Upgrade Your Bedroom

Knock out back pain while you sleep
Spanish researchers found that those who slept on medium-firm mattresses were twice as likely to experience pain relief as those who slept on hard mattresses. Ask for the firmest model in the mattress store, then go one grade below. To keep your spine in top shape, rotate the mattress by turning it end to end every 3 months. This prevents sags and lumps from forming. Replace your trusty mattress every 5 to 7 years.

Painproof your neck
To avoid neck and backaches, sleep with only one foldable pillow. If you sleep on your back, use a medium or firm pillow. If you’re a side sleeper, opt for a firm pillow to keep your head aligned with your spine. Try not to sleep on your stomach (it can create neck and back problems), but if you do, choose a soft pillow.

Block out noisy neighbors
Turning your FM radio dial to a spot in between stations will produce low-level “white noise,” which will help lull you to sleep.

Clear the air
The bedroom is ground zero for dust and aerial debris. A personal air cleaner can be effective if it cleans the air fast enough. Make sure you choose a model with a clean-air delivery rate (CADR) two-thirds the size of your room. Research indicates that the Friedrich C-90B does a superb job. $500. friedrich.com

Sleep sounder
Have a couple of bites of oatmeal, cereal, or pasta before bed. Each contains tryptophan, an amino acid that converts to serotonin, your brain’s sleep agent.

Stop snoring forever
Elevating your head will keep your airway open. If you have trouble with snoring, try placing a brick or two under the bedposts at the head of the bed. Don’t use extra pillows; they’ll only kink your airway and make your snoring worse.

Snooze in comfort
Wakefulness more than doubles with just a 15 percent rise in temperature or a 37 percent hike in humidity, according to a study in the journal Physiology & Behavior. Instead of cranking the AC, bundle a dehumidifier with an oscillating fan.

Cure sleep apnea
Snoozing on your side can halve the number of wake-ups you suffer during the night. Residual fatigue from these interruptions makes you six times more likely to be involved in an auto accident. To keep from rolling over onto your back as you sleep, stuff a small, firm neck pillow down the back of your T-shirt before dozing off.

Fall asleep faster
Wear socks and you’ll fall asleep 27 percent faster, according to a Dutch study. “Increases in the temperature of your feet signal neurons in your brain that cause you to fall asleep,” says lead author Roy Raymann, Ph.D. Wait until just before bed; people who warmed their feet early didn’t see the same benefit.

Wake up bushier-tailed
Men who lit a jasmine-scented candle for just 1 minute before bed fell asleep faster, tossed and turned less, and felt more refreshed in the morning, report scientists at Wheeling Jesuit University. That’s important because insufficient sleep boosts your risk of diabetes, and sleep interruptions increase your odds of a stroke.

Sleep yourself thin
Snooze and you’ll lose—literally. A Columbia University study shows that people who sleep less weigh more. Men and women who grabbed only 6 hours of shut-eye each night were 23 percent more likely to be overweight than those who slept for 7 to 9 hours.

What about sex? Keep Reading...

SEX

I. Heat her up faster

Love what you do
“If you’re just going through the motions of foreplay, it will take longer for her to get excited,” says Michael Perry, Ph.D., a sex therapist in Encino, California. So dive in. If you like how her calves feel, stroke them. If you admire the shape of her butt, kiss it. “When a man is loving what he’s doing, that will turn her on, too,” says Perry.

Let her simmer
“You have to get her mind working on sex,” says Gloria Brame, Ph.D., a sexologist based in Atlanta. Maybe ask her to wear a thong in the morning, then whisper something dirty over the phone at lunch. She’ll be so excited by the time dinner rolls around that she’ll be willing to spend less time on foreplay.

Create touching moments
Whether it’s resting your hand on her leg while you’re driving or carefully pulling that loose strand of hair away from her face, a touch here and there will pay off big later. “Do this enough and she’ll be jumping on you and wanting to have sex,” says Marilyn Fithian, Ph.D., a sex therapist in Long Beach, California.

Turn her over
The lower back is a major erogenous zone for most women. “Massaging it will stimulate her pelvic muscles and make her feel more relaxed,” says Brame.

Turn off the TV
Keep the television away from your bedroom. Italian researchers found that couples with TV-free bedrooms had sex twice as often as those with screens to stare at.

II. Have better sex

Bow to her bust
It’s impossible to focus too much on her breasts, says Patti Britton, Ph.D., a clinical sexologist—a woman’s nipples are the best place to stimulate her, other than her genitals. Slowly circle your fingertips around the base of each nipple, then gently push down the tip and let it spring back. “Women need you to build toward the center of interest, the nipples,” she says.

Use circular reasoning
Rather than shoving your hand down there and rubbing away, try slowly tracing the outer edges of her labia with your fingertips while gently parting the lips. “Stretched skin tends to have greater sensitivity, so this should send waves of pleasure through her,” says Lou Paget, a sex educator and the author of The Big O.

Double her pleasure
A woman must be simultaneously stimulated in two major erogenous zones—the clitoris and G-spot—to reach her orgasmic potential, says Ava Cadell, Ph.D., a clinical sexologist. In a study of 12 couples, this was the scream-out-loud favorite: With your partner straddling you, invite her to tilt her pelvis forward so her clitoris rubs against the shaft of your penis while the tip hits her G-spot.

Be a shallow guy
The outer third of her vagina has the most nerve endings, so shallow thrusts will drive her crazy. Bonus: Many women have never experienced this kind of penetration.

III. Improve your, ahem, stature

Banish your butt
In a University of California at Irvine study, researchers found that men who smoke have smaller penises. One theory is that smoking somehow damages penile tissue, eventually making it less elastic and preventing it from stretching.

Flex, release, grow
Kegel exercises—the repeated flexing of the pubococcygeal (PC) muscles, which control urinary flow—don’t just help you last longer. They may increase the width of your penis a fraction of an inch. It’s not much, but we’ll take it. Tense and relax your PC muscles at least 20 times a day.

IV. Last longer and recharge quicker

Use the Valsalva maneuver
Sounds exotic, but it isn’t. The instant you feel like you’re going to pop your cork, bear down as if you were trying to have a bowel movement, but—and this is important—don’t actually have one. You’ll borrow yourself a few more minutes.

Toast your success
Instead of falling asleep after your first orgasm, pour two glasses of wine. In addition to being a surprisingly romantic gesture, the alcohol will help boost the arousal signals between your brain and your penis, shortening your refractory period.