Exercise is good for you, but may be bad for your sex life
But pelvic stretch usually associated with women can work wonders for men
Now that the “January Joiners” have vacated the gym, it might be a good time to think about an exercise program. Experts agree that, in general, exercise is a good thing for men (and women) and that how you choose to work out is a personal decision. Indeed, it may be very personal. Keep reading.
Researchers at the University of North Carolina have raised the possibility that your exercise routine just might be crippling your sex life. They asked 1,077 healthy men about their habits in the gym and in the bedroom. Their conclusion? “Exposure to higher levels of chronic intense and greater durations of endurance training on a regular basis are significantly associated with a decreased libido scores in men.”
They’re not just talking about the scenario where you come home from the gym dead tired, flop into bed and start snoring. Commenting on this article on thehealthsite.com, fitness expert Hitesh Sharma made the point that vigorous exercise can be stressful, and “when your body goes into high-stress flight or fight mode, your reproductive organs are the first things to shut down. So it is no surprise that sex is the last thing on your mind when you have just come home from a gruelling HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) workout”
Those results were published in a journal called Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, which is a real treasure trove on exercise physiology. One recent paper looked at the relationship between muscular and aerobic fitness and both memory and academic achievement in children aged 9 to 11. The researchers found that both kinds of exercise brought positive results, and different ones. So they advised children to work on their muscular fitness as well as the usual aerobic activity.
Another study, from Denmark, reported improved cardiac function in men with Type II diabetes after a 24-week program of soccer training. Similar positive results have been reported for soccer training and high blood pressure, so maybe soccer should be our new sport for this year.
Then again, there’s an exercise that you can do at your desk that can work wonders for men, especially as they get older. A recent issue of the Harvard Health Blog praises the kegel exercise, a pelvic stretch that people usually associate with women.
The article quotes Harvard affiliated physiotherapist Celia Brunette as saying “Men can also have issues with these muscles, which can cause urinary leakage, bowel issues, and even erection problems.”
She also notes that a sedentary lifestyle, like sitting at a computer all day, is a recipe for tight pelvic floor muscles.
Pelvic floor exercise was popularized by American gynecologist Dr. Arnold Kegel, to help women restore sexual and urinary function after childbirth. In a Journal of Urology article, Dr. Andrew L. Siegel argues that men are missing out on the benefits of this exercise, possibly because they only consult their urologist when something is wrong, while women get more regular care for their nether regions.
Male pelvic floor exercising has been reported to be of value in combating premature ejaculation, and for other things that I’ll leave to your imagination, except to note that Siegel describes one of the pelvic floor muscles, the ischiocavernosus, as allowing a more “skyward” angling erection.
So how do you do a kegel? Just imagine you’re trying to stop the flow of urine, or hold back a noxious bit of flatulence. Kegel 101 is best done with a full bladder. Just try to stop the stream halfway through, and hold that pose for five seconds or so.
Once you have located the right muscles, you can do this standing in line for the bus, lying in bed, even while sitting in those boring meetings. Just remember not to hold your breath, and do think about any facial clues you might be emitting. If you are having trouble visualizing the kegel, just wander over to YouTube where there are ample demonstrations.
Like all exercise programs, you should check with your doctor before starting pelvic floor workouts. There are specific considerations after things like prostate surgery.
A set of 10 reps, three times a day, is the recommended routine. Work up to holding it for ten seconds, and for variety maybe play a happy tune on the back of the urinal. And you were wondering what the guy next to you was up to. Now you know.