A survey of sex therapists concluded the optimal amount of time for sexual intercourse was 3 to 13 minutes. The findings strike at the notion that endurance is the key to a great sex life.
If that sounds like good news to you, don’t cheer too loudly. The time does not count foreplay, and the therapists did rate sexual intercourse that lasts from 1 to 2 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.”
The questions were not gender-specific, said Corty. But he said prior research has shown that both men and women want foreplay and sexual intercourse to last longer.
Dr. Irwin Goldstein, editor of the Journal of Sexual Medicine, cited a four-week study of 1,500 couples in 2005 that found the median time for sexual intercourse was 7.3 minutes.
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 5 minutes or my partner lasts 8 minutes,’ and say, ‘That’s OK,'” he said. “They will relax a little bit.”