The body works as a whole, balanced unit. When one aspect is off, all the other functions may suffer. If you truly want to be sexually fit, you are going to have to commit to improving your overall wellness.
Fitness is good for everybody but particularly for men who fall in the middle-age and retirement brackets. Prevention is the best way to keep sexual health and function working properly. Prevention typically includes requires work on habits like sleeping, exercise, eating, smoking, drinking and drug use.
There is a paradox related to prevention. Positive habits have a positive, albeit small impact on sexual health. On the other hand if you are trying to kill yourself one unhealthy habit at a time, this can cause a major impact on sexual function.
If you consistently get less than five hours of sleep at night, you may find yourself depressed, cranky and with the libido of a dead man. Cocaine use can make desire, arousal and orgasms leave town without a forwarding address. Smoking also wreaks havoc on sexual health. It interferes with the vascular function which can lead to erectile dysfunction (ED). Changing habits to healthier options is difficult but your penis will thank you.
Sleep doesn’t get much respect. Most people enjoy sleep but they still cheat themselves on it. A healthy sleep pattern includes regular sleep, wake times, deep sleep and dreaming. These sleep patterns reenergize and rest both the physical and psychological aspects of the body. A well rested body is more likely to get in the sexual mood and stay there.
To have a healthy sleep pattern, you need to establish a bedtime routine. Maybe this harkens back to the days of your youth. There is a reason that Moms establish bedtimes and routines to go with them. It is mental preparation for bed.
You should go to sleep and wake up about the same time every day. Strive to get seven to nine hours of sleep per night. Engaging in thirty minutes of a relaxing activity will help you wind down. This can include mental or physical methods; drinking or medicated sleeping aides don’t count.
If you haven’t fallen asleep within twenty minutes of lying down, get up and try your relaxing technique again. When morning comes, try to find a positive way to wake up. This may be difficult if morning people are the ones you want to strangle with every cheerful greeting. Try anyway.
Physical exercise plays a big part in both you overall and sexual health. You don’t have to achieve the look of a young, competitive athlete. In fact going to such an extreme can negatively impact your sexual function. Physical exercise should be balanced.
Sedentary lifestyles are all too common. This can lead to lethargy, poor physical conditioning, bad respiration, fatigue and lack of sexual stamina. It can also cause poor vascular and cardiovascular function. All of these traits can destroy healthy sexual function.
Diet and weight range can impact sexual health both psychologically and physically. It is important to develop a positive body image when it comes to weight. Sexual response is about touch, but if you feel heavy and unhappy about your body it will be harder to achieve a sense of desirability. It will also reduce you own sexual desire.
Weight can also lead to health problems. Diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol are conditions closely associated with excess weight. These illnesses and the medication to treat them can interfere with vascular function. This in turn can mess with sexual response.
Sex, drugs and alcohol have been thrown together when it come to sexual function. Many men use alcohol as a crutch to overcome inhibitions and self-doubts. Drugs are used in the same fashion.
Chemically speaking, alcohol is a central nervous system depressant. It can actually decrease sexual response. Younger men are less affected by the negative aspects of alcohol and benefit more from the disinhibition effect. This tendency changes as men age.
Around the middle age bracket, one or two drinks can still reduce self-consciousness. This can cause the flood gates to sexual desire to open wide. More drinks than that and men find the desire may be there but the ability has left the building.
Smoking has no benefits to sexual function. It is bad for respiration and the vascular system. These two systems are the key players in sexual function. The longer smoking continues, the worse the impact will be. The best thing you can do for your sexual health is to never start smoking. If it is too late for that, get to quitting.
Prescribed and over-the-counter (OTC) medications have their own paradoxical relationship. There are some conditions that can have a severe influence on your physical and sexual well-being. Yet, some of the drugs to treat the condition are just as damaging to sexual function.
Blood pressure medication, antidepressants and OTC cold medications commonly cause sexual function problems. Yet not taking them can wreak just as much havoc on the physical and sexual body. It is a tight line that you need to balance your way across.
Sexual health and general health share a close bond. Poor health will negatively impact sexual function and response. The best way to improve your sexual health and keep it that way is to start taking better care of the body you have.
