Have you ever sneaked a look at your boyfriend’s or husband’s magazines? A peek inside the pages of your guy’s subscriptions can reveal a lot about him, particularly the articles about sex. Too shy to look? We’ve scoured his favorite monthlies and websites to reveal a list of sex tips that are instructive, surprising and downright informative. Warning: You may blush.
1. Sex Isn’t a Race
Men’s Health magazine’s so-called “#1 sex tip”? We expected something ultra-racy, but we have to agree that this tip takes the prize: Slow down, fellas! “Sex isn't a race, so take time to explore her,” the editors write. “Focus on her thighs and lower belly. Make a mental circle 2 inches around the outside of her vagina and don't cross the line while you kiss, lick and caress.”
Photo by Tetra Images / Getty.
2. In Praise of the Scalp Massage
We loved seeing Maxim UK’s advice to men about head massages. “Girls love being given a head massage,” the editors write. “It can send tingling sensations all the way from her scalp down to her…”—you know where. “And although this may not sound erotic, we defy you not to get a result.” We say yes, yes, yes to this advice.
Photo by OJO Images / Getty.
3. Work Out Together
Fat-burning as foreplay? Men’s Health reminds us that working out with your sweetie can raise dopamine levels and ease anxieties—the perfect storm for satisfying, inhibition-free sex. We knew that, of course, but here’s what was news to us: “[Men’s] post-run sweat has androstadienone, a testosterone derivative that spikes her arousal when she smells it,” the editors write. That may be true, but we still recommend a shower after hitting the gym. Clean also smells sexy.
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4. Compliment, Compliment, Compliment
Men’s Health surveyed 2,000 women, and guess what they say we want most in bed? Compliments! And, no, “Wow” or “You’re hot” are not exactly what we’re looking for. Tammy Nelson, PhD, a licensed psychotherapist and the author of Getting the Sex You Want, encourages men to be specific about giving compliments, and we couldn’t agree more. Here are some examples she gives: “‘Your breasts are so soft,’ ‘I love the way you smell,’ ‘I love the sound of your voice.’ The more detailed your praise, the more personal it is to her—it shows her that you derive pleasure from herbody, not just from any naked body." Agreed! Psst, ladies: Guys like compliments too! "The biggest part of the love-and-care tactic is complimenting your partner's physical appearance,” says Aaron Goetz, PhD, an assistant professor of psychology at California State University at Fullerton, who also spoke to Men’s Health.
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5. Focus on the Feet
If your husband suddenly decides to give you a foot massage before bed, he may have read about one of AskMen.com’s top four tips for helping women orgasm. Surprisingly, one of the website’s sex correspondents reports, “What most of you probably didn’t realize was the importance of warm feet in increasing the likelihood of her experiencing an orgasm. According to Dutch scientists from the University of Groningen, the odds are increased by 30%.” Thanks, guys! We’ll be wearing wool socks and asking for foot rubs more often!
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6. Slow Dance
When’s the last time you danced with your husband? At your second cousin’s wedding last summer? At your own wedding? Yep, time for an encore…in the bedroom, say the editors of Maxim’s UK edition. In fact, slow dancing appeared on their list of top 100 foreplay rules as a way to get the juices flowing. “Slow dancing is a long-forgotten part of human seduction, now only performed in half-arsed, awkward fashion at school discos,” the editors write. “We say reclaim it!” And we say, brilliant!
Photo by iStockphoto.
7. Pretend—In Bed
While role-playing may not sound like your thing, the editors atMaxim encourage you to try it. “Done right, role-play can bring a new charge to sex,” writes Maxim’s Elena Wilson. “Many women find taking on another persona liberating, because it frees them from expectations about how they’re supposed to behave in bed.” The bottom line: Keep it simple and fun, and if it doesn’t feel right, laugh it off.
Photo by iStockphoto.
8. Choose Your Music Wisely
Music can make or break the mood, so we like this tip from Men’s Fitness about programming iPods with an appropriate romantic playlist: “Make an iPod playlist to run throughout the night, something that can fill the background. The music should vary throughout the evening,” one of the magazine’s experts advises. “Start out soft yet upbeat, no dance or rap, and let it continue to mellow out as the night progresses." Yes, it’s true, guys: You will never woo us with Metallica.
Photo by Shutterstock.
9. Be Spontaneous
We liked this advice from AskMen.com: “Spontaneity is a key ingredient that is often missing from many sexual relationships after a while,” write the editors. “The bed gets used all too frequently because it’s easy. But it doesn’t matter where you do it—sex can get stale even if you always have it in the kitchen. It might be in the same position with the same amount of foreplay (or lack thereof). Capturing spontaneity again is one of the key ingredients to breaking out of your stale sex routines, so whatever you normally do, don’t. In fact, go ahead and do the opposite.”
Photo by Shutterstock.
10. Try a Daring New Position
Psst! Have you and your husband used the same ol’ position for years? The editors of Men’s Health have a racy suggestion. They rave about something called the “Cuban Plunge” position, which caught our attention. “As you assume the man-on-top position,” they write, “ask her to bring her knees to her chest and drape her legs over your shoulders. Her vagina will be elongated and extended, and your penetration will be deeper and more pleasurable for her, which qualifies as a win-win situation.”
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The 2010 World Cup has come to a close, and you can bet that the team at Twitter is losing slightly less sleep than they have been over the last month. That’s because the global event drove record traffic to the service, resulting in some downtime and other quirks. But it also led to some pretty staggering stats: Twitter has just announced
that The World Cup Final marked the largest period of sustained activity for an event in the service’s history, with over 2,000 Tweets Per Second during the last 15 minutes of the match, and 3,051 tweets per second when Spain scored its winning goal.
