by Koren Wetmore

For Patrick and Emery Miller, the gym is like foreplay. They spot and encourage each other in the weight room, building sensual tension and sparking a playful intimacy that spills over into the rest of their day.

"We're both physical, touching people and working out just adds to it," says Patrick. "Your body's pumping out all these pheromones, you're sweating and suddenly you're in this close space together. How can I describe it? It's heat."

Since 1998 the California couple has shed a combined 250 pounds and forged a bond stronger than the iron they pump. They credit their exercise routine with sculpting their bodies and their relationship.

"We know each other better now and we've gotten to see each other's strengths," says Emery, who was the 2003 National Bodybuilding & Fitness Lightweight Champion. "Plus, there's something about watching your partner lift this ridiculous amount of weight that's oh...so nice."

The Millers have discovered what other couples that exercise already know: Working out together is a turn-on. Exercise triggers physical and mental processes that play a role in attraction. It causes the body to release a series of beneficial hormones including testosterone, which influences both male and female sex drives, and endorphins, which  create pleasurable feelings.

Endorphins are the body's own opiate, says psychoneuroimmunologist Lee Berk, an associate professor at Loma Linda University's School of Public Health. "In fact," says Berk, "they're the hormones that are released at the point of sexual orgasm." Endorphins also lower your blood pressure, slow your breathing and boost your immune system...

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