Most men have heard of pelvic floor exercises. Most assume they're something women do after having babies.
They're not. Men have a pelvic floor too — and keeping it strong matters more than most of us realise.
What is the pelvic floor?
It's a group of muscles sitting at the base of your pelvis, forming a kind of hammock between your pubic bone at the front and your tailbone at the back. They sit beneath your bladder and bowel, holding everything in place.
What does it actually do?
Three things mainly:
- Bladder control — the pelvic floor wraps around the urethra and squeezes shut to hold urine in. When you decide to go, it releases.
- Bowel control — same idea, different pipe.
- Erections — these muscles help maintain blood flow during an erection.
When they're weak, you might notice:
- A dribble of urine after you've finished at the toilet (post-void dribble)
- A small leak when you cough, sneeze, or lift something heavy
- A sudden urge to go that's hard to hold back
None of that is unusual. And it's not just "getting old" — weak pelvic floor muscles are something you can actually do something about.
Why do they weaken?
- Getting older (the muscles lose tone over time, like any muscle)
- Prostate surgery
- Being overweight
- A chronic cough — smoker's cough, asthma, bronchitis
- Long-term constipation and straining
- Heavy lifting over many years
How to find your pelvic floor
Before you can exercise it, you need to locate it.
- Next time you're mid-stream, try to slow or stop the flow of urine. The muscles you use are your pelvic floor. Do this once or twice to find them — don't make a habit of stopping mid-stream.
- Try tightening the muscle around your back passage, as if you're holding back wind.
- When you've got it right, you'll feel your scrotum lift slightly and a subtle drawing inward at the base of your penis. Your buttocks, thighs, and stomach should stay relaxed — if they're tensing, you've gone too far.
It's a smaller, more specific sensation than most men expect.
The exercises
Two types of contraction — slow and fast. Both matter.
Slow contractions (endurance)
Sit, stand, or lie with your knees slightly apart. Gradually tighten and lift your pelvic floor muscles. Hold for up to 10 seconds. Rest for 4 seconds. Repeat.
Start with however many you can manage — even 3 or 4 is fine at first. Build up until you can do 10 in a row, holding each for 10 seconds.
Fast contractions (quick response)
Tighten the pelvic floor quickly and firmly, hold for a second or two, then release. Repeat 8–10 times.
These train the muscles to react fast — exactly what you need when you cough, sneeze, or lift something unexpectedly.
How often?
One set of both slow and fast contractions, three times a day.
More is not better. Overdoing it can fatigue the muscles and make leakage worse. Three times a day, consistently, is what gets results. It helps to anchor the exercises to things you already do — after going to the toilet, after a meal, before bed.
How long before you notice a difference?
Be patient. You're unlikely to notice any change for several weeks. Real improvement typically takes three months or more of consistent daily exercise.
That's not discouraging — that's how muscles work. The men who stick with it are the ones who see genuine results.
One more tip: vary your position
Do the exercises sitting, standing, and lying down. The muscles behave slightly differently in each position, and mixing it up helps build more complete strength and control.
Once you've regained good control, keep doing the exercises twice a day to hold onto what you've built.
When to get help
If you've been doing the exercises consistently for three months and haven't seen improvement, it's worth talking to your GP or a physiotherapist who specialises in pelvic floor function. They can check your technique and suggest additional options.
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