You might have already joined exercise programs to strengthen your abs, biceps, and triceps, but have you thought about your pelvic muscles? Most people are not familiar with what pelvic muscles are or their importance.
Just like when you do exercises to make your body strong, happy, and stand tall, Kegel exercises for men can make your special muscles down there strong. This helps you avoid problems like having problems in sexual performance or not being able to hold it when you need to poop or pee.
But wait! Many people don't know what pelvic muscles are and forget about their importance and exercise related to them. If you're one of those who are facing problems related to bladder like urinary inconsistency and sexual performance such as erectile dysfunction then there are chances that kegel exercises can help you. To find out more about these exercises, keep reading until the end of this post!
What exactly are pelvic floor muscles?
Pelvic floor muscles are special muscles in your lower belly, and they work like a strong net. These muscles support and hold up important organs like the bladder, urethra, and bowel, which hold pee, and the rectum,a body part that holds poop. These muscles play an important role in controlling urinary and bowel movements and help boost sexual performance as well. These muscles help hold your organs in place, promoting better bladder control and sexual function.
However, just like any muscle group, your pelvic floor can weaken over time, so you need to perform kegel exercises to make them better.
Now let us explore more about the kegel exercises!
What are Kegel Exercises?
Kegel exercises are like a workout for the muscles in your pelvic area. These muscles help you control your pee and poop.Kegel exercises, also known as pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) exercises, are crucial for helping maintain a healthy erection if you have erectile dysfunction. They work like this:
- Provides Stronger Muscles: Kegel exercises make the muscles in your pelvic floor stronger.
- Better Blood Flow: When these muscles are stronger, they can help improve blood flow to the groin area.
Doing them on a regular basis can make your pelvic muscles strong and helps support your pelvic organs.
Pelvic muscles relax when you're going to the bathroom or passing gas. You also use them to hold in your pee and stop it from coming out. Kegel exercises keep the tube where pee comes out and the passage for poop strong and working well.
Why are Kegel exercises important for men?
Doing Kegel exercises daily helps to get relief from urinary incontinence and boost sexual performance by supporting the pelvic muscles that connect the groin.As
Your erectile dysfunction will be cured as more blood will reach to your private part so that you can keep your erections firmer for a longer time. Muscles in the pelvic floor help increase blood flow into the groin and boost sexual performance.
- These exercises will help you delay ejaculations as you will be better able to contract the muscles on command.
- They also make sure your body can hold the pee when it's supposed to, so that one can get relief from urinary incontinence.
So, Kegel exercises are like a secret workout for your pelvic muscles, helping you solve both erectile dysfunction and urinary incontinence and promoting overall men's health.
Benefits of Kegel exercises for men
There are so many benefits to doing Kegal exercise for men, and some significant ones are mentioned below:
- Stop pee leaks after prostate surgery: It helps stop pee leaks in men after prostate surgery as it strengthens pelvic muscles that support the bladder. Thus, Kegel exercises can help improve the health of your bladder and make it easier to poop and pee.
- Boost Sexual Performance: By making the pelvic floor muscles stronger, kegel exercise can help improve blood flow to the private area, which can help boost men’s sexual performance.[1]
- Helpful in prostate cancer surgery: In this surgery doctors remove the prostate gland when cancer is present.But if your pelvic floor muscles are strong then they can help in the recovery process and in better urinary control after the surgery.Kegel exercises help strengthen the pelvic muscles. These strong muscles can make recovery after the surgery easier and help with bladder control. It's like having strong helpers inside your body to get you back to feeling better.
- Cure Urinary Incontinence: By reducing leaking urine leaks when you sneeze, cough, or laugh, you can help manage urinary incontinence. As you have better control over your muscles connected to the bladder,
- Reduce Drible: This helps reduce the need to urgently go to the toilet and leak before you get there. Also, if you want to reduce the urge to go to the toilet all the time, do kegel exercises for men. Reducing dribbling after going for a pee.[2]
- Cure Erectile Dysfunction: Kegel exercise can help you cure erectile dysfunction (a situation when men face problems getting or keeping an erection during sexual activity). and premature ejaculation (a situation when a man ejaculates too quickly, often with little or no control). Kegel exercise for men helps boost pelvic floor muscle health by increasing blood flow into the groin. So that one can keep the groin erect for a longer period of time, this also helps boost sexual performance. You can see some improvement in your erectile function, but it will take time to show the result.
