How often should you have sex? Expert reveals optimum number of times for a happy relationship

We were actually surprised by the number...

Have you ever wondered how many times a week you should be having sex with your other half? Well, science has finally given us a definitive answer and it might surprise you...

According to a new study, having sex just once a week boosts happiness levels in a relationship.

The research was done at the University of Toronto, and found that although having sex more often than once a week doesn't do any harm, it also doesn't make any difference to its relationship wellbeing benefits.

The conclusions came from two surveys completed in 1996 and 1998 by more than 25,000 people, of which roughly two-thirds were either married or in a long-term romantic relationship.

Amy Muise, leader of the research, told CNN: 'I do think couples can end up feeling pressure to try to engage in sex as frequently as possible.

'Once a week is maybe a more realistic goal to set than thinking you have to have sex everyday and that feels overwhelming and you avoid it.'

Trying new sex positons is a great way to spice things up with your partner

Amy also highlighted that once a week is an average and couples who enjoy having sex more often shouldn't cut down but whatever it feels right for them.

'This showed a linear association between sex and happiness up to a frequency of once a week, but at higher frequencies there is no longer an association. Therefore it is not necessary, on average, for couples to aim to engage in sex as frequently as possible.

'Certainly there are couples for whom having sex less frequently will be fine for their happiness, and there are couples who will get increases in happiness if they have sex more than once a week.'

The most recent data on how many times people have sex in Britain (NATSAL, 2013) revealed most of us do it around five times a month.

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