Mankind has been looking for ways to improve their sex lives for about as long as they’ve had sex lives. The history of aphrodisiacs goes back thousands of years and every ancient culture had its preferences. Oysters, chocolate, strawberries, the horn of some random animal; you name it, people have tried it. But there is some science involved here, too. Some things really do offer a boost, even if it doesn’t work for humans, or it’s not even intentional.

10. UV Light

UV rays from the sun are dangerous and can cause cancer, so we’ve all been told for years to wear sunscreen. Research in 2021 put our need to protect ourselves from those harmful rays in jeopardy when it came to light that they also do a good job of boosting the libido of both men and women.

Ultraviolet radiation affects the human endocrine system, which in turn is responsible for the production of sex hormones. It increases testosterone in males but the effect on females is profound as well. When test subjects were exposed to UVB radiation, they noted an increase in sex drive across the board, as well as increased male aggression. 

The exact way UV rays cause your endocrine system to increase the production of sex hormones is not known. Women who are exposed become more receptive towards males and their attractiveness is rated as having increased. It also increases the estrus phase and even follicle growth. 

9. Cotton and Wool Pants Increased the Sex Drive of Rats

You may have heard that, as a man, you can make some wardrobe changes if you want to potentially increase your fertility when you’re trying to have a child. Boxer shorts apparently keep your undercarriage at a more reasonable temperature, thus potentially raising your sperm count compared to if you wore briefs. But is that all clothing can do for you? The answer is no. At least not if you’re a rat.

Lab experiments have shown that if you put little pants on rats, you can increase their sex drive while also establishing the plot for what would surely be a hilarious YouTube video. Specifically, the pants need to be wool or cotton. Polyester pants will have the opposite effect. 

The hard-hitting research deduced that the reason for this change in behavior is potentially rooted in the fact that rats wearing polyester pants seemed to generate more static electricity which was likely interfering with their genitals.A charge was actually measured in the rat’s genitals But the rats in cotton and wool pants suffered no such effects and, in fact, had increased urges compared to pre-pants levels. 

8. There’s a Cricket Aphrodisiac Virus

In what sounds like it somewhat borrows the plot of the movie It Follows, there is a virus out in the world that has, as a side effect, increased libido. Those afflicted become more sexually active and more promiscuous which is a benefit to the virus itself since it transmits through sexual contact. They have more sex with more partners and the virus spreads further and further, reproducing and growing as it goes.

Luckily for us, the virus is not one that affects humans. Instead, it’s a cricket virus. It may sound not entirely terrible at first, but you should also know that the virus, known as iridovirus, turns the insides of the crickets blue and will kill them within a few weeks of infection. So while it seems like there may be an initial upside, it’s definitely not worth it in the long run. 

The virus itself has been known for years, and the fact that it caused the cricket’s internal organs to swell until they died was well established. But it wasn’t until 2014 that a researcher noticed an observable increase in sexual activity among the doomed insects and put two and two together. The infected males initiated a mating song more than three times faster than normal once infected. Maybe they knew they were on a clock.

7. A Sonic Boom Caused Crocodiles To Initiate Early Mating

When an aircraft breaks the sound barrier, it creates a sonic boom, that loud explosion of sound the moment the plane is suddenly faster than the very sound it produces. It’s a cool phenomenon and you can see all kinds of videos of it on YouTube. For most of us that sound is nothing more than an interesting scientific curiosity. But if you’re a crocodile, it may be a lot more.

Back in 2010, there were reports that Israeli fighter jets creating sonic booms had caused some havoc on a local crocodile farm. The owner of the farm observed male crocodiles attempting to initiate the mating season earlier than usual which he attributed to the noises. It was his belief that the sonic boom was similar enough to the loud and somewhat terrifying mating calls of the crocodiles that they had mistaken it for other males encroaching on their territory. With 100 crocodiles at the farm, this likely caused quite a disturbing scene. 

