Best Kegel Exercises for Men to Boost Sexual Health

Yes, Kegel exercises have always been catered towards women, but they aren’t the only ones that can reap the benefits!

The gatekeeping ends today because these exercises will not only tighten up your pelvic floor but also help you with erections. Here’s a detailed guide outlined to ease you into the exercises and help you understand what the hype is all about.

• What Does Kegels Exercise Do For Men?
• Benefits of Kegel Exercise For Men
• How to do Kegel Exercises for Men

What are Kegel exercises?

In 1948, Kegel exercises were first introduced by Arnold Kegel for the strengthening of pelvic floor muscles. Dr. Kegel’s study showcased the exercise’s potential in preventing cystocele, urinary stress incontinence and rectocele. (1)

These exercises were designed specifically to tighten up your pelvic floor muscles. A good control of these muscles will result in better bladder and bowel control and improvised erections.

In this exercise, the pelvic floor muscles, along with other tissues from the tailbone in the back to the pubic bone in the front are stretched. Including the muscles that support the bladder and bowel, urethra, and rectum, which allows the fasces to pass out of the body and the tissues of the pelvic floor.

There are several treatments available to manage pelvic floor weakness including medications and surgeries. However, Kegel exercises are amongst the most popular therapies because they can be incorporated into daily life, there are no side effects that are equal to that of medication and zero complications of surgery.

Kegel Exercises for Men’s Sexual Health

Erectile dysfunction is a common sexual disorder that causes sexual dysfunction that involves an alteration in any or all of these erectile responses including relational, organic, and psychological. (2)

Individuals suffering from erectile dysfunction will experience symptoms such as:

• Problem with getting an erection
• Hard time keeping an erection
• Reduced sexual drive

Kegel exercises benefits sexually male can help to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles that are responsible for increasing blood flow to the groin and are active during sexual intercourse.

At first, this may seem difficult but this exercise doesn’t require you to cut some time off your day, you can do it while brushing your teeth or reading the morning newspaper. Kegel exercises are one of the best treatment options for erectile dysfunction as they can be incorporated into daily life.

For several men, Kegel exercises are combined with therapy, counselling and other treatments for managing erectile dysfunction.

A study was conducted with fifty-five men with erectile dysfunction between the ages of 22-78 years. One-half of the group was engaged in pelvic floor exercises along with lifestyle changes, while the others were solely advised on lifestyle changes. It was concluded that the pelvic floor muscle exercise group had proven to be an effective treatment for men with erectile dysfunction. (3)

For safety and clarity on the best possible routine for you check in with your regular physician.

Kegel exercises for men step-by-step

1. Locating the pelvis

Step 1: Stop urination flow mid-way

The urine flow must be attempted to stop mid-flow, this will help in identifying the pelvic muscles. The location of these muscles is essential to the exercise, hence once established do not repeat this method as frequent attempts at stopping urination may lead to a UTI.

Step 2: Contract Anus muscles

This can be mimicked by the method one normally uses to prevent themselves from passing gas or holding in a bowel movement. These muscles are the pelvic muscles, keep repeating the method of contracting and releasing of anus muscles to correctly establish the location. The sense of pulling or lifting in the anus is an indication the exercise has been performed correctly.

Step 3: Visual aid

A mirror can be used as a visual guide to see the muscles by lifting the penis vertically and keeping the thigh, abdominal and buttock muscles still. Try to focus on the pelvic muscles by focusing in the mirror to ensure no other muscle is being used. If you notice through the mirror any of the other muscles start tightening, try again.

Step 4: biofeedback

If none of the above methods help, contact your professional healthcare provider who will help you find these muscles by a technique called biofeedback, a training that helps isolate the pelvic floor muscles.

2. Learning the exercise

Step 5: Horizontal

Once the pelvic floor muscles have been located you can now start the exercise by lying down on your bed or mat. Contract the pelvic floor muscles first by tightening them for five seconds and then releasing them for five seconds. The other muscles should not be tightened. Repeat the exercise for a couple of more times.

Step 6: Vertical

Once you’re comfortable and perfectly performing the exercise lying down, you can move on to practicing it by sitting straight or standing up, start contracting your pelvic floor muscles and releasing them.

Step 6: Combine with routine tasks

Once the exercise routine becomes easy you can start combining it with your routine tasks such as brushing your teeth, reading a book on the bed, or working on your laptop on the desk. Exercise while contracting and releasing the pelvic floor muscles.

3. Increasing stamina

Step 7: Repeating five sets

Pelvic floor muscle exercise can be done in a set of five reps at a time twice a day daily. Five sets can be done in the morning and others at night. Your breath should be synched to the exercise, you can align it by counting to five as you contract and then five when you relax the muscles.

Step 8: Move up to ten sets

After a week of being comfortable with the five rep set you can now move on to doing the same exercise method but with ten reps per set thrice a day for a week. Repeat the cycle of contracting and relaxing for five seconds ten times thrice a day.

Step 8: Move up to twenty sets

It gets easier to move up to twenty sets 3-4 times a day. All the sets can be tried in different positions eg. while sitting, standing up or lying down. This will help make it a lifestyle routine, and strengthen the pelvic floor muscles while increasing your stamina.

Benefits of Kegel exercises for men

• Improve the hardness of erections

Kegel exercises strengthen the pelvic floor muscles by performing an exercise that tightens and relaxes the pelvic muscles resulting in reduced discomfort in the pelvic area and increasing blood circulation that helps in achieving harder erections. (4)

• Rehabilitation for premature ejaculation

Premature ejaculation is amongst the common sexual disorders that occur when semen leaves the body (ejaculates) sooner than desired during sexual intercourse.

A study was conducted that rehabilitated individuals with premature ejaculations through pelvic floor therapy that resulted in promising results and presented itself as a viable therapeutic option. (5)

• Increase the pleasure experienced during sex

A good blood flow ensures a longer erection combined with the prevention of premature ejaculation leads to a euphoric and pleasurable experience during sex.

• Increased orgasms for men

The ultimate benefit that results from strengthened pelvic floor muscles is the increased number of orgasms men can experience.

• Improve core stability

Kegel exercises can improve overall core stability and posture which can help increase fitness and athletic performance.

Risks of Kegel Exercises

To determine if Kegel exercises are bad for you, it would require a thorough insight into the underlying condition, which can be hard to self-diagnose and requires help from a healthcare professional.

However, here are some indicators and mistakes that could help identify if you are doing something wrong:

• A sharp pain in the lower back or the pelvic region that includes the hips, rectal and genital areas.
• Flexing the wrong muscles during exercise could lead to potential harm especially while dealing with abdomen muscles
• Overdoing the Kegel will not expedite the recovery process instead causes a strain in the muscles and results in undesired discomfort in the pelvic area.

Extra tips

Keep these tips in mind to be extra cautious and prevent any discomfort:

• Relax your mind and picture that you are trying to lift the muscles and let your body be loose, do not tighten your stomach, buttocks or thighs.
• If you start to feel anxious or nervous, take a deep breath and if you feel like a headache is coming on it is okay to let it go for the moment and take a break.
• A stomachache indicates that you are overcompensating with your other muscles.
• Empty your bladder before commencing the exercise.

Conclusion

These simple beginner Kegel exercises can bring about a positive impact on men’s pelvic health.

Every exercise and symptom needs to be cross-checked with your professional healthcare provider to eliminate any risks and ensure a perfect course of action is curated just for you.