Sex study goes to great lengths to find optimal time

WHATEVER about size, length doesn’t seem to matter when it comes to lovemaking.

Sex researchers have found that the optimal amount of time for sexual intercourse was between three and 13 minutes.

Using stopwatches, women taking part in the survey timed their mates during intercourse.

While the stopwatch is not regarded as a valuable aid to lovemaking, the sex researchers believe their findings are unadulterated.

The findings, to be published in the coming issue of the Journal of Sexual Medicine, strike at the notion that endurance is the key to a great sex life.

The optimal time does not count foreplay, and the therapists did rate sexual intercourse that lasts from one to two minutes as “too short”.

Researcher Eric Corty said he hoped to ease the minds of those who believe that “more of something good is better, and if you really want to satisfy your partner, you should last forever”.

Prior research, said Mr Corty, has shown that both men and women want foreplay and sexual intercourse to last longer.

“A man’s or woman’s interpretation of his or her sexual functioning as well as the partner’s relies on personal beliefs developed in part from society’s messages, formal and informal,” the researchers said.

“Unfortunately, today’s popular culture has reinforced stereotypes about sexual activity.”

Marianne Brandon, a clinical psychologist working in the US, said: “It’s difficult for both older men and young men to make sexual intercourse last much longer.

“There are so many myths in our culture of what other people are doing sexually,” said Brandon.

“Most people’s sex lives are not as exciting as other people think they are.”

Of those who took part in the sex survey, 68% said the optimal time depended on the couple.

Mr Corty said he hoped to give an idea of what therapists find to be normal and satisfactory among the couples they see.

“People who read this will say, ‘I last five minutes or my partner lasts eight minutes,’ and say, ‘that’s OK,’” he said.

“They will relax a little bit.”