6. O-Shots and P-Shots Inject a Patient’s Own Blood Into Their Genitals

If you’ve never heard of an O-Shot, you can at least take some educated guesses based on what you’ve already heard on the list regarding what it might mean. Touted as something of a female equivalent to Viagra, the O-Shot is a libido booster for women that has been around for a number of years now though it seems to have fallen by the wayside in the last half decade. 

Back in 2014 it was still in clinical trials and promised to intensify all aspects of sexual experience for women from libido to arousal to orgasm. The procedure involved taking the woman’s own blood and then separating the cells from the plasma. Platelets were isolated, purified and concentrated, then re-injected into the genitals where they would begin working immediately.

A similar procedure, called the P-Shot, has been performed more recently on men with claims it shows benefits over a 6 month period. In this case it’s just said to treat erectile dysfunction rather than necessarily boost libido. However, it is being marketed as increasing sensation and restoring confidence and intimacy. 

The results of the O-Shot, which you can have done at various clinics and spas even today, have been questioned by medical experts. 

5. Tiramisu was Invented In Italian Brothels to Motivate Clients

If you’re a fan of Italian cuisine or desserts in general then you’ve probably enjoyed tiramisu at least once in your life. The dessert is traditionally made with coffee-dipped ladyfingers,a whipped, sweet layer of mascarpone cheese, and cocoa powder. You can use sponge cake instead of ladyfingers and sometimes coffee liqueur is used. A well made tiramisu can be quite tasty and, as it happens, it was meant to make you feel pretty sexy as well. 

While determining the origins of some foods is difficult, this is not the case with tiramisu. It can be traced right back to Italian brothels in Treviso where it was served to clients to give them a little pick me up during their sessions. The name literally translates to “pull me up” or “pull it up” so take from that what you will. 

Given that the dessert was made with generous amounts of sugar and alcohol, you can imagine how it might serve to give a boost to brothel patrons who needed both real energy and perhaps a shot of liquid courage to keep themselves motivated. The women would have liked it as well since customers who stay around longer are going to have to pay more. 

4. Some Parkinson’s Treatments Can Cause Hypersexuality

Have you ever seen a commercial for medication and noticed that part where they list the side effects? Most medications have pretty standard side effects. Some can get very serious. And a few are just really weird, like the increased urge to gamble. This is usually associated with drugs called dopamine agonists, which are used to treat things like Parkinson’s Disease. 

Along with gambling and compulsive shopping, hypersexuality is another side effect of these drugs that some patients may experience. It’s been estimated that it affects 2.5% to 3.5% of patients but the number may be higher due to people not wanting to report it. 

All of these side effects are related to impulse control which is altered as a result of how the drugs can interact with certain patients’ brain chemistry. Because of this, patients need to be monitored closely by their doctors and treatments may need to be altered.

3. An Appetite Hormone Increases Sex Drive in Mice

Right now in your stomach you have a hormone called ghrelin. It’s mostly known for increasing your appetite and letting your brain know you’re hungry. It also regulates caloric intake and body fat.  And it will also increase the sex drive in mice. 

Though the research wasn’t able to indicate whether the effect was the same on humans, the idea was that the hormone has an effect on your brain’s reward centers. You feel hungry and you eat and it’s like a little reward for your brain. Sex kind of works the same way and the hormone stimulates the brains of mice accordingly. 

When given a supplement of the hormone, mice put more effort into finding a partner and increasing their sexual activity. In female mice it was shown to increase the number of times the mice had sex as well as how long the act lasted. 

The hope for the tests was that, if the same effect is observed in humans, treatments for issues like sex addiction could be devised as a result.

2. Nerve Damage Can Lead to Never-Ending Sexual Arousal

The human body is a curious and confusing thing sometimes. How everything connects and works can be thrown right off thanks to a single accident. Then you end up like Joleen Baughman who was in a car accident, damaged a nerve in her pelvis, and ended up with persistent sexual arousal syndrome. 

