Kegels for men

Kegels are just for women, right? Wrong? Men have PC muscles too – the muscles that Kegels exercise – and they are essential for general and sexual health. If you enjoy prostate stimulation, or are interested in exploring it, they are even more important.

In The Ultimate Guide to Prostate Pleasure, Charlie Glickman and Aislinn Emirzian say that getting your PC muscles in shape “can make orgasms feel more intense, make anal penetration easier, and decrease the refractory period – the resting time after ejaculation before you can get erect again.” Kegels – that is, squeezing and relaxing the PC muscles in isolation – is the best way to do that. Think of it as a workout for your ass!

First of all, what are PC (or pelvic floor) muscles? PC is short for “pubococcygeus”, a hammock-shaped muscle group which runs from the pubic bone in the front to the coccyx in the back and, in men, surrounds the rectum and the bulb of the penis. It’s one of the muscles that propels semen during ejaculation.

You can tell how closely connected the PC muscles are to your dick by squeezing them, which will make your dick “bounce”. The PC muscles also help to control urination – if you tense your PC muscle when you are peeing, it should stop. (Guides to Kegels for men usually recommending doing exactly that to identify your PC muscles and learn how to squeeze them.)

Kegels were named after the gynecologist who published the first research paper on them in 1948 – that is, they were originally designed for women. More recently, though, sex educators have been recommending them for men too – especially men who are into prostate pleasure.

The point of Kegels is basically like training any other muscle group – to make them stronger. In both men and women, the PC muscles twitch during arousal and contract rhythmically during orgasm – so in-shape PC muscles directly translate into better sex. “When your PC muscle is stronger, it is able to contract harder, longer and more repeatedly,” say Glickman and Emirzian.

If you can identify your PC muscles and can squeeze them, you’re already doing Kegels! The thing now is to basically to gradually push yourself further to develop your PC muscles like with any other kind of exercise.

You can hold the squeeze for a little longer each time and vary up the rhythm. Start by doing sets of 5 or 10, depending on how strong your PC muscle already is, and as you practice more you will be able to do sets of 15 or 20. In this great guide, Glickman also recommends “butterflies”: tighten the muscle quickly and release, but before it is fully relaxed, tighten it again, and repeat.

Don’t expect results instantly. Like with any other form of exercise, consistency is key – so you need to do your Kegels regularly. There are a whole bunch of apps that you can download (like this one for men and women by sex educator Emily Morse) that remind you to do your Kegels and give you different workouts and levels. My tip: Do them when you brush your teeth in the morning and evening!