#Trends2025

A July 2025 study shows that voluntary celibacy—choosing to abstain from sexual activity for personal or cultural reasons—has become more common, especially among women. The research challenges the notion that dating apps and sex-positivity have made abstinence obsolete. It reveals nuanced shifts in attitudes toward intimacy across generations.

Many adults, particularly women, are intentionally taking breaks from sex for weeks, months, or longer. Motivations include personal growth, spiritual alignment, healing from past experiences, and prioritizing health and well-being. The trend suggests that sexual choice can be a form of empowerment rather than a sign of dysfunction.

New research published in July 2025 has found that voluntary celibacy—choosing to abstain from sexual activity for personal, cultural, or psychological reasons—has become notably common, especially among women. The study, highlighted by Psychology Today, offers a fresh look at shifting sexual behaviors and attitudes in contemporary society.

Celibacy is often assumed to be rare in the age of dating apps and sex-positivity movements, but the new findings challenge this stereotype. In recent years, changes in societal values, evolving gender dynamics, and personal considerations about health and well-being have contributed to a marked increase in voluntary sexual abstention, particularly among women. The implications stretch beyond individual choices, touching on issues ranging from mental health to relationship expectations in Thailand and around the world.

A new trend is quietly reshaping how Thais approach wellness. While running, cycling, and group aerobics remain common, resistance training—weightlifting—is gaining traction as a sustainable, empowering alternative or complement to cardio. Experts say it can boost metabolism, strength, and bone health, with meaningful benefits for women and anyone feeling exhausted by traditional cardio routines.

The shift gained visibility after a fitness enthusiast discovered a post about a woman who built a fit, toned body through brief, consistent weightlifting while eating more. The story challenged common myths about body image, calories, and women’s relationships with strength training. It sparked conversations that resonate with many Thai readers who juggle busy lives and societal expectations around fitness.

For years, popular wisdom — and much of the Thai public’s workout regimen — has focused heavily on running, cycling, aerobics, or other forms of cardiovascular exercise as the best path to health and a desirable body. But a new wave of research and expert discussion signals it may be time to rethink our devotion to cardio. Resistance training, more widely known as weightlifting, is rapidly gaining traction as not just an add-on to cardio, but as a potentially more sustainable, empowering pathway to overall fitness, especially among women and those struggling with “exercise burnout” (LA Times).