Pelvic floor exercises are often thought of as something only women do, but they offer real benefits for men too, for bladder control, erectile function, and more. The pelvic floor is a group of muscles most men never think about or train, yet strengthening them can help with several common men’s health issues, especially as you age. This guide explains what the pelvic floor is, why it matters for men, and how to do pelvic floor exercises correctly.
What the Pelvic Floor Is
Your pelvic floor is a group of muscles at the base of your pelvis that support your bladder and bowel and play a role in urinary and sexual function. In men, these muscles help control urination (starting and stopping the flow, and holding it) and are involved in erectile and ejaculatory function.
Like any muscles, the pelvic floor muscles can be weak (leading to problems like poor bladder control) or strengthened through exercise. Most men never train these muscles and may not even be aware of them, but strengthening them, through pelvic floor exercises (often called Kegel exercises), can help with several issues.
Why Pelvic Floor Exercises Matter for Men
Strengthening your pelvic floor offers real benefits for men:
Bladder control. This is a major one. Strong pelvic floor muscles help with urinary control, reducing issues like urinary leakage, dribbling, or urgency. This is especially relevant for men experiencing bladder control issues, including after prostate surgery (pelvic floor exercises are often recommended for post-prostate-surgery urinary control) or with age (see early signs of an enlarged prostate and frequent urination at night for related urinary issues).
Erectile function. Pelvic floor muscles are involved in erections, and research suggests that strengthening them can help with erectile function, in some studies, pelvic floor exercises improved erectile function comparably to other approaches. So they can be a useful natural component of improving erections (see how to improve erections and erectile dysfunction causes).
Ejaculatory control. The pelvic floor muscles are involved in ejaculation, and strengthening them may help with ejaculatory control, potentially relevant for premature ejaculation (see premature ejaculation causes).
Overall pelvic health and core support. The pelvic floor is part of your core, and healthy pelvic floor function supports overall pelvic and core health.
So pelvic floor exercises aren’t just a “women’s” thing. They’re a useful, often overlooked tool for men’s urinary, erectile, and ejaculatory health, particularly valuable with age and for specific issues.
How to Find Your Pelvic Floor Muscles
Before exercising them, you need to identify the right muscles:
The most common method: the next time you urinate, try to stop the flow midstream. The muscles you use to do that are your pelvic floor muscles. (This is just to identify the muscles, don’t regularly stop your urine flow as a way of exercising, which isn’t recommended.)
Another way: tighten the muscles you’d use to stop yourself from passing gas. That squeezing, lifting sensation is your pelvic floor engaging.
The key is to isolate these muscles: you should feel a squeezing and lifting sensation around the base of your pelvis, without tensing your abdomen, buttocks, or thighs, or holding your breath. Learning to engage just the pelvic floor is the essential first step. If you’re unsure you’re doing it right, a doctor or physiotherapist (especially a pelvic floor specialist) can help you identify and train the muscles correctly.
How to Do Pelvic Floor Exercises
Once you can identify and engage the muscles:
The basic exercise (Kegels)
- Contract your pelvic floor muscles (that squeezing, lifting sensation), and hold for a few seconds (start with a few seconds, working up to around 5 to 10 seconds as you improve).
- Relax for the same amount of time (relaxing fully is important, don’t skip this).
- Repeat for several repetitions (for example, aim to build up to around 10 repetitions per set).
- Do several sets throughout the day (for example, a few sets daily).
Include both types of contractions
- Slow, sustained holds (holding the contraction for several seconds) build endurance.
- Quick contractions (quickly squeezing and releasing) build the muscles’ responsiveness.
Including both is beneficial.
Tips for doing them well
- Breathe normally: don’t hold your breath.
- Don’t tense other muscles: keep your abdomen, buttocks, and thighs relaxed; isolate the pelvic floor.
- Be consistent, like any muscle training, results come from regular practice over weeks (see how long to build muscle for the general principle that muscle changes take time). It typically takes several weeks of consistent exercise to notice improvement.
- You can do them anywhere, since they’re invisible, you can do pelvic floor exercises sitting, standing, or lying down, at any time.
- Don’t overdo it, as with any muscle, adequate but not excessive training is best.
When to See a Doctor
While pelvic floor exercises are generally safe and beneficial, see a doctor if you have significant urinary problems (persistent leakage, difficulty urinating, or other symptoms, see frequent urination at night), erectile difficulties (which warrant evaluation, see erectile dysfunction causes), or if you’re recovering from prostate surgery (where a doctor or pelvic floor physiotherapist can guide you). For persistent pelvic floor or urinary issues, a pelvic floor physiotherapist is a real specialist who can assess and guide your exercises properly. Pelvic floor exercises are a useful tool, but persistent problems deserve proper evaluation and guidance.
