Sex Positions

With The Man On Top

Man On Top Sex Positions

Although man on top is the most common sex position around the world, there are certainly many variations of it, and it definitely doesn't need to be boring.

The normal way of having man on top face-to-face sex is for the woman to lie on her back with her thighs apart and her knees slightly bent. The man positions himself between her legs during sex, supporting his weight on his knees and elbows as far as possible in order that he doesn't squash her! Generally the man will have his legs inside his partner's, and she can move her knees closer together or further apart to accommodate him as they make love.

This is perhaps the simplest and most basic way for a couple to enjoy sex. It's very popular because it's very enjoyable, and it expresses the man's deep desire to make love in a position where he feels he's not only protecting his partner but also possessing her, taking her, and enjoying her body to the full.

For the woman, it provides a sense of being dominated or protected during sex. It's a sex position that allows a couple to enjoy many different forms of caressing and kissing, and through the contact of their bodies, along the whole length from chest to thighs, gives them the opportunity to enjoy a much greater range of emotions and feelings than some other sexual positions.

One of the problems, however, is that the man's weight can rest on the woman's body, which can be uncomfortable, especially so if the woman is pregnant; and of course heavy pressure on the abdomen during pregnancy is not a good idea. For more information about good sex during pregnancy, click here.

So long-lasting lovemaking tends not be too easy in this position, because the man's arms need to be strong enough to support his weight. Even when his partner actually likes feeling his weight on her, if a couple maintains this lovemaking posture for too long, it can become distinctly uncomfortable for both partners.

But that's a minor problem, because a couple can always break their lovemaking to take a rest, perhaps rolling onto their sides to enjoy a pause for intimacy and relaxation in the side-by-side lovemaking position during sex. Although a majority of couples probably do maintain the same sexual positions from start to finish of their lovemaking, it can be very enjoyable indeed to swap positions during a session of sex, to get both variation and extra stimulation of a different kind to increase the novelty and enjoyment of sex.

Having said all of that, there are many other benefits and disadvantages to the man on top sex position. To take but one advantage, if the man's penis is a little bit on the small side, the woman can draw him deeper into her by altering the angle of her pelvis, perhaps by placing a cushion or pillow underneath her bottom, or by wrapping her legs around his thighs or buttocks and pulling him into her as they make love.

That's the point about man on top sex positions - they are infinitely variable, and all that a couple need to do to experience a new sensation is to adjust the angle at which their bodies meet, so that the angle of penetration is changed. You will see how this can be achieved by looking at the photographs of the couples on this page - they are making love in a whole variety of sexual postures, all of which are derived from the basic man on top.

Another possibility for a man with a small penis is this: when he has entered the woman, she can close her thighs together and extend her legs to their full length, so her partners' thighs are now outside hers, squeezing her legs tight. This increases the stimulation on the shaft of the penis, and provides extra, rather glorious sensations for the man. And if the woman's vagina is a bit on the loose side, this can be extremely useful in satisfying both partners by providing added friction and pressure on the penis: it's also useful when the man has some difficulty achieving a full, hard erection.

Other advantages of the man on top sexual position include the fact that if the couple have oriented their bodies correctly, the friction of the base of the penis against the pubic area of the woman's pelvis, against her vulva, and possibly even against her inner thighs, can add vastly to the sensual pleasure that both partners experience – perhaps even giving the woman a chance of reaching orgasm during sexual intercourse.

When the man's thighs are outside the woman's, the pressure s on his penis can increase the strength of his erection, even though this may be at the cost of a more rapid orgasm (not always a bad thing!). But best of all in this sexual position, the woman's clitoris will experience more friction and stroking from the man's penile shaft as he thrusts than in any other position. Even though deep penetration is not as easy in this variation of man on top, there are certainly plenty of advantages to offset this.

