A new study has confirmed that exercises – without sex or fantasies – can lead to female orgasm.

Debby Herbenick, from the Indiana University School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, reported that women experience orgasm when exercising, even if they weren’t thinking about someone they were attracted to, the Daily Mail reported on March 19.

Herbenick and her team surveyed hundreds of women aged from 18 to 63 who said they had experienced exercise-induced orgasm or sexual pleasure and they found nearly half of the women had experienced the symptoms on more than 10 occasions.

The most common ones associated with exercise-induced orgasm were abdominal exercises, climbing poles or ropes, biking, skipping and weight lifting.

Among respondents, 51.4 percent reported experiencing an orgasm while doing abdominal exercises. Others reported experiencing orgasm in relation to such exercises as weight lifting for 26.5 percent, yoga for 20 percent, bicycling for 15.8 percent, running for 13.2 percent and walking or hiking for 9.6 percent.

Herbenick said that the mechanisms behind exercise-induced orgasm and exercise-induced sexual pleasure remain unclear.

“It may be that exercise _ which is already known to have significant benefits to health and well-being ― has the potential to enhance women's sexual lives as well.”

The study was published in the latest edition of the journal, Sexual and Relationship Therapy.