IT’S time to spice up the sex life — by waking up to the power of sleep.

Experts say the secret to a satisfying love life may lie in actually not sharing a bed with your partner when you both retire for the night.

Scientific studies have shown that for a significant number of couples, agreeing to sleep apart may be one of the best things they have done for their relationships.

It could be snoring, restlessness or other reasons.

But while it seems a shameful secret, the idea of separate bedrooms is more common than any of us might think.

An extensive British poll showed recently that one in seven couples already recognise the benefits of sleeping apart, and 10 per cent choose to have entirely separate rooms.

But despite the increasing popularity of such arrangements, surveys by the National Sleep Foundation from Canada’s Ryerson University have shown that about 45 per cent of people who sleep in separate rooms won’t admit it in public because they feel ashamed or embarrassed.

Yet the data shows that couples who sleep separately often have better sex lives.

Penrith psychotherapist and couple counsellor Melissa Ferrari agreed couples can benefit from sleeping apart, especially “if one or both in the partnership suffer sleep problems and issues.”

She said a staggering 60 per cent of Australians have said they would take a solid eight hours sleep over sex, with women (70 per cent) likely to take sleep over sex over men (50 per cent).

“The benefits of sleeping apart is that you get the bed to yourself, you can have the room temperature how you want and like and you can rise and wake without disturbing your partner,” she said.

While a bed divorce may be key to a rejuvenated connection for some, Ms Ferrari said there are many benefits to sharing a bed with your partner such as security and the promotion of “good wellbeing and overall function.”

Founder of the Centre for Human Sleep at the University of California Matthew Walker said about 10 per cent of relationships failed because of sleep problems.

“Couples who have not slept well report significantly higher levels of emotional conflict the next day,” he said.

“In addition, couples who are not sleeping well become physically exhausted and fatigued, leading to less emotional and physical intimacy.”

And the opposite is also true — the more sleep, they get, the more physically focused couples tend to be.

“Getting better and longer quality sleep raises testosterone levels, vital for both men’s and women’s sex drives,” he said.

Prof Walker said diseases such as Alzheimer’s, cancer, stroke, diabetes, obesity, and even suicide all have links to insufficient sleep.

And after only one night of four hours’ sleep, there is a 70 per cent drop in critical cancer-fighting immune cells called Natural Killer Cells.

“In simple terms, the shorter your sleep, the shorter your life,” he said.