn I look at now, which is ‘fitness girls.’”

A 34-year-old female from Kansas says that since doing CrossFit, her sex life is filled with “more playfulness.” She lists her top three fantasies as “bondage outdoors,” “rough sex,” and “wrestling.” Wow, CrossFitters know how to party.

Just about everyone polled said their sex life was better. “Our sex life has become more primal, more animalistic,” commented a 34-year-old male. One guy said he got so worked up after a good workout in bed, “that after pulling out I accidentally did the ‘money shot’ in my own face.”

A 26-year-old female said CrossFit has made her a better lover: “I now have a hobby that is a good use of my time, and when I come home after working out, there is a better chance of me getting some afternoon delight.”

Women said they felt less self-conscious and more confident about their bodies, and thus more free and “fearless.” And every sex study ever done has found that when people are relaxed, have no fear and are excited, sex is the best.

Several people said they “were doing most of the work” before their wives, husbands, boyfriends or girlfriends did CrossFit, and they were relieved to get some help. Many said that the sexual perks of doing “CrossFit were “unexpected,” “surprising” and, best of all, “fun.”

“CrossFit makes everything better,” commented more than one person.

“I feel better naked,” said a few more.

But most importantly, noted one husband whose wife now can lift more than he can,

“Strong is the new sexy."

About the Author

Anka Radakovich is a journalist, author, screenwriter and CrossFitter. She wrote a popular sex column for Details Magazine for nine years and now writes a column for British GQ. She has written for Maxim, Playboy, Men’s Journal, FHM, Complex, Arena, Razor, Penthouse, and Men’s Health. Fun fact: she was a Jeopardy question under the category “Men’s Mags.” She has also written for Marie Claire, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Redbook, Seventeen and Harper’s Bazaar. She has made nine appearances on Conan and will make her 10th when her third book, The Wild Girl’s Club, Part 2 is published in September 2012. Follow her at twitter.com/ankarad.