If you have low back pain, your sex position can make or break it, so to speak. Contrary to popular belief, a side position (“spooning”) is not necessarily best. In fact, it could take the sizzle out of your sex life by worsening pain, according to a 2014 study in the journal Spine, which focused on men. Indeed, researchers study such things.
The study used motion capture technology to track the spinal mechanics of 10 young men while they had sex with their female partners in five common positions. Illustrations were placed on the walls for the couples to follow, though they were given no specific coaching except to “move as naturally as possible” and to notify the researcher when they had attained their “natural coital speed and/or rhythm.”
In randomly assigned order, the couples performed two versions of missionary (front-entry, man on top), two versions of quadruped (rear-entry “doggy-style”), and spooning (rear-entry, lying on side). The computer then measured the lumbar spinal angles of each position, along with other “kinematic” data.
For men with “flexion-intolerant” backs—whose pain is triggered or exacerbated by bending forward—the worst sex position would be spooning, the researchers concluded. The quadruped position with the woman supporting her weight on her elbows (as opposed to her hands) was deemed best. And between the two missionary positions, the one where the man supports himself with his elbows rather than hands was more “spine-sparing.