Survey: One in four people admit to hooking up and having sex at the gym

Without fail, every January, gyms across the world see huge spikes in attendance and new membership signups. People looking to stick to their New Year’s resolutions pile into gyms looking to commit to fitness, break a sweat, and, according to a new study conducted by the Ann Summers sex shop, maybe get a little action in the locker rooms.

In an online poll of about 2,000 people, Ann Summers found that about 25% of participants admitted to having had sex at their gyms at some point during their membership.

Even the people who weren’t actually getting down in the steam room were at the very least thinking about it and/or hoping that something might happen.

As The Independent points out, some 70% of women who answered the poll reported that they’d considered having sex with their personal trainers. Sixty-six percent of people overall cited the very possibility of sex at the gym as factoring into their decision to work out and one in 10 people brought condoms in their gym bags just in case.

Though the poll’s respondents’ answers might sound as if they were plucked from the halcyon days of free love, the relationship between exercise and libido is well documented. Regular exercise causes measurable spikes in the a person’s levels of serotonin and dopamine. Increased levels of serotonin are directly linked to heightened libido and positive moods while dopamine increases one’s ability to feel pleasure.

Regular exercise causes measurable spikes in the a person’s levels of serotonin and dopamine. Increased levels of serotonin are directly linked to heightened libido and positive moods while dopamine increases one’s ability to feel pleasure.

Essentially, when you work out, you aren’t just physically strengthening your body, you’re chemically priming yourself to be fellin’ yourself, increasing the likelihood that you might want to engage in sexual activity.

Does this mean that going to the gym will get you laid? Nope, and honestly, you probably don’t really want to risk having sex in a gym lest you catch a nasty case of MRSA, but the next time someone on an elliptical smiles at you, there’s a strong chance that they’ve been checking you out.