Women’s sexual function involves a variety of factors, including sociocultural influences, partnership dynamics, medical conditions, and surgical trauma. Sexual dysfunction includes arousal and libido (sex drive) difficulties, vaginal dryness, vaginal and vulvar pain, and pain with sex (among others). Women report sexual dysfunction to their healthcare providers approximately 38-64% of the time, which is more often than men.

Management of women’s sexual dysfunction may include hormone therapy, other medications, pelvic floor training (PFT), and regular physical exercise. In fact, many of the overall benefits of physical activity also benefit sexual function.

For example, regular exercise positively affects hormones like cortisol, prolactin, oxytocin, and testosterone, which are essential for arousal, libido, and sexual satisfaction. Regular exercise also improves sleep quality, energy levels, and pelvic floor strength, which contribute to libido, orgasm, stamina, and sexual satisfaction.

This effect has been studied more in men than women, which led a team of researchers to analyze studies involving physical activity and women’s sexual function to add to the existing body of research.

Studies spanned across the globe, with an average age of 44. Other health factors considered included cancer, autoimmune disease, obesity, diabetes, menopause, absence of pregnancy, various numbers of pregnancies, pelvic organ prolapse, and kidney dialysis.

Women exercised at a rate between daily and 5 days per week with any of the following exercises:

• Belly dancing,
• Core stabilization,
• Aerobics/water aerobics,
• Strength training,
• Yun-type or regular pelvic floor training,
• Exercise bikes,
• Yoga,
• Swimming, or
• Multiple of these

Researchers looked into which exercises helped improve arousal, desire, orgasm, lubrication, sexual satisfaction, and dyspareunia (pain with sex).

Regular exercise appeared to significantly improve all of these areas by around one point on the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI), a tool used in many studies to gauge women’s sexual function. This could be for a variety of reasons.

For one, regular exercise tends to decrease body mass, which can also prevent issues like urinary incontinence, diabetes, and obesity; all of which contribute to low libido and anorgasmia (inability to orgasm). Additionally, decreased body mass boosts body confidence and self-esteem, which does amazing things for sexual well-being.

Second, regular exercise has some major benefits for the nervous system:

• Improves neuroplasticity and brain health and regulates the sexual response cycle.
• Stimulates oxytocin and other endorphins, which support self-esteem and sexual satisfaction.
• Maintains a balance in the nervous system to allow arousal and relaxation during sex.
• Improves blood flow, pressure, and volume, which helps with genital arousal and lubrication.

It appears that all exercises were beneficial for different reasons and for specific groups of people:

• Core stabilization, aerobics, strength training, swimming, yoga, and PFT may be helpful in those experiencing low libido.
  • This could be due to the overall effects of exercise or from increased testosterone and dihydrotestosterone experienced with intense exercise. Increasing these hormones also helps improve libido and overall sexual function.
• Those with genital pain appeared to benefit most from PFT with or without localized heat or manual therapy.
• Obese women appeared to benefit most from aerobics (like High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)).
• Belly dancing, the exercise bike, and sometimes yoga or PFT (dependent on specific issue) did not show much improvement.

Key Takeaways

• Women’s sexual dysfunction is quite common and is reported more often than men’s.
• Exercise is shown in several studies to improve men’s sexual function, but not much has been done to determine its effects on women’s sexual function.
• Researchers analyzed many studies involving women’s exercise and sexual function.
• Regular exercise and an active lifestyle were shown to improve sexual function and reduce disease risk overall.
  • This both supports and adds to the research about exercise and women’s sexual health, as well as sexual health for all.
• The same general benefits of physical activity contribute to the improvement of sexual function.
• Some exercises are more impactful than others.
• If sexual dysfunction is bothersome or causing distress, it may be beneficial to speak with a sexual health provider.

Resources

Ruiz-Pérez, I., Ruiz-Rios, M., Cuesta-Ibáñez, S., & Maldonado-Martín, S. (2026). Systematic Review and meta-analysis on the beneficial effect of exercise on sexual dysfunction in women. The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 23(6). https://doi.org/10.1093/jsxmed/qdag128