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# Exercise induces sexual pleasure in women
- URL: https://www.foodconsumer.org/exercise_induces_sexual_pleasure_0331120919/
- Published: 2012-03-31T11:18:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-22T16:17:55.000Z
- Description: Surveys of 124 women reporting exercise-induced orgasm and 246 reporting exercise-induced sexual pleasure found abdominal exercises the most common trigger at 51.4%, ahead of weight lifting and yoga. Most said they were not fantasizing when it happened.
- Author: Food Consumer
- Tags: Lifestyle, Health News, #vivvo-import

By Maria Cendejas

A new study at the Indiana University confirmed that women can have orgasms while the exercise, sometimes called “coregasm” because it often happens in conjunction with core abdominal muscle exercises, CBS News reported.

The study was published on a March 19 special issue of Sexual and Relationship Therapy. 

Debby Herbenick, co-director of the Center for Sexual Health Promotion at IU's School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation said in a statement, "It may be that exercise which is already known to have significant benefits to health and well-being has the potential to enhance women's sexual lives as well." 

Surveys were conducted online of 124 women between the ages of 18-63 who reported having exercise-induced orgasms (EIO) and 246 women who said they had exercise-induced sexual pleasure (EISP). Most were in a relationship or married, and about 69% were heterosexual. 

"The most common exercises associated with exercise-induced orgasm were abdominal exercises, climbing poles or ropes, biking/spinning and weight lifting. These data are interesting because they suggest that orgasm is not necessarily a sexual event, and they may also teach us more about the bodily processes underlying women's experiences of orgasm," Herbenick said. 

About 40% of the women who had EIO or EISP episodes had done so on more than 10 occasions. One-fifth of the women couldn’t control their experiences, and most of the EIO subjects said they felt self-consciousness when exercising in public places. Most of them said they were not fantasizing sexually or thinking about anyone they were attracted to when the orgasms happened. 

While abdominal exercises regularly triggered EIO at the rate of 51.4%, others reported having an orgasm when they were lifting weights 26.5%, yoga 20%, bicycling 15.8%, running 13.2 % and walking/hiking 9.6%.

While the study did not explain why these "coregasms" happened or how many people in the population experience them, the authors said it only took about five weeks to recruit 370 women who said they experience it.

There are some theories that may provide an explanation. Dr. Victoria Zdrok, a sex therapist and author of The Anatomy of Pleasure told Men’s Health in 2007 that a lot of women build tension in their legs before they orgasm. "So, when a woman exercises, the release of endorphins and dopamine, which are necessary for orgasm, combined with the tension in the lower extremities, can cause the stimulation," she explained.