Looking for another reason to get out of bed and schlep to the gym? How about a surprise orgasm? No, we're not talking about a locker room hook-up, but a spontaneous orgasm that happens literally during your workout.
Maybe you already know what we're talking about because you’ve been hitting your ab workout hard only to start feeling a strangely familiar tingling down you know where. Or maybe you've seen people online chatting about this phenomenon.
What we’re referring to is the “coregasm”. To learn more about what it is, what causes them, and how to make them happen, PRIDE spoke with sex experts Bel Di Lorenzo, entrepreneur, women’s sexual health advocate, and the author of the bestselling book The Gohddess Method; Dr. Sue Milstein, sex educator with a PhD in human sexuality education, Master Certified Health Education Specialist (MCHES), and a Certified Sexologist; and Sofie Roos, licensed sexologist and relationship therapist and author at Passionerad, to get their insights — and what we learned was, ahem, very stimulating and educational.
What is a coregasm, and what causes one?
So what exactly is a coregasm? Well, as it sounds, it starts with your core muscles, i.e., the muscles in your abdomen, back, and pelvis, and it occurs while exercising.
But how does that work? “It’s usually triggered by intense engagement of the lower abs and pelvic floor. It’s caused by a combination of sustained muscular tension, increased blood flow to the pelvic region, and stimulation of the nerves that connect the core and pelvic muscles to the brain’s arousal centers,” Di Lorenzo tells PRIDE. “When breath, effort, and pressure align, it can create enough internal stimulation to lead to orgasm, without direct genital contact.”
“This often happens in combination with relatively heavy exercising that increases the blood flow to the vagina, something that increases sensitivity,” Roos adds to PRIDE.
Who can have a coregasm?
Roos mentions that the vagina becomes more sensitive during core exercise, but this experience is not limited to women and people with vulvas, however. “Both people with penises and vaginas can experience coregasm, even though they are most common in people with vaginas,” he explains.
Di Lorenzo concurs, adding that it tends to happen more commonly for women and people with vulvas. “This is likely due to the structure of the pelvic floor and how closely it’s tied to arousal and orgasmic response.” However, she concedes it's not that simple. “People who have a strong mind-body connection and good muscle awareness in their core and pelvis are often more likely to access them,” she explains.
“While coregasms happen randomly for some, others can get them on purpose by learning how to activate the right muscles,” encourages Roos. “However, not everyone can achieve them — there’s many people trying all their lives without succeeding, while others get coregasms without barely trying, so your genetics plays a huge role.”
Are coregasms common?
While the experts agree that coregasms are real, how commonly they happen is still very much up for debate.
According to Di Lorenzo, they are not as rare as many may assume. “They’re definitely underreported,” she says. “Some research suggests that up to 10 to 15% of women have experienced orgasm or orgasm-like sensations during exercise. In my experience, once someone begins training pelvic floor coordination with intention, coregasms can become more frequent and easier to identify.”
Roos cites a slightly lower number, based on research published in the National Library of Medicine in 2021, which says as many as 9% of all respondents had experienced an orgasm while exercising.
Dr. Milstein says it’s hard to know for sure because the data is soft. “It’s important to keep in mind that we have to rely on self-reported data to know how often this happens. If someone had one and had no idea what it was, they may not report having had one,” she explains. “With all that being said, some studies estimate that 1 in 10 women have had a coregasm, and 1 in 13 men have had one.”
What exercises and techniques can you do to achieve one?
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If you're curious about experiencing one, some techniques can help make the magic happen. The key, says Di Lorenzo, is “sustained engagement of the lower abdominals and pelvic floor, especially when paired with breathwork.”
So what specific exercises should you try? “All exercises that activate the core and pelvic floor muscles give the best chances,” says Roos. “Such as squats, deadlifts, or hip thrusts. You can also try hanging leg raises, exercises with a weighted ball such as a ‘teaser’ where you sit on your butt and lift the ball with your feet up to your hands, lean back with straight arms, and then give back the balls to the feet, or the plank.” She adds that weight training, whether it's with weights or your own body weight, is essential.
But say you’re already doing all of this and have yet to experience a coregasm, Di Lorenzo suggests some more specific forms of trunk exercises paired with breathwork.
- “Long contractions: It involves lifting the pelvic floor up (as if you were trying to hold pee). Hold the pull at the top for as long as you can. It's crucial that you never hold your breath as you hold the contraction; simply breathe in and out gently through your nose.
- Expelling: Conscious release of the pelvic floor to build pressure and create a push/pull dynamic. The best way to think about it is as if you had been holding on to your pee for a long time and you finally are able to find a toilet and release it.”
“When these exercises are combined with deep breathing, muscle control, and mental focus, they can build enough tension and internal pressure to trigger orgasm,” she says. “For some, practicing these movements while aroused or during certain phases of the cycle can make a coregasm more likely.”
Do they feel different from other kinds of orgasms?
Not all orgasms are created equal. For instance, clitorial and vaginal orgasms often feel much different — and they differ from prostate orgasms. So, where does a coregasm land on this spectrum of sensation?
Dr. Milstein explains that, “for women [and people with vulvas] it can be similar to a vaginal orgasm, but not quite the same. Some women who’ve had one say they’re a bit less intense than a vaginal orgasm,” she describes. “For men, it may feel like a prostate orgasm.”
“It’s important to keep in mind that coregasms aren’t linked to sexual thoughts, so the overall feeling may be different from an orgasm from sex because our mind is in a different place,” she adds.
This is all the more reason to know what to expect so that you can identify what is happening should you have one. “Instead of a sharp or surface-level climax, coregasms often feel like a warm, spreading wave that begins in the lower abdomen or pelvis and radiates outward,” says Di Lorenzo. “They can be shorter or more subtle than clitoral orgasms, but still deeply pleasurable and satisfying, especially for those who are attuned to their internal sensations.”
The sensations may spread down through your legs, adds Roos. “The fact that they are more unusual often leads to the coregasm feeling more exciting, which also adds pleasure,” she says. “As always, when it comes to sex, it’s highly individual, so some people will find it very similar to a regular climax, while others find it a whole different thing!”
The only way to know for sure is to give it a try, so it sounds like the perfect excuse to re-up that gym membership!
Experts cited:
Bel Di Lorenzo, entrepreneur, women’s sexual health advocate, and the author of the bestselling book, The Gohddess Method.
Dr. Sue Milstein, sex educator with a PhD in human sexuality education, Master Certified Health Education Specialist (MCHES), and a Certified Sexologist.
Sofie Roos, licensed sexologist and relationship therapist & author at Passionerad.