While it sounds like a punchline, the reality of the condition is actually pretty horrifying. The sensation is never ending. That means Baughman was never able to relieve the feeling and was dealing with swelling that never subsided and constant pain because she was sensitive to any stimulation. Medication proved unable to offer any kind of relief and giving in to the urges and having sex made it feel even worse. 

1. Rabies Can Cause Hypersexuality

Rabies is not a pleasant disease. Most of us know it only as a disease that affects animals and makes them froth at the mouth and act crazy. Take it a step further and maybe it’s the basis for a horror movie like Cujo. But real life rabies is pretty terrifying, and it needs to be treated quickly. According to the CDC, once clinical signs of the disease appear it’s almost always fatal. 

While common symptoms include confusion, agitation, hallucinations and delirium, there are less common symptoms as well. One of those is an increased sex drive.

In one case, a woman bitten by a dog developed an increased libido that lasted for three days but no other symptoms at all. Shortly after her symptoms included hydrophobia which contributed to her death within seven days. 

Fifty-five cases have been recorded since 1970 and almost all of them have affected men. Men tended to suffer from different sexual symptoms while hypersexuality was the main sexual side effect in the few women studied. None of the victims received necessary treatment and they all died within one to 15 days.

Celebrity workout routines are all the rage right now. From the fittest to the most famous and even the ones that are straight-up bizarre, people everywhere are trying to copy their favorite celebrity’s workouts.

It’s no secret that celebrities have access to the best trainers, personal chefs, and workout facilities in the world. They also have more time to work out than the average person, so it’s no surprise that some of their routines seem like they were pulled straight from a sci-fi movie.

So we’ve rounded up 10 celebrity workouts that will either drive you insane or work wonders on your body.

10 Guardians of the Galaxy’s Chris Pratt’s Workout Routine

Chris Pratt is well known for his many roles in movies and shows, from his role as Andy Dwyer in the sitcom Parks and Recreation to his role as the velociraptor trainer Owen Grady in Jurassic World. He prepared for each role he portrayed to show the correct body shape and weight the character needed.

And it was no different when he landed the lead role as Peter Quill in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. In order to prepare for his role, Pratt had to get shredded and lose a lot of weight through workouts and diet. In a span of six months, he dropped more than 60 pounds (27 kilograms) with the help of his personal trainer, Duffy Gaver, and nutritionist, Phil Goglia. For five of those six months, Gaver trained Pratt with four to six sessions a week of workouts.

According to Gaver, Pratt’s workouts consisted of bodybuilding in the first two months, then equal parts bodybuilding and conditioning workouts like treadmill/rower circuit, calisthenics, and weight lifting in the next two. The final month consisted mostly of conditioning workouts like cardio, swimming, biking, and more.^[1]

9 How Jennifer Lopez’s Workout Keeps Her Looking Good

We all know about Jenny from the Block back in the early 2000s. Jennifer Lopez made wearing cargo pants and a tank top look good, and it was all the rage back then. Now JLo is in her 50s, and she made being in your 50s look like you’re in your early 30s!

How does the singer/actress keep her youthful looks (and abs) at age 53? JLo’s secret to looking good is a healthy diet, a workout regime, and being confident in your body no matter the size—as long as it’s healthy.

JLo’s diet consists of all organic, non-processed ingredients. She eats whole foods like brown rice, oatmeal, quinoa, and sweet potatoes. When it comes to vegetables, she eats leafy greens, but she avoids corn and carrots. She also adds protein to her diet with egg whites, white meat, and even grass-fed beef. Protein is what aids her in her workout and helps her build her muscles.

JLo’s workout consists of weight lifting, at-home workouts, and dancing. Her personal trainers, David Kirsch and Dodd Romero, train with her for roughly an hour at the gym around four to five times a week. Romero revealed that JLo focuses on different parts of her body with each session to balance her muscle development. When the gym is closed, JLo doesn’t just stop her workouts. She’ll continue her workout at home with her own routine. Her home routine is a run around her garden, kettlebell swings, and push-ups.^[2]

8 Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s Rock Solid Weekly Workout Routine

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is a person who inspires people of all ages, genders, and sizes to strive for a healthier lifestyle. Whether it’s his inspirational quotes or his rock-solid workout, he is the man everyone looks up to when wanting to work out.