For quick results, one can opt for supplements that have natural ingredients and can help with sexual performance and erectile dysfunction.
Such as Liv Muztang, or Kaama Gold are premium herbal power boosters for men made from the renowned African herb Mulondo, which increases stamina and helps men enhance their sexual performance.
How to do Kegel exercises for men
1. Find the Right Muscles
To perform kegel exercises for men, one needs to identify pelvic floor muscles correctly.
- The first method is to imagine that you’re about to pass gas. At that moment, squeeze the muscles that would stop you from doing so. The pulling sensation you feel when you squeeze indicates the pelvic floor muscles.
- The second method is to attempt to stop urine flow midway. The muscles allowing for the pause in urination are the ones targeted by the Kegel exercises. You shouldn't do this often, at most once per month, as it could create a habit of contracting while urinating.
- The third way is to use a mirror to see your private area without moving your body. It helps you know if the right muscles are working.
- If you are not able to find the pelvic floor muscles take the help of your nearest physical therapist.
Once you know your pelvic muscles then doing Kegel exercises for men won’t be difficult.With time your pelvic muscles will automatically get stronger, and you'll be able to hold the squeeze longer.
2. Perfect Your Technique
Tighten your pelvic floor muscles for a few seconds, and then relax the entire breath.Do it a few times.As your muscles get stronger, gradually increase each contraction to 10 seconds and perform Kegel exercises for men while sitting, standing, or walking.
3. Schedule and Focus
Don’t do Kegel exercise for men while doing other work; rather, dedicate some time to focus on your Kegel exercise. This will minimize the chance of forgetting them, and you will eventually learn how to contract your muscles correctly.
Also, don't hold your breath while doing Kegel exercises for men. Instead, breathe freely.
3. Repeat Daily
For men’s fitness, it is recommended to do a set of 10 reps before getting out of bed in the morning and before each meal during the day. Repeat three times a day for better pelvic floor strengthening. Try to do them while lying down, sitting, standing, or walking, and don’t overdo them more than 40 reps daily; otherwise, your muscles will become fatigued.
4. Drink Up
Those who have urinary incontinence should drink at least 64 ounces of water each day. To avoid other urinary incontinence problems like constipation, fatigue, or bladder irritation.
When to do Kegel exercises for men?
- Perform kegel exercises for men just before and during any activity that puts pressure on your abdomen, like when you sneeze, cough, laugh, or do heavy lifting.
- It is advisable to perform pelvic floor strengthening at a specific time. But unlike typical core exercises, one can do them for men’s health during a variety of activities, such as shaving, sitting at one's desk, or even while driving.
- A session consists of 10–30 individual contractions and relaxation exercises. Each exercise should last 10 seconds, divided into five seconds of contraction and five seconds of relaxation.
- Do another set of kegel exercises only after you urinate to get rid of the last few drops of urine.
- Perform kegel exercises during your routine tasks like brushing teeth so that you won’t forget to do them.Kegel exercises are easy to do because you can do them anytime and anywhere without anyone noticing.
Tips for doing Kegel Exercises for Men
As you start out with Kegels, keep these tips in mind:
- Make sure you’re relaxing your pelvic floor muscles between each Kegel squeeze. This resting period is part of the program, and to avoid injury, it’s important not to skip it.
- Make sure the muscles in your stomach, back, thighs, and buttocks stay relaxed while you do your Kegel exercises. Focus on your pelvic floor only.
- Breathe normally. Don’t hold your breath while you’re doing Kegels.Counting out loud can stop you from holding your breath.Do not hold your breath while doing Kegel exercise for men if you do it for only 5 seconds. Then slowly and completely relax your muscles for 5 seconds. This will make kegel exercise easy to do.
