Evidence library · Sexual function

Does other aerobic exercise affect sexual function in menopause? What 5 studies found

Studies of other aerobic exercise in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women that measured sexual function. 2 reported an improvement and 0 found no difference against the comparison group.

  1. A systematic review of 11 studies in peri and postmenopausal women found pelvic floor and mind-body exercise programs most linked to improved sexual function, while aerobic exercise showed inconsistent results and resistance training showed no benefit.

    Mixed resultsSystematic review · 2020Midlife womenCited 42 timesPubMed

  2. Peri- and postmenopausal women with hot flushes did 12 weeks of yoga classes or individualized aerobic exercise; yoga improved menopause-related quality of life scores versus usual activity, exercise did not.

    Mixed resultsRandomised trial · 355 women · 12 weeks · 2014Midlife womenCited 62 timesPubMed

  3. Perimenopausal women who walked briskly three or more times weekly for 12 weeks reported greater reductions in menopausal symptom scores, cholesterol, triglycerides and weight than controls.

    Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 111 women · 12 weeks · 2014PerimenopausalCited 35 timesPubMed

  4. Pooled data from 1,005 peri and postmenopausal women with hot flushes found yoga and aerobic exercise modestly improved menopause-related quality of life compared with control, with smaller effects than some drug treatments.

    Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 1,005 women · 2020Midlife womenCited 14 timesPubMed

  5. A trial protocol will compare 12 weeks of urban dance versus functional fitness against a control group for physical and psychological effects in postmenopausal women aged 40 to 59.

    Direction not statedOther · 12 weeks · 2025Early postmenopausalCited 1 timesPubMed

How to read this. Each line is one study, summarised in plain language from its PubMed abstract, with the authors' own sentence underneath on the study page. A count of studies is not a verdict: trials differ in size, length and quality, and a result in one group of women may not hold in another. Nothing here is medical advice.

Summaries are generated, then checked by machine against the abstract they came from; any summary that could not be matched word for word was left out. Our clinical lead is reviewing the summaries topic by topic, and this note will change when that is done. Corpus last refreshed 2026-11-03. Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we will fix the summary or remove the study.

Other exercise types and sexual function