12 Sex Secrets Women Wish You Knew

We scoured the latest studies, grilled dozens of experts, and polled more than 700 women to come up with this enlightening list of 12 rules guaranteed to make you a better lover—tonight.

By turning her fantasies into reality, she'll be more likely to agree to act out your wildest sex dreams.

And she'll want sex more often, so things will only get better every time you get naked with her.

1. Greater Focus Leads to Hotter Sex
What's the best way to unlock a woman's wildest desires in bed?

"Passion," said 42 percent of the women we surveyed.

"That means being in the moment and not being distracted," says Joel Block, Ph. D., a Long Island-based psychologist and the author of Secrets of Better Sex. "Sex is a conversation, and she doesn't want to feel like you wish you had your BlackBerry."

How Popular Allergy Medicines Can Affect Your Muscle Gains

The same meds that staunch your allergy symptoms or heartburn might also diminish your gains at the gym: Over-the-counter antihistamines may hamper your muscle recovery after exercise, a new study from the University of Oregon suggests.

One hour before a 60-minute strength training workout, the participants took strong doses of two antihistamines, fexofenadine (Allegra, which treats hay fever symptoms) and ranitidine (Zantac, which treats heartburn).

After they completed their workout, the researchers tested their muscles to gauge their recovery.

Normally after vigorous exercise, 3,000 genes work to aid recovery by boosting the blood flow to the tiny tears in your muscle fibers that occur when you light weights. This increases muscle-protein synthesis, which repairs and reinforces the fibers so that they’re more resistant the next time you lift weights.

Why Some People Sweat More Than Others

Some people sweat more than others. Exercise with a group, and the differences become obvious.

But what determines these variations?

Answers have traditionally focused on factors like body fat percentage (more fat insulates you and makes you overheat sooner) and aerobic fitness (the fitter you are the less you sweat).

At the American College of Sports Medicine meeting this spring, Matthew Cramer of the University of Ottawa and Ollie Jay of the University of Sydney presented some results that challenged those ideas. That data has now been published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, and it has some surprising twists.

The problem with previous studies is that body fat and aerobic fitness (VO2 max) tend to correlate with other factors. People with lots of body fat tend to weigh more—so is it the insulative properties of fat that matter, or is it simply being bigger and having to haul around more weight?