WHERE are your pelvic floor muscles?

Your pelvic floor muscles lie inside the pelvis.  The deeper layer of muscle sits directly underneath the prostate and helps maintain your urinary continence.

The more superficial layer you can feel at the base of your testes and it helps with maintaining an erection and pushing out the last few drops in the urine tube.

Try to feel for this muscle now – use your index and middle finger and place them at the base of your testes and imagine trying to:

1. Squeeze those last few drops of urine out
2. Lift the base of the penis or
3. Lift your testes to your stomach – you should feel the muscle tightening

WHAT do my pelvic floor muscles do?

1. Stop you from leaking urine, stool or wind

Holds urine in by closing the urine tube (urethra), holds stool or wind in

2. Maintain normal sexual function

Your pelvic floor muscles help pump blood into the erectile tissue of the penis then they help by holding the blood in the inflatable sinuses on either side of the penis. So optimizing pelvic floor function can assist with both the strength of the erection and maintaining it strong.

HOW do I activate my pelvic floor muscles?

Below are a few cues to help you activate the different parts of your pelvic floor muscles:

Back passage: Helps hold in wind and controls stool. Imagine you are holding wind in or squeeze around your back passage pull up and in

Middle passage: Helps remove the last few drops of urine in the 20cm long tube and strengthens the muscles that may prevent blood leakage from an erect penis. Imagine you are lifting your testes towards your stomach

Front part: Controls emptying of the bladder and stops leakage. Imagine you are holding urine in or retracting the base of your penis inside your stomach or Imagine your penis is like a telescope that can fold back inside itself.

HOW MANY should I be able to do?

3 sets of 10 repetitions of 10 second holds in standing
Build up slowly and be patient like any muscle training it is progressive

HOW OFTEN

Daily or train yourself to turn them on whenever you lift –
In this way you are doing them functionally throughout every day.

Pelvic floor safe exercises?

For men there is negligible risk to the pelvic floor muscles whilst exercising however maintaining cardiovascular health is your greatest protector for optimal sexual health, prostate health and mental health.

Pelvic Floor Dysfunction?

Weak Pelvic Floor Muscles

Less common in men and may lead to bladder or bowel leakage, inability to hold wind or decreased erectile rigidity (tumescence).

Overactive Pelvic Floor Muscles

Possible Signs and symptoms of an overactive pelvic floor:

• Incomplete emptying of bladder or bowel – due pelvic floor restricting flow.
• Pain with intimacy – often experienced during ejaculation or afterward.
• Pain is felt in the lower abdomen, groin, testicular and or penis.

Pelvic Health Melbourne can assist you to normalize your pelvic floor muscle function aiding you to achieve better pelvic health.

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