Couple in bed

It sets us on the path to get the big O: foreplay. We’re told to put some time into it (i.e. around 20 minutes or so) before starting intercourse for good reason. But how much time do couples spend on it?

A 2013 “Glamour” survey delves deep into this one. They found that the majority (33%) spent a measly 5-9 minutes on foreplay, with 10-14 minutes (24%) and less than 5 minutes (23%) closely following. Longer foreplay times of 15-19 minutes and over 20 minutes clocked in at 12% and 8%, respectively.

But we can’t really glean a whole lot of information from this, due to the methodology (or what “Glamour” is willing to reveal about it). The article notes that it surveyed 1K+ “young women,” but we have no idea the age range of said women. So we can’t draw any conclusion on how long foreplay lasts based on age.

There’s also the self-selection bias, in that they only surveyed readers who would be up for spilling those details. And since “Glamour” readers tend to skew in their ’20s and ’30s, we’d only be able to see details within that range.

Bottom line: we could all stand to spend more time on foreplay, beginning with outside the bedroom.