Kirsti Buick/Maria Eilersen
- "Coregasms" are when you orgasm while working out, usually during ab exercises.
- Insider spoke to three women who've experienced the sensation.
- One woman described it as "a release of pleasure washing over my lower body."
A coregasm, technically known as an exercise-induced orgasm (EIO) is an orgasm triggered by intense workouts, usually ab-training.
And it's very real, Dr. Debby Herbenick, a professor at the Indiana University School of Public Health and author of the book "The Coregasm Workout," previously told Insider.
Coregasms are slightly more common for women than men, Herbenick's research suggests.
Insider spoke to three women who've orgasmed during a workout to find out what it's like.
Leg-raises are common triggers
Coregasms occur most often during intense abdominal exercises, Herbenick said, such as pull-ups, crunches, or leg raises, whether lying down or using gym equipment like a captain's chair or Roman chair.
Maria Eilersen, a 31-year-old PR coach and yoga teacher based in Lisbon, had her first coregasm doing hanging leg lifts in her early 20s, and has since experienced them during various lower ab workouts.
Maria Eilersen
London-based fitness writer and personal trainer Kirsti Buick, 31, said she has also had multiple coregasms. She estimates about 10 in the last five or six years - but only during core work.
"Things like lying leg raises and even push-ups can trigger them," she told Insider. "I suspect it has something to do with activating my pelvic floor, the muscle that you'll usually feel tightening during an actual orgasm."
When Buick uses the captain's chair, a coregasm happens "pretty much every time," she said.
Milly, 29, who asked for her last name to be omitted for privacy reasons due to the nature of her job, said she had a coregasm every time she used the ab-crunching machine as a teenager at her school gym.
Coregasms don't feel the same as orgasms during sex, according to some women who experience them
When Milly experienced her first coregasm, she was so young she "didn't recognize the feeling at all."
"It felt like I needed to pee but not," she said. "I also remember it feeling very much internal and deep inside my pelvis. It wasn't a 'slow and steady' build-up like a sexual orgasm. It was pretty instant whilst using the machine but also over the moment I got off."
Eilersen, however, has had coregasms that start as a "tingle" and build.
"I wanted to chase it and kept lifting my legs until I felt a release of pleasure wash over my lower body," she said. "I was certain it was an orgasm, but it felt less intense and didn't last as long as those I've experienced during sex. That said, I discovered they were easier to achieve and could be reached multiple times during the same workout."
Buick describes her coregasms as "like the muscular contractions that accompany an orgasm, but without any sexual feelings."
Kirsti Buick
The stronger your core, the more likely you'll have a coregasm
If you want to achieve a coregasm, strong abs may crucial - it gets easier as people strengthen their abdominal muscles and can perform more challenging exercises, Herbenick said.
"I have heard from a number of men in particular who have described easier exercise orgasms when they are stronger or fitter, and losing the ability when they are more sedentary and only exercising on occasion," Herbenick said.
Eilersen said coregasms added a new level of enjoyment to ab training for her.
"For the first time, I looked forward to doing leg raises, and once I discovered coregasms were accessible doing other forms of lower ab exercises that didn't require a gym, I'd add them into my home workouts and yoga practice."
Some people feel embarrassed, but Buick says there's no reason to feel that way.
"If anything, they're probably doing wonders to strengthen my pelvic floor, which is a crucial muscle to train to guard against prolapse after pregnancy, to help with sexual function, and can even increase the intensity of your (regular) orgasms," she said.