Good news for health clubs everywhere? Maybe. But it's been darn hard to pin down reliable data on it. It makes the media rounds - and of course, this site - every few years.
Debby Herbenick, co-director of the Center for Sexual Health Promotion in Indiana University's School of Health, and J. Dennis Fortenberry, M.D., professor at the IU School of Medicine and Center for Sexual Health Promotion affiliate, administered surveys online (so calibrate your scientific expectations accordingly) to 246 women who experienced exercise-induced sexual pleasure and 124 women who reported having exercise-induced orgasms. They ranged in age from 18 to 63, most were married or otherwise in a relationship and almost 70 percent identified themselves as heterosexual.
The term 'coregasm' has been commonly used because abdominal exercises seem to be the common denominator.
The results:
1) Most women said they were not fantasizing sexually during their experiences so it would seem to be simply physical.
2) Most women reported feeling self-conscious about it because they were in public places. Sex in public will do that to you, though for some that is part of the appeal of having sex in public.
3) It wasn't just core exercises in this survey. Yoga, running and walking also were among the catalysts.(1)
4) About 40 percent of women who had experienced pleasure or orgasms during exercise had done so on more than 10 occasions.
The authors are not claiming that exercises can improve women's sexual experiences, though it can't hurt. "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," said Herbenick.
Researcher Debby Herbenick. Credit: Indiana University
How common are these coregasms? The authors stated it only took five weeks to recruit the 370 women so it can't be all that rare. And we've covered it here before.(2) Though in that instance we wanted to find out if other things could also cause sexual pleasure without having to buy dinner or shots of Jägermeister.
For example,
Could watching An Inconvenient Truth give someone a "Gore-gasm"?
Standing outside Tiffany's might lead to a jewelry "Store-gasm"?
Graham crackers, chocolate and marshmallows? A "Smore-gasm" perhaps?
Feel free to add your own. It's for science!
Citation: Herbenick, D.&Fortenberry, J.D., 'Exercise-induced orgasm and pleasure among women', Sexual and Relationship Therapy (In press)
NOTES:
(1) Off to the gym and want to boost your chances for success? Responses most commonly listed the "captain's chair" exercise, a rack with padded arm rests and back support that allows the legs to hang free. Repeatedly lift the knees toward the chest or toward a 90-degree angle with the body. Enjoy!
(2) It also suggests ways to rig the chances in the...uhhh...more traditional way.
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