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Education Exercise

Do Men Have Pelvic Floor Muscles?

Do Men Have Pelvic Floor Muscles?

Why yes they do! Who would have thought men have pelvic floor muscles. They have similar roles to that in women but with the anatomy being different it adds another level of complexity.

Pelvic floor health is important for men’s overall health and well-being just as it is for women, however, it is often overlooked or not discussed. This is something we want to change, bring to the surface and make it a comfortable topic for men to discuss. To provide help to the thousands of men who are suffering and give them a solution from the comfort of their home.

The pelvic floor muscles play a vital role in many functions, including controlling the bladder and bowel, supporting the abdominal and pelvic organs, and contributing to sexual function. Eg erectile dysfunction, orgasm intensity.

An estimated 30% of men visiting the doctor in Australia have urinary incontinence yet more than two thirds don’t discuss it with their health care provider. What’s more frustrating is it’s a treatable condition. The first treatment option recommend is pelvic floor strengthening and control exercises.

Do men have pelvic floor muscles? It’s still a question I get asked often from both men and women. I am just as surprised they ask it, as they are surprised to learn that yes men do have pelvic floor muscles and here are some ways you can get your muscles working for you to improve your pelvic floor health.

Maintaining your pelvic floor health:
  • Strengthen your pelvic floor muscles: The pelvic floor muscles can be weakened or switched off by a variety of factors, including age, obesity, and certain medical conditions. Strengthening the pelvic floor muscles can help improve bladder and bowel control, and may also improve sexual function. A program like ours here at Perfect Pelvic Floor goes through the statges of teaching you how to find your pelvic floor using the 3 different actions to engage it. Strengthening your muscles with a daily program and learning control of your muscles through functional exercises. (See our Men’s Program)

  • Maintain a healthy weight: Being overweight or obese can put additional pressure on the pelvic floor muscles, leading to problems such as incontinence. Maintaining a healthy weight through a balanced diet and regular physical activity can help reduce the risk of pelvic floor issues.

  • Avoid constipation: Constipation can put unnecessary strain on the pelvic floor muscles. To avoid constipation, it is important to eat a high-fibre diet, stay hydrated, and participate in regular exercise.

  • Improving sexual function: The pelvic floor muscles play a role in sexual function and performance, and strengthening these muscles can lead to improved sexual function in men. Who wouldn’t want that!

  • Avoid heavy lifting without proper technique and core activation. Lifting heavy objects can put extra strain on the pelvic floor muscles, leading to weakness and other problems. Ensure you know how to activate your pelvis floor muscles – get started on our (Willie Wiggles)

Detailed view of the male pelvic cavity from a side view.
Prostate and the Pelvic Floor Muscles

The prostate is a small gland sitting below the bladder in men and is roughly the size of a walnut. It is not uncommon for it to grow in size as men age. It surrounds the urethra which is the tract that transports your urine and semen out of your body. 

Sometimes with an enlarged prostate, or having prostate cancer treatment you can have difficulty urinating.

The prostate also helps to regulate your urine flow. As men haven’t really had to rely on their pelvic floor muscles as their first line of defence against urinary incontinence, it’s not uncommon for them to have difficulties activating the pelvic floor muscles. Typically I see men bracing all of their abdominal muscles and buttock muscles instead of their pelvic floor muscles initially. 

Unsure where to start?

 

Men are also less likely to see a health professional about urinary incontinence hence I wanted to give them an opportunity to improve their symptoms from home with our Men’s Pelvic Floor Exercise Program app.

Here are some of our starter exercises you will find in our Men’s Pelvic Floor Exercise Program.

Pelvic Floor Exercises:
  • Willie Wiggles – The easies & simplest way to start activating your pelvic floor muscles by thinking about your “Nuts to Your Guts”. Get our Free Guide below.

  • Stopping your fart – This is a very basic version to get your muscles activated. The pelvic floor muscles are more intricate than this which is explained in our men’s exercise guide which you receive with out program. However this is a good one to start with for men who can imagine what this would feel like. 

  • Breathing – start activation your diaphragm. Most men tend to clench their whole abdomen when they are trying to do different exercises. This exercise gets you to breathe deeply into the base of your lungs slowly and exhale slowly. Your diaphragm has a big relationship with your pelvic floor muscles in maintaining pressure in your abdominal cavity.

If you loved these but need a little more guidance we have instructional videos in our App. Simple, effective and easy to follow. Grab your free trial today.

Categories
Education Exercise

Vagina Winks

The Vagina Winks - a Real Girl's New Diamond

You’re probably still questioning what in the world is a vagina wink? You’re not alone there.

Some might say Vagina Winks are just Kegels. I say they are way more than that. They are the new girl’s best friend. 

Let me explain…

When we’re trying to teach someone how to connect to their pelvic floor muscles and get them activated we use different cues to help you visualise what’s going on. This in turn helps you connect to your own pelvic floor muscles.

Vagina Winks as a term started from one of these sessions with a client of mine. She was struggling to connect to her pelvic floor muscles and I was going through the list of cues that I use at times and just said you know “like your vagina is winking”. And she got it. After a lot of laughing from us both. And now I use it all the time. I love it even more because it makes people smile or laugh and we could all do with a little more of that in life.

Do you want to stop your leakage, learn how to activate and control your pelvic floor muscles and have the best sex ever? Then you’re in the right place…

Vagina winks are also the start of our functional pelvic floor programs. It is the easiest exercise to start with to get your brain connecting to your muscles. Fast pulses of your muscles to get them activated to your 100% and to relax them 100%. Don’t worry so much about the breathing with vagina winks – because they are fast just let your breath rise and fall naturally.

Grab the Do you need Vagina Winks Guide to see if they are the missing link for you!

Because we’re using the word vagina it helps stop women from just clenching their buttocks to get their pelvic floor muscles working. That’s not an effective pelvic floor strategy. Vagina winks allow you to visualise what’s going on which impacts your brain and muscle connection the most. 

So how do they help with sex? Well you might also feel a little aroused after doing these exercises. That’s very normal and using the pelvic floor muscles like this in a fast acting pulse you are sending blood flow to your clitoris to enhance your arousal levels. This is another reason why I like giving this exercise to women who are having pain or trouble with sex. To enhance arousal but also to teach them how to relax their muscles in preparation for sex.

So why did I call them Vagina Winks? 

Well I like a little fun in life and I wanted something that you would remember. Everyone is over doing their “kegels” at traffic lights and not getting results. Vagina winks are effective, easy and quick especially when you do them as part of our functional pelvic floor programs. 

If you’re struggling to get the connection between your brain and your muscles here are some other cues I use to help women:

  • Pursing your lips

  • Curling your toes

  • Imagining a straw is inserted in your vagina and you’re holding onto it and pulling it inside

  • Holding onto a tampon

  • Feeling like you’re stopping yourself urinating. (Don’t practice with actually stopping your urine just the feeling of it)

  • Putting a hand on top of your vagina to get the feel of your front passage

  • Stopping a fart from coming out – use this one after you have got the initial front passage feeling first etc.

Vagina winks are super easy, simple, and they take no time at all.

If you’ve been struggling to activate your pelvic floor muscles or just want an easy fun exercise grab our Vagina Winks Guide and check out our Vagina Winks Express Course.

P.s There’s also something for the men in your life but obviously it won’t be their vagina that’s winking…  Read More

Vagina Winks

Find out why our Vagina Winks are the first step to stopping your leakage and having better sex!

vagina winks woman

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