How to Have the Best Sex of Your Life Before Breakfast

Is there Nescafé in your cup...except by Nescafé, I mean his penis, and by cup, I mean your vagina.

Translation: good old-fashioned morning sex! Stereotypes will have us believe that women give zero sh*ts about getting it on at the crack of dawn, whereas men want nothing more than to penetrate us before we’ve had our Kellogg’s. But the morning actually brings surges of testosterone to both men and women, increasing both your libidos and heightening arousal, as well as the actual sensitivity of your genitals—particularly the strength of his erection. Hence, the origin of every grandma’s favourite expression, ‘The early bird gets the dong.’ (That is the expression, right?)

So why isn’t sex up there with Starbucks as your morning staple? “Women are multitaskers,” says Jennifer Berman, MD, a US-based specialist in female sexual health and co-host of CBS’s The Doctors. “When the sun comes up and the light goes on, they’re thinking about the day, not their vaginas.” But morning sex is a form of comfort sex—not just pleasure, but a way to deepen your bond with your partner before you both head to work. Morning-sex enthusiast Rhea, 27, confirms that getting it on with her fiancé makes them “feel close for the rest of the day...and it gives him enough time to rest up for a repeat later.”

Studies show the health benefits are plentiful too. Having sex two or three times a week decreases the risk of heart attack and stroke by half, and improves circulation—and if you’re able to fit in a quickie before your morning coffee, you’re bound to have more sex overall. Plus, there’s no need to drag yourself to the gym: sex takes your heartbeat from 70 to 180 beats per minute, so you can burn more than 140 calories in one half-hour sesh. And it’s a hell of a lot more fun than dragging *ss on the treadmill.

Latika, 33, prefers getting it on in the morning because it’s when she feels her sexiest: “You feel light and tight, because you didn’t just have a rich dinner and two glasses of wine.” Like an erotic Harry Potter spell, morning sex makes you hotter too. It enhances your levels of IgA, an antibody that guards you from infection, and it releases chemicals that boost estrogen, which make your skin, hair, and nails shinier. When you roll into work—hopefully on time, ahem— you’ll go about your day with an elevated mood and a natural shot of energy. In other words...if he rises, you’ll shine.

Night-time traditionally remains sex o’clock for so many overworked, overtired couples, but experts say that adhering to a routine sex schedule is holding you back. “We shouldn’t just keep sex for certain times of day or special occasions,” says Dr Berman, noting that she’s found that her female patients’ libidos tend to increase once they start having sex more frequently. So wake up and smell the coffee! But not until after your incredible morning sex.

This article was originally published in the August 2015 issue of Cosmopolitan India.