How to Increase Sexual Stamina and Performance?

What is Sexual Stamina?

In general, stamina is the physical and mental capacity to engage in an activity for a long time. It is your staying power during an activity. Stamina is not just limited to how many laps you can cover in a marathon or the number of hours you can spend playing your favorite sport. It also extends to sexual activities.

Sexual stamina is your enduring capacity or staying power when engaging in sexual activities with your partner. What differentiates sexual stamina is that it combines both mental and physical stamina.

Physical stamina is the energy needed to stay in bed for a long time. In contrast, mental stamina is the ability to maintain sexual desire long enough to give your partner an orgasm.

In addition, you can increase your sex stamina when you engage in certain activities and lifestyles. This way, you are able to have a better sexual performance for a longer time while using less energy.

Best Practices to Increase Sexual Stamina

Consume a Healthy Diet

The type of food you eat affects everything about your body, and this also includes how long you can last on the bed. Therefore, if you are concerned about lasting long in bed, consider adding the right food to your diet.

Adding fruits like watermelon into your diet will improve sexual endurance ^[1]. Watermelon is a great source of citrulline, an amino acid that the body converts into arginine. These proteins help relax blood vessels, ensuring you have a Viagra-like effect.

Another review also concluded that nuts may help improve erectile and sexual desire ^[2]. Using pistachios as an example, the same review noted that nuts contain antioxidants, arginine, and nitric oxide precursors. Nitric oxide is a compound that helps increase blood, which eventually improves sexual performance.

Try Pelvic Floor Exercises

Pelvic floor exercises are also known as Kegel exercises ^[3]. These exercises will help train muscles around the pubic bone to your tailbone. Kegel exercises are mostly recommended for improved bladder control and also treatment for bladder problems. However, men can also engage in these exercises to build sex stamina.

A randomized controlled trial, including 55 men with erectile dysfunction, concluded that pelvic floor muscle exercises are an effective treatment to treat erectile dysfunction in men ^[4]. 

In addition, a systematic review published in the National Library of Medicine also concluded that pelvic floor muscle training may be effective in treating erectile dysfunction and premature ejaculation ^[5].

Masturbate Before Sex

Another way to improve sexual performance is masturbating before the actual sex. Masturbating ensures you are able to spend more time in bed with your partner than usual. This works by helping you leverage the post-ejaculatory refractory period. During the refractory period, ejaculation is naturally delayed, and sexual stimulation lasts for a long time.

You can do this 1 hour before the actual sex; however, you can also adjust the time to decide what works best for you.

Reduce Alcohol Consumption and Quit Smoking

If you are looking to build stamina for sex, then you need to ditch some unhealthy behaviors like smoking and heavy drinking. A study reveals that alcohol affects your sexual stamina, and chronic drinking does damages like ^[7]:

• Premature ejaculation
• Low sexual desire
• Erectile dysfunction

In addition, a cross-sectional study conducted on 101 patients with alcohol dependence and 50 healthy controls revealed that more than half of the alcohol-dependent patients had erectile dysfunction ^[8].

Smoking is another habit you must let go of if you desire to have more stamina in bed. A 2014 study concluded that smokers are at a higher risk of developing erectile dysfunction irrespective of age ^[9]. 

Another study involving the baseline analysis of 6754 men between 50-75 years concluded that cigarette smokers experienced worse sexual health than non-smokers and former smokers ^[10].

Focus on Foreplay

Sexual activity is not restricted to penetration; foreplay is also an important aspect of it. So, if you want to spend more time in bed with your partner, you need to prioritize foreplay. If you are wondering what foreplay is. 

It is the variety of activities that happens before sex to build arousal. This includes sexual stimulation, kissing, touching, teasing, and undressing.

In addition, spending more time on foreplay helps create more intimacy and ensures both partners enjoy the activity. If you want to make foreplay more enjoyable, ask your partner where and how they want to be touched.

Try the Stop-Start Technique

The stop-start technique is when there is sexual stimulation or sexual activity until you begin to get the feeling of ejaculation ^[6]. At this point, you will stop the sexual activity and focus on other things. You do this until the sexual excitement reduces, and then you can resume sexual activity. This technique will help you last longer in bed naturally.

Research published in the National Library of Medicine concluded that the stop-start technique helps men stay longer in bed, therefore preventing the problem of ejaculation ^[11]. A narrative review published in the National Center for Biotechnology Information also added a stop-start technique as part of non-pharmacological treatment to prolong sexual activities ^[12].

Squeeze Technique

This is also another non-pharmacological treatment similar to the stop-start technique ^[12]. After starting sexual activity and you feel the sensation of ejaculating, stop the activity, and grasp the penis’s head to squeeze the area. 

It is not painful; however, you must ensure you are gentle with it. Next, pause for a few minutes, and when you notice sexual excitement has reduced, you can resume sexual intercourse.

In addition, you can also perform an internal squeeze by stopping midway sex to perform a pelvic floor muscle exercise to reduce the urgency to ejaculate.

Manage Anxiety and Stress

Anxiety and depression can make it difficult to sustain a prolonged sexual performance. A 2020 review reveals that sexual performance anxiety is one of the common causes of premature ejaculation and psychogenic erectile dysfunction ^[13]. 

You can manage this by practicing mindfulness meditation. Another way to reduce anxiety during sex is taking things low. Rushing into sex might worsen sex, which can lead to poor sexual performance.

On the other hand, several studies have shown that depression is associated with sexual dissatisfaction and impaired sexual function ^[14]. Another study also revealed that side effects of using antidepressants can cause sexual dysfunction and other sexual problems like decreased sexual desire and sexual excitement ^[15].

So, if you want to increase sexual stamina but you are dealing with an emotional or mental health issue, it is recommended to go for treatment.

Use a thickened Condom

Overstimulation might be the reason you have not been able to last in bed like you always wanted. You can reduce this by simply using a thickened condom that will reduce the physical sensation on your penis.

According to a clinically controlled study conducted on 100 patients with premature ejaculation ^[16]. The result revealed that a thickened condom can extend penile erection time, enhance penile erection, and help prevent premature ejaculation.

Get Quality Sleep

Sometimes, the only thing you need to increase your sexual stamina is to get a quality sleep. A study conducted on men 18 years and older concluded that impaired sleep is associated with low testosterone ^[17] & that getting a night of proper sleep can increase testosterone levels. Another review also highlighted poor sleep as a contributing factor to erectile dysfunction ^[18]

How Long Should You Last?

How long to last in bed differs by individual; however, a man needs between 5 to 7 minutes on average to ejaculate and reach orgasm ^[19]. For a broad and overall range, it is between less than a minute to 30 minutes.

One thing you need to keep in mind is that most men overestimate the time it takes them to ejaculate. Therefore, you need to avoid comparing yourself with others and take it easy on yourself if you can’t sustain sexual stamina for hours, as some others might claim.

However, if you feel you take less than 5 minutes to reach orgasm and ejaculate, you can explore different supplements to help increase your sexual stamina and performance. In addition, you can also consult a professional healthcare provider for treatment.

Also read:

• Important Nutrients for Men's Diet
• Benefits of Maca Root