Further variations of the man on top sexual position come about when the woman changes the angle of her legs, either by extending them horizontally, or by bringing them up towards her chest, or perhaps even placing her ankles on her partner's shoulders. If she likes the sensation that results from the extension of her legs during man on top sex, she can make this even more intense by placing a a cushion under her pelvis: the thicker this cushion, the more upward the angle of her pelvis and body will be when her legs are extended, resulting in easier penetration and potentially greater stimulation of her clitoris and vulva. Sometimes this means the woman can actually achieve orgasm during sexual intercourse.

When the woman brings her legs upwards at the knees, or backwards towards her chest, this decreases the angle of her pelvis, which in turn alters the angle of her vagina, and that in turn gives a different sensation to both partners as the man penetrates her. It's important to know that there is no particular sexual position that is going to satisfy every couple: the truth is, what feels best to you and your partner depends entirely on the angle and shape of the man's erection, and the angle, shape and tightness of the woman's vagina. It's only by varying the angle of the woman's pelvis and legs during lovemaking that the couple will discover which variation of man on top sex they're going to enjoy the most.

The greatest accessibility, and perhaps the deepest penetration, can be achieved when the woman lies with her back on the bed and her legs dangling over the edge, with the man standing between the knees of his partner. As he penetrates her and leans forward to rest his hands on the bed while making love, his erect penis will be pressed downwards, thereby stimulating his partner's G spot, and giving her greater pleasure. (This is also a very good position for a virgin to make love in for the first time, since it reputedly allows the hymen be broken in a very gentle fashion.)

The final advantage of this sex position is that it really does provide extra stimulation for the clitoris and also for the most sensitive parts of the man's penis, namely the frenulum and inside of the glans. However, it's not necessarily a good position for getting pregnant, as the semen rapidly flows back out of the vagina after sexual intercourse.

Sexual Postures With More Flexion Of The Woman's Body And Legs

In the most extreme form of this variation, the woman lies on her back, lifts her legs at right angles to her body from the hips, and rests her feet or ankles on the man's shoulders; he kneels or stands before her as he penetrates her.

As you know if you've had any sexual experience, many  variations of the man on top position are basically about moving the woman's legs backwards and/or upwards. The most extreme example of this is when the woman raises her legs at a complete right angle to her body, so that her ankles rest on the man's shoulders as he is positioned in a kneeling or standing orientation in front of her. Her vulva lies sloping and almost flat, instead of vertically as in the normal face to face sex position, and the vagina (inside her body) is directed almost vertically downwards. This can make sex extremely arousing and pleasurable, but you do need a certain degree of flexibility and fitness to be able to achieve the position.

When you enjoy sex in this position, it is necessary for the woman to orientate her pelvis so that her vaginal opening is directed as far as she can upwards rather than vertical, with her vulva lying almost flat: this makes sexual intercourse a very  interesting and different experience both man and the woman. In fact the man is now not entering his partner's vagina from the front, but he's actually pressing across her perineum as he slides his penis into her; needless to say in this position the clitoris receives very little if any stimulation, except that which is produced by the man's penis stimulating the anterior wall of the vagina once his inside her, and by doing so, pressing on the legs of the clitoris which surround the vagina. Some couples think this is one of the best sex positions there is.

As his erection presses further into the vagina, it must adapt its orientation to the angle of the vagina which contains it. As it does this, it will be strongly pressed downwards by the vaginal wall, pressed downwards against its natural inclination to rise upwards, and so the bottom part of the penis in particular will press firmly upwards in response against the top wall of the vagina.

Most women find these new sex positions produce delightful stimulation of their G spot when compared with the normal posture of man on top sex – that is to say, when the man is lying flat on top of the woman as she lies flat on the bed underneath him. In this (admittedly more common form) of the man on top position, the erect penis and the vagina are both orientated in a very similar direction. This variation produces a great deal of pressure on the upper inside wall of the vagina, as well as the bottom edge of the vaginal opening. For the man, pressure is concentrated on the upper edge of the glans, and on the underneath of the lower end of the penile shaft.

