Headlines tease an exercise can improve sexual functioning, because this study survey found that high-intensity cyclists who cycle an average of 25 miles, more than 3 times per week, had a slightly higher mean on each of these sexual function domains than non-cyclists (swimmers and runners).
Before you run out to buy a bike and tights – being a one time survey, we cannot conclude that cycling will improve sexual functioning. Perhaps women with higher sexual functioning like cycling, a lot. Actually, these cyclists were quite a bit more sexually active, and when sexual activity was controlled for, the differences in sexual function disappeared.
However, these high-intensity cyclists still had a slight, 30% lower odds (odds ratio = 0.7) or chance of reporting sexual dysfunction than non-cyclists. That is like for every 10 non-cyclists who report sexual dysfunction, only 7 high-intensity cyclists report dysfunction - but also finding that 90 will report perineal numbness (odds ratio = 9.1) and 230 will report saddle sores (odds ratio = 22.7).
References
- Gaither, T. W., Awad, M. A., Murphy, G. P., Metzler, I., Sanford, T., Eisenberg, M. L., ... & Breyer, B. N. (2018). Cycling and Female Sexual and Urinary Function: Results From a Large, Multinational, Cross-Sectional Study. The journal of sexual medicine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsxm.2018.02.004