That’s why we’re lucky that The Rock shared his weekly workout routine so that even you can strive for a healthier lifestyle. He often starts his day by getting up early and going for a run for about 30-50 minutes, either outside or on a treadmill. Then he’ll enter the gym and start his workout for the day, focusing on one body part each day of the week.

On day one, he focuses on his legs, and on day two, his back. Day three involves his shoulders, and on day four, he focuses on his arms and abs. The next two days include workouts for his legs again and then his chest. On day seven, he rests and focuses on eating huge meals to help in his muscle build-up. He eats about five meals a day which consist of a lot of protein and other healthy foods.

As insane as his daily workout sounds, The Rock couldn’t have done it without drive and motivation to achieve what he wants.^[3]

7 Gigi Hadid’s Model Workout

Gigi Hadid is well known for being a television personality and her runway walks on Victoria’s Secret shows. As a fashion model, Hadid needs to maintain a balanced workout and diet in order to keep her model body.

Hadid does boxing, volleyball, and weight training as her methods of working out. Even while traveling, she keeps up with her daily workout. She sometimes changes to other cardio workouts just to shake things up a bit. Her routine throughout the week consists of boxing or alternative cardio on Mondays, full-body training on Tuesdays, boxing again on Wednesdays, another full-body training on Thursdays, boxing again on Fridays, and finally, she rests on the weekends.

Hadid matches her workout regimen with a diet consisting of protein with as little carbs as possible. She also indulges herself with burgers since it’s well-known that Hadid absolutely loves them. Along with her diet, she also takes supplements like multivitamins and protein shakes to help with her health and muscle build-up.^[4]

6 Zac Efron’s Workout for Baywatch

If you watched the original Baywatch, then you know that the show consists of chisel-bodied characters going on beach rescues. So when Zac Efron was cast for the newest rendition of Baywatch, he knew he needed to work to achieve the body the show is known for.

That’s where Los Angeles-based personal trainer Patrick Murphy comes in. Murphy is no stranger to Hollywood actors seeking his help in training for a role, and he’s the architect behind Efron’s intense training for Baywatch. In order for Efron to achieve the body he needs, Murphy needed to construct a training regime that needed to change over time.
The workout is basically a full body 10 to 20 drop set routine. The first thing in the routine is the dynamic warmup with wall press, standing leg swings, alternating reverse lung with trunk rotation, and hip stretch with a torso twist. Then it’s time to move on to the drop-set exercises:

• Exercise one consists of 10 dumbbell lateral raises and 20 Dumbbell lateral raises.
• Exercise two consists of 10 to 20 kettlebell squats.
• Exercise three consists of 10 to 20 floor dumbbell chest presses.
• Exercise four consists of 10 to 20 dumbbell stiff-leg deadlifts.
• Exercise five consists of 10 to 20 incline bench dumbbell rows.
• The last exercise consists of 10 to 20 cable ab crunches from the knees.

Efron’s workout set changed over time, starting with two rounds per set until he ended up doing four rounds per set.^[5]

5 Henry Cavill’s Training Regimen for The Witcher

Henry Cavill is no stranger to the gym. He’s been working out since he was a teenager, and he knows what it takes to get results. But when it came time for him to prepare for his role as Geralt in The Witcher, he knew he was going to need a workout regimen that would push him past his limits.

With the help of his strength coach, Dave Rienzi, Cavill had the workout kit to stay in shape for his role in The Witcher. The routine starts with Cavill doing cardio in the morning. Then he focuses on certain parts of his body.

