Surprisingly, sex may not be the only way to an orgasm. Something as unconnected with bedroom as biking, spinning, abdominal exercises or rope climbing could also trigger climaxes, or ‘coregasms’ among women, a study suggests.
As a term, “coregasm” has circulated in the media for years, because of its linkage with exercises for core abdominal muscles, said study co-author Debby Herbenick, co-director of the Indiana University Centre for Sexual Health Promotion.
“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,” added Herbernick.
Findings from a first-of-its-kind study have shown that these women were neither fantasizing sexually nor thinking about anyone they were attracted to during their experiences, the journal of Sexual and Relationship Therapy reported.
Herbenick who co-authored the study with J. Dennis Fortenberry, professor at the Indiana School of Medicine, surveyed 124 women online who reported experiencing exercise-induced orgasms (EIO) and 246 who experienced exercise-induced sexual pleasure (EISP), said a university statement.
The women were aged between 18 to 63 years. Most were in a relationship or married, and about 69 percent identified themselves as heterosexual. About 40 percent of women who had experienced EIO and EISP had done so on more than 10 occasions.
Diverse types of physical exercise were associated with EIO and EISP. Of the EIO group, 51.4 percent reported experiencing an orgasm in connection with abdominal exercises within the previous 90 days.
Others reported experiencing orgasm in connection to such exercises as weight lifting (26.5 percent), yoga (20 percent), bicycling (15.8), running (13.2 percent) and walking / hiking (9.6 percent).
“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, who is a widely read advice columnist and book author.