Kegels for Men?
Anyone that’s picked up a women’s magazine or heard any mainstream conversations about women’s health, has probably heard about Kegels. For women, Kegels are contractions of the pelvic floor muscles, that are done in order to help strengthen the muscles that surround and support the bladder, vagina, uterus, and rectum. By doing these exercises, women can strengthen the muscles against bladder leaks, lower back pain, hip pain, and prolapse, and can improve sex. But what about men? Can they do Kegels?
Yes, they can. And they can benefit tremendously by practicing Kegels and strengthening their pelvic floor. So what is a pelvic floor? A pelvic floor is the group of muscles that support the bladder and bowel and affect sexual function. The three muscles that make up this area are the pelvic floor muscle, the bladder, and the sphincter. Through exercising this muscle, studies have shown that it is can be effective at controlling incontinence without medication or surgery. In fact, by strengthening the pelvic floor muscles, more blood is able to flow to the sex organs which can help with erectile dysfunction and can even provide some relief from prostatitis and other prostate conditions.
In 2021, a clinical trial found that training the kegel muscles can offer a range of advantages regarding medical issues. In the study, patients were evaluated in order to study the impact of kegel workouts on the pelvic floor muscles. The goal of the researchers was to find out whether or not these exercises could help prevent urinary and fecal incontinence in patients undergoing radiotherapy for prostate cancer.
What they found, was that there was a drastic improvement in those who practiced regular pelvic floor muscle exercise. Those patients experienced better bowel movements, less urinary problems, less diarrhea, constipation, and fatigue. Other studies have also found kegel exercises to be hugely beneficial in treating urinary incontinence, leakage, as well as erectile dysfunction, and other sex-related problems.
One of the great benefits of Kegel exercises is that they can be done even while sitting in front of a desk at work. Though there are various types of kegel exercises that can strengthen a weak pelvic floor, the most common technique involved clenching and releasing the muscles that are used to keep from passing gas and urine. To find these muscles, a good approach is to practice stopping urination midstream and take notice of the muscles that provide that for you. These muscles that you used to stop the urine flow are your pelvic floor muscles. And therefore, these are the muscles that you will clench and release in order to practice kegel exercises.
So practice Kegels, and know that in doing so, you can strengthen your pelvic floor muscles, and get some much-needed relief from prostatitis and other prostate conditions.
