This Is the Best Time to Have Sex (Hint: It’s Not at Night)

Sex is a powerful thing. In addition to improving your mood, it can also help you lose weight, fight disease, and even slow down aging. But if you want to maximize the benefits you get from sex—and have even more enjoyable sex—it’s all about timing. And it turns our, research says there is actually a best time of day to have sex.

Our hormones peak and valley throughout the day, and synchronizing yours with your partner’s is the key, according to hormone expert Alisa Vitti, founder of hormone center FLOliving.com and author of the best-selling book WomanCode.

So what’s the best time to have sex? According to Vitti, it’s 3 p.m.

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For women, this is when there is still adequate cortisol hormone, which brings with it energy to engage sexually. At the same time, men have declining levels of testosterone, which makes them more emotionally present during sex.

Vitti says the key to satisfying sex is for partners to find a way to use their hormonal self-awareness to schedule smarter for better sex. She recommends her app MyFLO, which aims to help women understand their hormones better.

Another good time for sex is the early-to-mid-morning when men’s testosterone—a hormone they produce during sleep—is highest. “Men are more interested in initiating sex during this window and are more capable of a better sexual response,” says Vitti.

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