- Don’t do Kegel exercises while you’re urinating. This can actually weaken the pelvic floor and damage your kidneys and bladder.
- Don’t overdo it! As the saying goes, “all things in moderation.” This idea applies to Kegels. If you do too many Kegels, your pelvic floor can become too tight, and that can lead to urine leaks, pelvic organ prolapse, and sexual pain.
- Do kegel exercises as you are pulling in and lifting up your genitals. By doing that, you will feel comfortable doing the kegel exercise for men.
- If you want pelvic floor strengthening, then practice these exercises daily and increase the time you hold and rest your pelvic floor muscles every time. Begin with 5 seconds, and slowly build up the time each week. Do this until you’re holding on and resting for 10 seconds.
- Do not use your stomach, leg, muscles when doing this exercise. Doing Exercising of these muscles will not going to help you with urinary incontinence problem.[3]
- Stop doing pelvic exercises for men if your pelvic floor muscles start feeling tired or cause pain.
- To keep your urine from leaking, try to do a Kegel exercise before these activities:
- When standing up.
- Walking.
- Walking to the bathroom.
- Sneezing or coughing
- Laughing.
Conclusion
Strengthening your pelvic floor is like a preventive workout, even if you don't have any issues. Just like you exercise other muscles to stay fit, doing Kegel exercises regularly can be a good idea.
By doing Kegel exercises regularly, both men and women can enjoy long-term benefits for their pelvic health. Start slowly doing kegel exercises for men daily. Eventually you will see the results.If you're unsure about how to do them correctly or have questions, don't hesitate to reach a healthcare provider for guidance.
It's okay to seek help to ensure you're doing them right. Kegels are beneficial exercises for strengthening your pelvic floor muscles.
FAQs About Kegel Exercises for Men
Q1. How long does it take to see results from Kegel exercises?
If you do your Kegel exercises regularly, you can expect results like less frequent urine leakage within a few weeks to a few months. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t see the results you want immediately. as Kegel exercises may take as long as a few months to have an effect on urinary incontinence.
They also work differently for each person. Some people show great improvement in muscle control and urinary continence immediately, while others take longer.
Q2. Are Kegel exercises safe for everyone?
Although Kegel balls are generally considered safe to use, one should keep the following things in mind:
Performing squeezing of pelvic muscles only for 5 seconds at a time, and that too with breaks of at least 5 seconds between. Squeezing for too long or without a break could overexert your vaginal muscles.
Don't overdo kegel exercises for men for more than four to six hours at a time. As it can overexert your pelvic floor muscles.
For men’s fitness, clean Kegel balls before and after every use. sd Using contaminated water can cause infection.
Discontinue doing Kegel exercises for men if you face the following problems:
- Severe pain or discomfort.
- Unusual discharge
- Unusual odor
Q3. What are some common mistakes people make when doing Kegel exercises?
- Forgetting to relax:Remember to not overtrain your muscles by doing pelvic floor strengthening for too long, as it will cause tightening, not strengthening, and you don’t want that!
- Not Tracking Progress:It's important to know whether your pelvic floor muscle strength is improving or still needs more work. Or if you are overdoing things for that, you can use a biofeedback machine that helps keep track of your squeeze scale’.
- Not Switching Things Up:The men's pelvic floor is made up of two types of fiber: slow-twitch and fast-twitch.To fully strengthen your pelvic floor, try to alternate between fast and slow kegel exercises to get rid of problems like urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction.
- Using incorrect muscles:Pelvic exercises for men indeed help boost sexual performance,correcting erectile dysfunction, but for men's fitness, it is also necessary to find the correct pelvic muscles. Pushing down on the incorrect pelvic floor muscles can cause more damage.
If you're unsure as to whether you're doing your pelvic floor exercises correctly,then avoid squeezing and lifting and instead use tools available to help or consult a doctor for guidance.
