Pelvic Floor Exercises for Men

by Hannah McDuffie, PT

Pelvic floor exercise and therapy is often marketed towards females, but the truth is that everyone has a pelvic floor! Therefore, anyone can be affected by pelvic floor muscle dysfunction, regardless of sex or gender, and everyone should pay attention to them. Continue reading to learn specific exercises that will help promote a healthy and happy pelvic floor (and spoiler alert, it’s not just kegels!)

1. What is the Pelvic Floor?

2. Pelvic Floor Exercises for Men: Relaxation

3. Pelvic Floor Exercises for Men: Strengthening

4. Exercises to Improve Posture

5. Conclusion

What is the Pelvic Floor?

Before diving into the exercises, let’s talk about the pelvic floor. The pelvic floor is a group of muscles at the base of your pelvis. If you imagine your pelvis as a bowl, the pelvic floor muscles make up the bottom of the bowl. These muscles are important for bladder and bowel control, sexual function, organ support, and postural stability. In fact, the pelvic floor is often an overlooked muscle group when it comes to your ‘core’. They work as a unit with your abdominal muscles and diaphragm to control posture and manage intra-abdominal pressure. 

Just like any other muscle in the body, the pelvic floor can become tight, weak, or sometimes both. This can lead to a muscle dysfunction that may cause some of the following symptoms:

• Pain in the pelvis, hips, lower back, or genitals 

• Bladder urgency/frequency

• Difficulty urinating

• Bladder incontinence

• Constipation

• Erectile dysfunction

• Painful ejaculation

Pelvic Floor Exercises for Men: Relaxation

A lot of folks who come in for pelvic floor therapy end up presenting with pelvic floor tightness. This can be due to a whole host of reasons such as having a desk job and being a little bit more sedentary than preferred, excessive bladder holding, ongoing constipation, breath holding, or chronic stress. If any of these qualities sound familiar, the first thing to do is take a deep breath. Literally, take a deep breath! Softly inhale through your nose, and gently exhale through an open mouth. Try to think about a balloon filling with air inside your abdomen as you breathe in, which should expand through your belly, ribs, and even down into the pelvic floor. This is called diaphragmatic breathing, or sometimes referred to as 360 degree breathing. This is truly the foundation to pelvic floor function, because remember - the pelvic floor works alongside other muscles in your body, including the diaphragm. 

It can be very therapeutic and relaxing for the pelvic floor to pair deep breathing with hip openers. Here are some examples that you can hold anywhere from 30 seconds to 2 minutes (and don’t forget to breathe!):

1. Supine groin stretch: Laying on your back with your knees bent, bring the soles of your feet to touch and allow your legs to fall open.

2. Figure 4 stretch: Either sitting or lying down, cross one ankle over the opposite knee. You should feel a stretch in the glute of the crossed leg.

3. Happy baby: This one is kind of like a squat but laying down. Bring your knees towards your chest but keep them separated, and reach on the inside of your legs for either your shins, ankles, or feet (this will depend on your flexibility). 

4. Child’s pose: Start on all fours, with your knees wide and feet touching, then sit your hips back towards your heels. Reach your arms long in front of you. This one doubles as a shoulder stretch.

5. Deep squat against wall: Lean against a wall with your feet about a foot away from the wall, then sink your hips as low as they can go, optimally below your knees. This should feel relaxed, so if it feels like an active squat then grab something to sit on which will allow your legs to remain passive in the stretch.

When performing these stretches and aiming to relax, remember that sometimes less is more. The pelvic floor can be sensitive, so we’re not looking for the most intense stretch you’ve ever felt. It should feel moderate at most and you should be able to talk through the stretch.

Another great way to relax the pelvic floor is to improve soft tissue mobility surrounding the pelvis. Enter, foam roller. Foam rolling the quads, IT band (that pesky band running down the side of your leg), inner thigh muscles, and even up into the upper/mid back are all great ways to improve flexibility and mobility through the trunk and hips, which in turn can help relax the pelvic floor.

Pelvic Floor Exercises for Men: Strengthening

As mentioned already, the pelvic floor works as a unit to help with posture control, stability, and pressure management. So in truth, it’s not enough to just do kegels and call it a day. There is a time and a place for kegels, such as after a prostatectomy which often results in pelvic floor weakness. If this is something you either have scheduled or have already undergone, it is recommended to seek out individualized pelvic floor therapy (something we offer at Wellest). 

The pelvic floor will primarily gain or maintain strength through resistance training (i.e. weightlifting). If this is already something in your routine, that’s great! You are likely strengthening your pelvic floor without even realizing it. But remember that breathing you learned in the last section? That plays a large role in how your pelvic floor will be impacted by your weight lifting routine. Try not to hold your breath through lifting, as this can contribute to added pressure into the pelvis and may lead to pelvic floor tightness if repeated. There are some exceptions such as olympic weight lifting or when performing 1 rep maxes. But for your ordinary resistance training, don’t hold your breath. A good rule of thumb to remember is to exhale with the effort. 

Below is a list of exercises that will contribute to pelvic floor strength. These can be performed with dumbbells, barbells, kettlebells, or even bodyweight if you’re just getting started with resistance training.

1. Squats

2. Deadlifts, single leg deadlifts

3. Hip thrusts 

4. Bridges, or single leg bridges

5. Split squats

6. Reverse or walking lunges

7. Side lunges

8. Planks, side planks, bear planks 

Exercises to Improve Posture

The pelvic floor is heavily impacted by the postures we assume day to day. And anyone who spends a decent amount of time sitting for work, commuting, or playing video games could introduce some more postural exercises. Your pelvic floor, and spine, will thank you. 

1. Cat cow: Start on all fours in a tabletop position. On an inhale, drop your belly and lift your gaze, creating an arch in your back. On an exhale, round your spine towards the ceiling while tucking your tailbone and chin. Repeat 5-10 times.

2. Open books: Lie on your side in a fetal position with your arms extending straight in front of your chest. As you inhale, open your top arm towards the ceiling and rotate through your spine, looking at your hand as you open. Exhale as you stretch further into the rotation. Repeat 5-10 times on each side.

3. Pec stretch/chest opener: Grab your foam roller and place it on a yoga mat vertically. Sit on one end of the foam roller and then lay all the way back so that the foam roller is directly in line with your spine. Open your arms out to the side in a T position and take several deep breaths

Conclusion

The pelvic floor plays a major role in many important functions. Just by reading this blog post, you probably know more about the pelvic floor than most people. So to me, that’s a win! It’s in everyone’s best interest to pay attention to their pelvic floor, to help prevent the onset of bladder, bowel, or sexual dysfunction, or the development of chronic pelvic pain. At Wellest, we specialize in pelvic floor therapy to help individuals who are experiencing pelvic floor symptoms impacting their quality of life. We are passionate about helping people return to the activities they love. You don’t have to wait until symptoms are present to address your pelvic health. Book an evaluation today to start your journey.

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