Kissing can be more than a romantic gesture between partners; it also helps burn calories. A vigorous makeout session can burn approximately 150 calories in 30 minutes – which equates to five calories every minute!
However, your results depend on how hard and passionately you kiss. A casual peck only requires two muscles and will burn 2-3 calories while more passionate kissing can burn 5-26 per minute!
1. Oxygen Consumption
Kissing can help burn calories, but it won’t work miracles. A 2013 study on Philematology (yes, there is such a thing as scientific word for kissing!) by cardiologist Joseph Alpert suggests only 2 or 3 calories were burned per minute with casual kissing or pecks and casual smooches.
But if you engage in an intense makeout session that includes heavy breathing, touching, and possibly other physical activity – an hour could potentially see 6 calories being burned every minute! That’s because intense kissing requires your facial and mouth muscles to work harder.
Kissing is an effective facial workout that works 2-35 muscles in your face and forces the body to use more oxygen for energy use, helping it get rid of extra calories more effectively. Furthermore, kissing increases saliva production which keeps teeth free of decay-causing bacteria.
2. Mouth Muscles
Kissing involves more than simply pecking your lips together; according to health experts, kissing also strengthens a variety of facial muscles like lips, cheeks, and jaw. All these movements burn calories!
Personal trainer Brooke Marrone recently told Cosmopolitan that kissing for an hour can burn approximately 100 calories. According to her, this is due to an increase in hormones such as oxytocin, dopamine and serotonin which promote feeling good while simultaneously helping reduce cortisol levels which act as stress-inducers.
Kissing can burn between 2 and 26 calories per minute depending on its intensity, your weight and age; on average though a casual kiss will typically burn up to two calories per minute while passionate kissing burns between 5 and 26. Interested in further ways to lower cortisol levels? BetterHelp offers over 31,000 therapists who specialize in managing bipolar disorder who can be matched within 48 hours and schedule your first session today!
3. Facial Muscles
Kissing may not burn as many calories as running on a treadmill, but it still delivers benefits. According to reports, makeout sessions with someone hot can help burn up to six calories per minute!
Personal trainer Brooke Marrone informs Cosmopolitan that during a smooch sesh, more than just your mouth muscles benefit from exercise during sexual encounters. When making out, up to 34 facial muscles (such as those which make your lips pout) and 112 postural muscles from throughout your body are being engaged during intimate encounters.
Therefore, it can be hard to pin down exactly how many calories will be burned during a casual peck or long-lasting passionate makeout session. But one rule holds: The more intense the kissing session, the greater its caloric burn – doubled if you move more during your kissing session instead of just standing or sitting still during it; aggressive kisses also contribute significantly towards increased caloric loss according to cardiologist Joseph Alpert.
4. Heart Rate
Kissing may not burn as many calories as running, but it still provides an effective exercise for facial muscles and can boost your heart rate, leading to additional caloric burn off. Heavy breathing and tongue action may even increase cardiovascular fitness – an added perk!
Your kisses may burn anywhere from two to five calories per minute depending on their intensity, with casual pecks burning fewer while intense make-out sessions with your partner could burn much more than that. How much you burn depends on factors such as duration and bodyweight as well as intensity of kissing session.
While a casual kiss here and there might not burn many calories, they will help maintain healthy lips while building relationships and strengthening bonds between partners. Not to mention you’ll look fabulous while doing it! To really maximize calorie burn, aim to make each kiss as steamy and passionate as possible – and your weight may even start melting away!
