Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Woman has sex wearing Fitbit - here is what happened

The gadget recorded peaks and drops in her heart rate over eight minutes

Lizzie Dearden
Thursday 13 August 2015 13:02 BST
Comments
The woman shared the data from her Fitbit on Reddit.
The woman shared the data from her Fitbit on Reddit. (noveltysin/Imgur)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

A woman has worn her Fitbit monitor during sex and published the results online in the name of science.

Writing on Reddit under the name noveltysin, she said the wrist-worn gadget started tracking her heart rate after 20 minutes of foreplay.

The resulting graph, stretching over eight minutes and 59 seconds of activity, records the effects of different positions and climax.

The monitor recorded an average of 109 beats per minute (bpm), which is in the “fat burning range”, peaking during at 123bpm the woman’s first orgasm.

Noveltysin, who described herself as a “fit lady” with a resting heart rate of 60bpm, said her heartbeat was slower than during exercise at the gym.

The graph has so far been viewed more than 1.7 million times on Imgur, starting a lengthy analysis in the comments below.

“Everyone focuses on the time,” noveltysin wrote on Reddit. “I lose track of it. Time stops. I'm happy.”

Much of the response seems to have been positive but the woman said a “bunch of strange dudes” had questioned her orgasm, which came before her boyfriend’s.

Several people pledged to carry out the experiment themselves with their partners and post the findings online.

According to the NHS, both women and men’s heart rate increases towards orgasm as breathing gets quicker and heavier.

But the health service debunked claims that sex was a better work-out than a brisk walk following a study in 2013, saying that “sex did not appear to be on the same level as 30 minutes of moderate exercise on a treadmill” and was not recommended as a replacement for other forms of exercise.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in