A funny thing happens when I force myself to exercise. Eventually, I have more energy throughout the day to burn even more calories. I’ve noticed the same thing with other behaviors, which prompted me to do some digging: Is it true that more really is more?

Sex is one aspect of human behavior where more is more. Generally speaking, the more you have, the more you want.

Psychologists call this phenomenon the Coolidge effect. The name comes from Calvin Coolidge lore. Allegedly, Coolidge and his wife were visiting a chicken farm. Mrs. Coolidge noticed a rooster mating a lot and, when asked, was told the rooster mates 12 times a day. Mrs. Coolidge told the farmer to tell her husband that. The farmer did, and President Coolidge thought for a while and asked if the rooster mated with the same hen. The farmer said no, and Coolidge told him to tell his wife.

The Coolidge effect is biological and occurs in many animals and humans. It’s been studied more in men. The idea is that sexual response time speeds up after being introduced to sexual novelty. In layman’s terms, new and fun sex makes you want to have more new and fun sex.

The Coolidge effect doesn’t occur with "boring" sex with the same partner. But sex seems to be one area in which there’s some kind of biological more-is-more element that can be taken advantage of to get us out of sexual funks and get us back in the game.

Exercise is........

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