What the Trials Found
Most advice on pelvic floor exercises for men stops at “they can help.” There is a controlled trial behind that claim, and its results are more specific than most men expect.
In the trial, published in the British Journal of General Practice, 55 men with erectile dysfunction were randomly split into two groups. One group did pelvic floor exercises, with biofeedback from a physiotherapist and some lifestyle changes. The other got lifestyle advice only. By six months, about 40 percent of the men who did the exercises had regained normal erectile function, and roughly another 35 percent had improved.
What that result does and does not tell you
It is a small trial, and the exercise group had supervised biofeedback. That means someone checked they were squeezing the right muscles, which matters more than it sounds. The common mistake is clenching the buttocks or the abdomen and thinking the job is done.
It also tells you the timescale. The benefit built up over months of regular practice, not days. If you start this, commit to twelve weeks before deciding whether it works for you.
The same muscles are the focus of research on ejaculatory control, covered in premature ejaculation causes. The same routine can help with both.
Where exercises stop being the answer
Pelvic floor training works on the muscles that help trap blood during an erection. It does nothing for narrowed arteries. Because erection problems are often an early warning of cardiovascular disease, new difficulty is a reason to get your blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar checked first. Do the exercises alongside that, not instead of it. See how to improve erections for why that matters.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do pelvic floor exercises work for men?
Yes. Strengthening the pelvic floor muscles can help men with bladder control (including after prostate surgery), erectile function (research shows benefits), and ejaculatory control. They’re a useful, often overlooked tool for men’s urinary and sexual health, not just a “women’s” exercise.
How do men do pelvic floor exercises?
Identify the muscles (the ones you’d use to stop urinating midstream or stop passing gas), then contract and hold them for a few seconds (working up to 5 to 10 seconds), relax fully for the same time, and repeat for several reps, doing several sets daily. Include both sustained holds and quick contractions, without tensing other muscles or holding your breath.
What are the benefits of pelvic floor exercises for men?
Better bladder control (reducing leakage, dribbling, urgency, and helping after prostate surgery), improved erectile function, better ejaculatory control (potentially helping premature ejaculation), and overall pelvic and core health. They’re especially valuable with age and for specific urinary or sexual issues.
How do I find my pelvic floor muscles?
The next time you urinate, try to stop the flow midstream, the muscles you use are your pelvic floor (but only do this to identify them, not as regular exercise). Alternatively, tighten the muscles you’d use to stop passing gas. You should feel a squeezing, lifting sensation without tensing your abs, buttocks, or thighs.
How long until pelvic floor exercises work?
Like any muscle training, it typically takes several weeks of consistent practice to notice improvement. Results come from regular exercise over time, so be consistent. If you have persistent problems or are unsure you’re doing them correctly, a pelvic floor physiotherapist can help.
The Bottom Line
Pelvic floor exercises aren’t just for women, they offer real benefits for men that most never realise, because the pelvic floor muscles play a role in urinary control, erectile function, and ejaculation. Strengthening them can help with bladder control (reducing leakage and urgency, and aiding recovery after prostate surgery), improve erectile function (research supports this), and help with ejaculatory control, benefits that are especially valuable with age and for specific issues.
To do them, first identify the right muscles (the ones you’d use to stop urinating midstream or stop passing gas), then contract and hold them for several seconds, relax fully, and repeat for several reps and sets daily, including both sustained holds and quick contractions, without tensing other muscles or holding your breath. Be consistent, as improvement takes several weeks. And for persistent urinary or erectile problems, or recovery from prostate surgery, see a doctor or a pelvic floor physiotherapist for proper guidance. This overlooked, invisible, do-anywhere exercise is a useful tool for men’s health.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. For persistent urinary or erectile problems, or after prostate surgery, consult a qualified healthcare professional or pelvic floor physiotherapist.
Sources
- Anderson CA et al. Conservative management for postprostatectomy urinary incontinence. Cochrane Database Syst Rev, 2015
- Dorey G et al. Randomised controlled trial of pelvic floor muscle exercises and manometric biofeedback for erectile dysfunction. Br J Gen Pract, 2004
- Filocamo MT et al. Effectiveness of early pelvic floor rehabilitation treatment for post-prostatectomy incontinence. Eur Urol, 2005