If you’re interested in taking your sex life to new heights – and when I say new heights, I mean literally new heights – allow me to introduce you to the world of sex swings.
“A sex swing is a type of swing that can hold adults for sexual pleasure,” says Marla Renee Stewart, MA, sexologist for sexual wellness brand and retailer Lovers. Not only can using one add some variety to your sex life, but it can also help you physically get into more sex positions, says Stewart.
Some other positives? Using a sex swing could help you experience an orgasm in a way you’re not used to. It may also force you to utilize muscles you otherwise wouldn’t during standard, non-swinging sex. (A workout and an orgasm all in one.)
That said, using a sex swing isn’t as easy as finding one at your local playground. Understanding how to use a sex swing can be a little bit more complicated and risky than that, so if you do decide you’re ready to venture into the world of sex swings, let us help. Below, our experts explain how to install a sex swing, how to use a sex swing, and the best sex swing positions for the ultimate experience.
What to Know Before Buying a Sex Swing
When it comes to purchasing a sex swing, you have some options. Most commonly, people buy either a door swing, which hangs over the door like this one from Lovehoney, or a ceiling swing, which hangs from the ceiling similarly to this one. However, you can also buy a sex sling that attaches to a stand or other durable item in your room.
In terms of design, “some are similar to a classic swing like you’d see on a playground with a seat for your butt and extra straps for your arms and legs. Some are more like hammocks with large seats that you can rest your whole body on,” says Suzannah Weiss, certified sex educator and resident sexologist for pleasure product brand Biird.
Before purchasing, it’s important to check the swing’s weight limit. “Unfortunately, not all sex swings are designed with larger people in mind,” says Weiss. Most sex swings will be able to hold between 200-400 pounds. Definitely keep the weight limit in mind if you would like to have more than one person in or on the swing at one time, too.
Once you have added the sex swing you want to your cart, you can start thinking about the installation process.
How to Install a Sex Swing
It’s important to properly install your sex swing to reduce the risk of damaging your home and to maximize the potential for safety and pleasure. With that in mind, start by reading the instructions on the package of your specific sex swing, since different sex swings will be installed differently, reminds Weiss.
Fortunately, most sex swings are pretty easy to set up on your own, but beginners and more involved installations might need more experienced, professional help. For example, if you are installing a ceiling sex swing, you may need to attach a hook to your ceiling. This would most likely require hiring an expert and getting it cleared by your landlord if you don’t own the place you’d like to hang the sex swing.
If you want to install a door sex swing, Stewart says to make sure the door is solid and can carry your weight and/or the total weight of you and your partner if you want to be on the swing together. In other words, it should be a newer door that doesn’t crack or appear to be a billion years old. You can test the door by securing the sex swing and, before sexual play starts, swinging on it a few times in order to make sure it’s sturdy and durable.
Ultimately, how you install the sex swing is going to depend entirely on the instructions given, just note that some can be more complicated than others and require tools that are not provided.
How to Use a Sex Swing
How you use a sex swing is entirely up to you and will largely depend on your fantasies, creativity, and how physically inducing you want the sex to be. Though many people choose to have penetrative sex with the swing, it can also be used to give and receive oral sex or with foreplay.
If you are interested in using the sex swing for penetrative sex, Steward says the most common way to use the sex swing is by having the receiver sit on it, place their legs in the slings, and then spread them as their partner enters them in a standing missionary position. The receiver can also lay stomach down on the swing while the penetrative partner holds their partner’s legs up in a wheelbarrow-like position.
If you want to use a sex swing with your partner, you both can sit on the swing together and enjoy oral sex or standing, bouncy penetrative sex – though we have more specific sex position examples below.
Ultimately, it can be tricky to navigate sex without gravity. It might feel a lot like aerial gymnastics or yoga. Weiss recommends starting slowly and only doing what you’re comfortable with. This may mean starting out with only one person on the swing until you’re both skilled and confident enough to get on at the same time.
Sex Swing Positions
The most comfortable sex positions on a sex swing are missionary, doggy-style, and cowgirl. Once you have these basics down, Weiss says doing variations of these three positions is the way to make the most out of your swinging sex experience.
In order to explore missionary, one partner can lay on their back on the swing while the other penetrates them while standing. If you want to make it sexier, the penetrative partner can grip the straps of the sex swing to move the receiving partner’s body closer and faster to them at whatever pace is enjoyable.
In doggy-style, one partner can lie on the swing with their stomach while the other partner penetrates them from behind. To elevate this position, the penetrative partner can use a sex toy on their receiving partner’s genitalia.
In cowgirl, one partner can sit on the swing while the other climbs onto their lap and rides them. (Just keep the weight limit in mind here especially.)
If you’re looking to try a different sex position, many sex positions that can be done from a bed or flat surface can be modified to do while suspended in a sex swing. So basically, the limit does not exist – and you should let your creativity (and orgasms) have fun with this one.