For his glutes and hamstrings, he does Romanian deadlifts using a resistance band and hyperextensions on a glute ham machine. For his obliques, oblique static holds. For his shoulders, 3-way shoulder raises. Finally, for his biceps, he does dumbbell curls.^[6]

4 Ryan Reynold’s Workout for the Perfect Deadpool Body

Ryan Reynolds is known as one of the most popular celebrities in Hollywood, and his body is the reason why. His workout routine is what helped him achieve his perfect body for Deadpool, and it’s also what helps him stay in shape when he’s not busy filming a movie.

His workout routine was aided by Don Saladino. an NYC trainer.

Reynold’s workout to prepare for his role as The Merc with the Mouth consists of doing warmups first before every workout, then he does five rounds each of kettlebell swings, front squats, barrel bench presses, general pull-ups, and farmer’s walks. He always rested for 30 seconds between rounds before moving on to the next.^[7]

3 Alessandra Ambrosio’s Diet and Workout for Victoria’s Secret Show

Victoria’s Secret is known for bringing out the best in its models. But it takes more than just a good makeup artist to look that good. Alessandra Ambrosio is a successful Victoria’s Secret model, and she knows how to stay fit. She works out every day, and her diet plan is pretty strict.

Ambrosio does around an hour to an hour and a half of daily workouts. She admitted that it might be longer if she’s with friends or family. Her fitness trainer, Tracy Anderson, helps her prepare for weeks before a Victoria’s Secret Show by doing a full-body workout.

Her diet depends on whether or not she’s home or traveling. From eggs and avocado on toast for breakfast to Brazilian bbq and sushi for dinner.^[8]

2 Don Wildman’s Insane Workout

Don Wildman possibly has the most intense workout ever, and he’s a 75-year-old man! His “The Circuit” workout consists of sixteen groups of exercises that are done with no rest in between. This is done three times a week because I can’t even imagine doing it six times a week.

Let’s quickly go through all sixteen groups of The Circuit:

Group 1: seated dumbbell shoulder presses and seated dumbbell curls
Group 2: seated machine shoulder presses, propped external rotator exercises, seated leg raises, and side crunches
Group 3: pec deck flys with simultaneous crunches and lying rotator cuff rotations
Group 4: seated machine bench presses and seated leg raises
Group 5: seated lever rows and sit-ups
Group 6: lat pulldowns and cable crunches
Group 7: leg presses
Group 8: barbell upright rows and alternating sit-ups on an exercise ball
Group 9: ab machine side crunches and machine back extensions
Group 10: machine squats and calf raises
Group 11: lying leg curls and neck extensions
Group 12: leg extensions
Group 13: machine bicep curls and regular and alternating sit-ups
Group 14: seated dips and seated scissors
Group 15: lateral raises, side neck extensions, and leg lift with splits
Group 16: front neck flexions and machine crunches ^[9]

1 Jason Momoa’s AR-7 Workout

Jason Momoa is a celebrity in the entertainment industry known for his roles as Khal Drogo on Game of Thrones and Aquaman in DC’s Aquaman film series. He is also a fitness fanatic, known to follow a workout routine that keeps him at the top of his game. This is where the AR-7 Program comes in.

The Accelerated Results 7 (AR-7) Training Program was created by personal trainer Eric Laciste. This unique workout program was designed to get anyone in tip-top shape fast, so this was exactly what Momoa needed to achieve his body for the role. Momoa’s AR-7 workout focuses on working out specific parts of his body for each day of the five days of the week.

On Monday, he’ll work on his chest through flat and inclined bench presses, inclined bench dumbbell presses, plate push-ups, and chest dips. On Tuesday, he’ll work on his back through medium grip and close grip pull-ups, reverse grip chin-ups, seated pulley row, and reverse grip BB bent-over row. On Wednesday, he’ll work on his legs through bodyweight and bodyweight jump squats, stiff-legged deadlifts, and barbell back squats.

On Thursday, he’ll work on his core through medicine ball slams, kettlebell swings, burpees, leapfrogs, and 40-yard sprints. On Friday, he’ll work on his arms and shoulders through barbell military press, bodyweight dip, diamond push-ups, dumbbell curls, and dumbbell triceps extensions.^[10]