Here’s the deal: There’s a complex network of muscles that surround the base of the penis and extend deep inside the body. These hammock-like muscles hold up your internal organs — namely your bladder and bowels. They’re also responsible for causing the surge of blood to your penis that helps you maintain an erection. Clenching these muscles regularly — what Kegel exercises require — can force more blood into your penis and keep it there longer. According to Dr. Darius Paduch, a leading expert on sexual dysfunction in men, Kegel exercises are particularly helpful to guys who want better sexual control, suffer sexual dysfunction (in one study, 40 percent of erectile dysfunction sufferers were symptom-free after six months of Kegels; in another study, 82 percent of men with persistently premature ejaculations increased their latency time after just three months), or just rush too damn much. In regards to the latter, Paduch explains that many guys tend to tense up when they masturbate or push too hard when they pee. This, while unproven, may lead to prostate cancer — and, if we’re being honest, a lot of collateral spray on the bathroom tiles.
How to Kegel
You know how you sometimes cut off your pee, mid-stream? That’s basically a kegel. You shouldn’t cut off the flow, though, as it may increase your risk for a bladder infection. Instead, focus on the action of stopping a pee while you have an empty bladder — that’s a proper clench. Initially, you should perform Kegels these lying down. Flex your pelvic muscles and hold between one and three seconds before relaxing. Repeat 10 times, pausing between reps. Check your form by placing a couple fingers behind your testicles —and feel the muscles there tighten. Ensure that you’re not contracting other muscles, particularly those of your stomach. Eventually, you should work up to longer holds — tensing for as long as 20 seconds — that you can perform sitting down or standing up. You can even incorporate a bit of weight by placing a small hand towel at the base of your erect penis. Yes, advanced training requires an erect penis. Wherever you wind up in terms of reps or weight, performing kegel exercises every day is overkill. “The pelvic muscles are skeletal muscles — just like the biceps — and can be easily fatigued,” says Dr. Andrew Siegel, author of Male Pelvic Fitness: Optimizing Sexual & Urinary Health. “You certainly want to give them the same or more recovery time. If you overexert your pelvic muscles and don’t allow them time to recover properly, you will get the opposite effect. Exercising every day provides no recovery time. ” Siegel helped develop The Private Gym, a sort of PX90 for the pelvic muscles. Below is the program’s first three weeks’ routines which consist of three Kegel flexes — the basic, the “long hard,” and the “rapid.” (The eight-week Complete Training Program culminates in the lifting of, uh, penile weights, included.) For maximum benefit, exercises should be performed three to four times per week.
Male Kegel Exercises Workout
Week 1: Conditioning Your Pelvic Muscles Basic flex:
Squeeze your pelvic muscles and hold the contraction for 1-2 secondsRelease slowly and relax for 1-2 secondsPerform up to 30 repetitionsRest one minutePerform three sets
Week 2: Building Initial Strength Long hard flex:
Squeeze pelvic muscles as hard as you can and hold the contraction for 3-5 secondsRelease slowly and relax for 1-2 secondsPerform up to 30 repetitionsRest one minutePerform three sets
Week 3: Developing endurance Long hard flexes and rapid flexes:
Squeeze pelvic muscles as hard as you can and hold the contraction for 3-5 secondsRelease slowly and relax for 1-2 secondsPerform up to 30 repetitionsNext, perform up to 20 rapid flexes by quickly squeezing and releasingRest 1 minutePerform three sets
Despite what those enlargement ads tell you, there aren’t any legitimate penile exercises besides pelvic floor training. “You’ll see a lot about stretching, tugging, jelqing, and other things on the Internet,” Siegel says. “But these are definitely of dubious value.” Luckily, Kegels aren’t the only way to maintain good penile health. “The only other way is to stay sexually active,” Siegel says. “Use it or lose it.” Amen.