Another interesting feature of this particular variation of the man on top sex position is that it allows the penis to enter the vagina right up to the point where the base of the penile shaft joins the man's body. This gives the impression of deeper penetration, but from a practical point of view it's necessary for the man to exercise a degree of caution until he's established how far he can safely penetrate his partner. Obviously if both partners have genitalia of normal dimensions, then there will not be a problem; but if man's penis is longer than average, and the woman's vagina shorter than average, there could be a problem with the end of his penis hitting her cervix. This can be uncomfortable, but a good lubricant may help, as will ensuring that the woman is highly aroused before penetration (a state of high sexual arousal means that her uterus lifts out of the way and allows the man's penis to slide beyond cervix into the vaginal fornix). You can get advice on sex positions for a man with a small penis here.

You may be wondering at this point which of these two forms of man on top sexual intercourse is actually more satisfying. The answer isn't clear, because everything in sex is about personal preference, although it's certainly true that the degree of muscular tension in the vaginal wall produced when the woman's legs are raised can have a delightful impact on the partners' satisfaction. What we can say with some certainty, however, is that they definitely have different effects on the speed with which the man ejaculates during sex. Obviously, the tighter the vagina, the greater the friction on the penis, so a man with delayed ejaculation may find the "legs flexed" variations of intercourse are useful in helping him on his way to ejaculation - a good retarded ejaculation treatment if ever there was one!

During normal man on top sex, when the partners are both lying horizontally, one of the great pleasures of intercourse is the clasping of the penis by the contraction of the vagina muscles. This is clearly another great way for a man to get more stimulation and possibly reach orgasm more easily. Conversely, it's one of the reasons why man on top sex is not good for men who wish to know how to last longer in bed....it simply precipitates ejaculation!

However, when the vaginal wall has lost tension and is rather slack, so the woman has lost the ability to contract the wall of her vagina, due to either stretching in childbirth or muscle wasting, the clasping of the man's penis by the vagina won't actually be possible. This means that sex in this position can feel unsatisfying to either man or the woman or both. It's she same effect you get if you use too much lube or the woman's natural juices are flowing so abundantly that the man loses feeling. (Remember that friction during intercourse can be good because it gives extra feeling, but it can also be bad - friction promotes yeast infection. Some of the most powerful treatments and remedies for yeast infection can be found here.)

In such a situation, the variation of the position where the woman has her legs raised can provide a lot of the tension and pressure which are missing in the normal face-to-face, lying horizontally, variation.

It's also been suggested that the flexed position, that is to say the one with the woman's legs upright, is good for conception because it allows deep penetration, and the semen is deposited near the cervix (although that's actually also true in man on top sex where the woman's pelvis rests on a cushion, since this is a variation which also permits deep penetration).

Nonetheless there are distinct disadvantages to such the flexed position, mostly around the fact that it is actually quite difficult for couples who aren't really fit and flexible, which probably means most couples, to get into this position for sex.

Furthermore, the simple act of placing the woman's legs on the man's shoulders creates an almost complete barrier between them, preventing gentle caressing and kissing of other parts of the body – although it might be good for the man if he is a foot fetishist!

Having said that, it's not actually necessary for the woman to put her legs on the man's shoulders for a couple to enjoy some of the benefits of having the woman's legs raised.

Something that can produce a lot of discomfort during sex is a hiatus hernia - if you have this condition, you're best advised to avoid sex in a horizontal position. The symptoms include acid regurgitation, acid reflux symptoms and sometimes nausea - you can find effective acid reflux remedies here.

One very popular alternative is to have the woman lying on her back with her legs bent at the knees with her hips and thighs as wide open as possible; that way she can clasp her knees or lower legs around her partner as they make love, while her vulva and perineum are both exposed in a way that is both highly erotic and produces wonderful sensations after penetration. Indeed, intercourse is actually much easier for most couples in this position than in the extreme form of man on top sex with the woman's ankles on the man's shoulders.

One final variation of man on top which is not often discussed is to reverse the the positions of the man and woman, so that you have intercourse in the reverse missionary position - i.e. with the man underneath the woman but the couple oriented in the same direction. This is a simple and fun variation which comes highly recommended!