Exercises are very necessary for making muscles strong and retain their flexibility for longer duration. In this tough phase where there is less time to walk and for physical activities, it becomes essential to take some time out for exercising. Different types of exercises help different body functions and muscles. Kegel exercises are basically those exercises that focus on your pelvic gland and muscles around it. This type of exercises makes the pelvic floor strong and is better for your reproductive health. Today we will learn about how Kegel exercises are beneficial for men for their reproductive health.
Kegel Exercises for Men
Some people misunderstand Kegel exercises to be only meant for women. However this is not true, these exercises are as useful to men as they are for women. It targets the area between your hips and holds your reproductive organs effectively. Since pelvic floor is based on different tissues and muscles that form a sling, one exercise is not sufficient to target the whole pelvic area. Irregular bowel movements and inability to control them can also be treated with the help of kegel exercises.
What Are Benefits of Kegel Exercises?
There are many factors that can affect your pelvic floor muscles especially as you get older. It can be due to removal of prostate or diabetes etc. A major benefit is that these exercises can be done by any age group until he has some injuries of issues. Other benefits are-
- It can be done at any point of time in the day
- It can be beneficial if you have urinary or fecal incontinence
- Dribble after urination
- Makes pelvic muscles stronger
- Reflexes muscles and reduce risk of muscles problems
3 Kegel Exercises for Men’s Reproductive Health
1. Kegels
Pelvic muscles training are also known as kegels. This exercise focuses on your pelvic floor muscles and makes you have control over your pelvis gland. Kegels can be used to improve conditions like urine leakage during coughing, sneezing, laughing or jumping.
To do this exercise-
- Indentify the muscles first. You can do it by stop urinating midstream and check where it is affecting your pelvic floor muscles.
- Now sit with thighs on top of your calf muscles and hold this position for 5 seconds
- Then release these muscles for another 5 seconds
- Now repeat this exercise 10 times.
2. Squats
Squats engage the largest portion of pelvic muscles and are very beneficial to improve muscle strength. However in the kegel exercise, the necessary part is not to do it several times, but to put resistance on your pelvic portion to alleviate your performance, movement and endurance level. This helps to strengthen the pelvic floor and works on glutes, hamstrings and quadriceps as well.
To do this exercise-
- Stand in upright position with your feet slightly wider than your shoulder width.
- Now point out your toes and take a barbell if you can handle extra weight
- Bend your knees and push your hips back
- Keep your chin tucked and neck neutral
- Bend down gradually until your thighs are parallel to the ground
- Keep weight on your heels and bow slightly forward
- As you feel pressure getting exerted on your pelvic muscles, hold that position for 2-3 seconds
- Then straighten your legs and move back to original position.
- Repeat it 12 times more.
3. Hip Bridge
Hip bridge is also a great kegel exercise that focuses of glutes, hamstrings and pelvic floor. It can improve your reproductive health by increasing the production of hormones responsible for sexual purposes. If it is done correctly, then it can activate pelvic floor muscles and help you with enhanced health. You can feel improvement while doing this exercise.
To do this exercise-
- Lie on the floor with your spine straight against the ground
- Now bend your knees at around 90 degree angle
- Keep the feet flat and arms straight with palms facing down
- Inhale and push your pelvic floor along with your hips and thighs above the ground. Sqeeze your glutes, hamstrings and pelvic floor to target pressure on muscles
- Your upper body should be resting on your shoulders and then lay straight down on the knees.
- Pause in the posture for around 2 seconds and then bring down your pelvic floor
- Do this exercise 2 times in a day with 10-12 reps in each set. Do it in continuation for more efficiency.
Conclusion
Kegel exercises are widely known for improvement of pelvic muscles in women. However it can be equally beneficial for men’s health as well. These exercises can be done by almost all age groups except for people having injuries or internal problems. Kegel exercise are beneficial for reproductive health in men, these exercises can be done at any point of time in the day. You need to find out where you need to put pressure on your pelvic gland for effectiveness of the exercise. There are main 3 exercises that can be useful for men’s health especially. Other exercises can also be practised with help of a physiotherapist for older adults.
