Regular exercise is good for a man's sexual prowess, according to new research which focused on swimming rats.
Scientists took two groups of rats aged two years old - relative old age for a rodent - and one team was then trained to swim in a tank for 30 minutes a day, five days a week.
The other group, used as a control, did nothing as the fitness regime continued for eight weeks.
The study was also replicated in a group of younger rats aged four months old and in both cases, the exercised rats showed increased testosterone levels and improved activity in the way they processed chemicals responsible for causing an erection.
"Regular exercise may ... improve an erection by increasing penile neurotransmitter and plasma testosterone levels in both young and aged rats," the study concludes.
The results of the Turkish study were released at the Congress of the European and International Societies for Sexual Medicine, which is underway this week in Brussels, Belgium.
Commenting on the results, Australian sexual health expert Dr Chris McMahon said what was good for the functioning of the penis was also good for the body's broader vascular system.
"If you exercise these aged rats, who are probably parallel to aged men in their 60s and 70s, you can improve the way that their blood vessels work," Dr McMahon said.
"Theoretically, you can improve vascular health, cardiac health, increase longevity and quality of life.
"A lot of Australian wives may also see the parallel between aged rats and their husbands," he also said.
Dr McMahon, who attended the congress, is attached to the University of Sydney's Australian Centre for Sexual Health.
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