Pelvic floor training for people with a penis
A strong pelvic floor has many benefits for all bodies, yet few people associate pelvic floor exercises with people with penises. But a strong pelvic floor can lead to stronger orgasms and better erections, amongst other things, so there are many good reasons to start exercising. You can read more about how to get started in our guide here.
Why should you exercise your pelvic floor?
Few people with penises know that the muscles at the bottom of the pelvis are called the pelvic floor, and that it's a fascinating collection of muscles that behave a bit like the muscles in your face.
It could be the most lovingly treated muscle group in our bodies, but it's mostly shrouded in guilt and shame and barely talked about in the context of people with penises.
The pelvic floor helps pump fluids around the abdomen and into the penis during an erection. The pelvic floor has to keep the blood in the penis for an erection to continue, and ejaculation and orgasm are actually contractions of that very pelvic floor. Pelvic floor training for most has mostly been about training the pelvic floor by tightening it as hard as possible, but that's not at all how you best interact with your pelvic floor. The idea is based on how that part of the abdomen was understood, or rather misunderstood, in the 1940s.
The pelvic floor is embedded in connective tissue, nerves and blood vessels. Therefore, its free movement is essential for us to feel lust and achieve a curious and nuanced sexual pleasure. To aid erection, it must be flexible. To avoid ejaculation happening by the initial stimulation, the pelvic floor must be comfortable both being tightened and relaxed.
Feel your pelvic floor. Sense how it moves in tact with your breathing and your emotions. Learn how to let it gently tense up as you breathe and how to relax it when you sigh.
As you open up to the nerve signals coming from it, the pelvic floor will become your best friend, telling you when you're stressed and being able to change the way you feel pleasure and lust. You can play with it when you masturbate and use the interaction to avoid being caught off guard by ejaculation or fearing about whether an erection will happen at all.
How to find your pelvic floor
The pelvic floor is on the inside, but when you properly tense up the muscles, you can also feel it using your fingers on the outside. If you place two fingers between your anus and your genitals, i.e. on your perineum, the area should tense up when you contract the muscles.
When you use a pelvic floor exerciser like Empelvic, it's a lot easier to sense when you're tightening properly. The cushion has small knobs that gently press on your crotch when you sit down. When you work on your breathing, you will feel the knobs pressing when you tense up and relax, making pelvic floor training extremely easy.
The cushion even comes in specific versions for people with vulvas or people with penises, so everyone can be sure they're getting the most optimal workout.
You can learn much more about Empelvic and the Empelvic method on their YouTube page here.
You can also read more about how to train your pelvic floor in our guide here.
