This week a client asked a great question: Do men have kegels and can they exercise them?

Men do have kegels–pelvic floor muscles–and they can exercise them. We tend to put more importance on women doing kegels because they have children and often want and need to strengthen the muscles after giving birth.

However, kegel exercises can be just as important for men since generally speaking the kegel does much of the same work whether in men or women. The kegel muscles help support the pelvis; kegel exercises are believed to reduce incontinence; and there is support that they help increase sexual pleasure for both men and women, potentially providing men with more control over their orgasm.

Men sometimes have more trouble finding their kegel, but it can be difficult for everyone. My first suggestion is always to stop the flow of urine when you are going to the bathroom. The muscles you engage are your kegel muscles. For men who are still having trouble finding the muscles think, “Turn your head and cough.” To exercise the kegel you engage the muscle and release it, holding for various amounts of time. You do not have to engage all the way. Ideally, you want to contract the kegel muscle at a level you can keep it contracted all day long, but you will probably need to build up to that.