Humans are hardwired for survival and reproduction. By making the reproductive process pleasurable, nature’s forces attempt to ensure the greatest likelihood of reproduction. Nature also wants it to happen quickly. Any effort to delay ejaculation for longer lasting sex is fighting what nature seemingly intended. Enter the pelvic muscles - the little unknown allies of every male. These muscles, when strengthened and engaged, enable men to enjoy more rigid erections, but also assist in prolonging the sexual experience. These muscles are essential in our fight against Mother Nature.

THE BRILLIANT AND DEVIOUS DESIGN OF THE PENIS

The human penis has a brilliant and devious design. It has the ability to provide great pleasure for its user. Its interaction with the human brain ensures that men will want to use it frequently. The penis is also engineered for penetration. It’s hardwired to go up quickly and to come down fast. The release of DNA is one of the primary purposes of the penis, and it appears nature wants ejaculation to happen rapidly. This is a very clever bait and switch scheme. In the seeming pursuit of a feel-good activity, we’ve been hoodwinked into releasing DNA.

Many mammals, including the gorilla and chimpanzee, have a penis with a very different design. They have a bone in the penis called the baculum, which functions to keep the penis hard enough for penetration and injection of DNA. The human male, however, has no such bone. While we can debate whether or not this is a good thing, it certainly helps to keep the penis hidden during the workday.

CREATING A “BONE” WHERE ONE DOESN’T EXIST

So how do you create bone-like rigidity in a boneless organ? The answer lies in hydraulics and the regulation of blood flow to the penis. Blood rushes into the penis and needs to be prevented from leaving. An erection demands that the arteries of the penis function as high-pressure faucets and the penile veins to close off completely. The penis is a marvel of engineering, capable of increasing its blood flow by a factor of 40-50 times over baseline. This surge happens within seconds and is accomplished by relaxation of the smooth muscle within the arteries supplying the erection chambers and within the erectile sinuses of the erectile chambers. This is not the case of non-genital organs, in which blood flow can be increased upon demand - for example, to our muscles when exercising - but not anywhere to this extent.

THE IMPORTANT ROLE OF THE PELVIC MUSCLES

How does the penis go from swollen - and filled with blood - to rock-hard rigid? This is where the pelvic muscles play a critical role. The penis is made up of erectile chambers that fill with blood. These chambers contain sinus like tissue that pinch off the veins and help trap blood in the penis. Enter the pelvic muscles. These critical muscles are responsible for dramatically increasing the blood pressure within the penis. When engaged, they create a “muscular tourniquet” that not only chokes off the exit of blood, but with each squeeze of this specialized muscle, causes a surge of blood with increased filling of the erectile chambers. The end result is a rock hard erection. Typically, these muscles engage without your even knowing it.

By increasing the strength, tone, power, and endurance of the pelvic muscles through exercise, you are better able control this function, providing you with a much more rigid erection. This becomes even more important as you age, since these muscles get weaker over time - often resulting in far less rigid erections. Moreover, the pelvic muscles assist in delaying ejaculation. Weak pelvic floor muscles can impair the ability to delay ejaculation and voluntary contraction of the pelvic floor muscles can help control ejaculation. When flexed, the pelvic muscles assist in short-circuiting premature ejaculation.

MAINTAINING & STRENGTHENING YOUR PELVIC MUSCLES

So, take good care of your pelvic floor muscles, and they will take care of you. Your pelvic muscles are your allies in fighting nature’s brilliant and devious design of the penis. Learn more about how you can strengthen and maintain these critical muscles at www.privategym.com.

Andrew Siegel, M.D., Urologist, Co-founder of The Private Gym, and author of the highly acclaimed book, Male Pelvic Fitness, Optimizing Your Sexual and Urinary Health.