A 2026 systematic review and meta-analysis in The Journal of Sexual Function Medicine pooled 15 of 23 intervention studies and found that women reported better desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm and satisfaction after exercise programs, according to Ynetnews. The authors rated the overall certainty of the evidence as low, so the results can't show that every woman will see a benefit.
Exercise is usually sold on the scale, the blood work and the stairs test. This research asks about a different payoff: desire, arousal and orgasm.
The review, published in The Journal of Function Medicine, pooled 15 of the studies that used the Female Function Index, a standardized questionnaire that scores Function. According to Ynetnews, those studies showed improvements after exercise in Function desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm and satisfaction. The International Society for Function Medicine summarizes the same review as finding gains of around one point on that questionnaire. The workouts ranged from aerobic activity and resistance training to pelvic floor exercises and yoga, and the participants included women who had recently given birth, postmenopausal women and women with various medical conditions.
Don't read that as a prescription. The studies differed widely, and the low-certainty rating means the results can't show that every woman will see a boost, or that different kinds of exercise work equally well. The review also doesn't support saying strength training beats walking, or that yoga beats either one, according to Ynetnews.
Pelvic floor exercises got their own look. A 2024 review in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology covered 21 randomized controlled trials. Four went into a pooled analysis, which found improvements in overall Function, arousal, orgasm, satisfaction and pain scores. The certainty of that evidence was rated very low, per Ynetnews.
More Kegels are not always the answer, either. Ynetnews notes that for some women with pain, the problem is difficulty relaxing the pelvic floor muscles, not weakness, so treatment may need to focus on relaxation under professional guidance.
Fancier doesn't automatically mean better. In a randomized trial in the June 2026 issue of Urogynecology, 240 women ages 45 and older with urinary incontinence were assigned to a 12-week yoga program designed for pelvic floor function or to a general exercise program. The specialized yoga did not produce greater improvements in Function, according to Ynetnews. That doesn't prove the two approaches are equally effective, the piece notes, only that the findings did not support an added advantage.
There is also a gap between body and brain. Ynetnews reports that laboratory studies suggest a single bout of exercise may increase physiological arousal, but studies of women show physical arousal and the felt experience of it don't always match up.
The research has not pinned down the number of minutes, the intensity or the type of workout that improves desire or orgasm. Pain, vaginal dryness or lasting changes in Function that cause distress warrant a medical evaluation, Ynetnews says, and exercise should not replace professional care.
The piece in Ynetnews was written by an exercise physiologist and lecturer at Levinsky-Wingate Academic College. Its closing advice: pick physical activity that's enjoyable and sustainable, and treat Function well-being as one more part of overall health.