Kegel pelvic floor exercises for men with erectile dysfunction

Erectile dysfunction (ED), also known as impotence, is the inability to get and maintain an erection. ED tends to be caused by conditions like heart disease and diabetes, hormonal conditions, mental health conditions as well as certain medications.

However, your pelvic floor muscles also play a role in your ability to get and maintain an erection. As a result, a study from the University of the West hypothesised that weak pelvic floor muscles could also be a cause of ED and that pelvic exercises (Kegel exercises) might help.

So, do Kegel exercises work for men? The study found they helped 40% of men with ED regain normal erectile function and an additional 33.5% significantly improve their erectile function.

So, let’s get into the ins and outs of Kegel exercises for men sexually. Let’s find out what Kegel exercises are, how to do them, how Kegel exercises can help men to last longer and when you can expect to see improvements.

What are your pelvic floor muscles?

Your pelvic floor is a sheet of muscle that stretches from your pubic bone to your tail bone (coccyx) to form the floor of your pelvis.These muscles support the organs in your pelvis, such as your bladder and bowel, while assisting with bodily functions, like peeing, pooping and sex. In people with penises, they can help you maintain an erection and prevent premature ejaculation.

Benefits of Kegel exercises for men

Kegel exercises involve tightening and releasing the muscles in your pelvic floor, including the bulbocavernosus muscle, to strengthen them.

The bulbocavernosus muscle helps your penis to fill with blood during an erection, pump during ejaculation, and empty the urethra (the tube through which pee leaves your body). However, when your pelvic floor muscles are weak, they are unable to prevent blood from flowing out of your erect penis. Strengthening them can therefore help you to achieve longer lasting and more satisfying erections.

Kegel exercises can also help:

• improve urinary incontinence
• improve faecal incontinence
• manage pain associated with an enlarged prostate

What can cause your pelvic floor muscles to weaken?

Many factors can weaken your pelvic floor muscles. These include:

• having an overactive bladder
• getting older
• being at a higher weight
• straining due to being constipated or having a cough
• having prostate surgery
• not getting enough exercise
• having a condition that can affect their nerve supply, like multiple sclerosis, stroke or diabetes
• having an injury to your perineum (the area from the base of the penis to the back passage)

How to identify your pelvic floor muscles

You need to identify what your pelvic floor muscles feel like to perform Kegel exercises correctly. To engage these muscles, try to tighten the muscles you use to stop yourself from peeing or passing gas (farting). You can also activate your pelvic floor muscles by using the muscles that pull your scrotum up toward your body.

If you’re not sure if you’re using the right muscles, you can insert a finger into your anus and squeeze as if you’re trying to hold in urine. If you feel tightness around your finger, you’re squeezing your pelvic floor muscles.

Focus on only tightening these muscles and try not to use the muscles in your stomach, thighs and buttocks at the same time. 

ED Kegel exercises for men

To perform Kegel exercises, you need to:

• tighten your pelvic floor muscles
• squeeze them for three seconds
• relax them for three seconds
• repeat

There are plenty of ways you can perform Kegel exercises:

• lying down – lie down with your knees bent, your feet flat on the floor, and your arms by your sides
• sitting down – sit with your arms at your sides and your feet flat on the floor with your knees bent and pointing upwards
• standing up – stand straight with your arms by your sides and your feet hip-width apart
• on your side – lie on your side and place a large pillow between your knees. Squeeze your legs together to activate your pelvic floor muscles

At first, you may find it easiest to do Kegel exercises lying down.

How many Kegels should you do each day?

You should aim to practice three sets of Kegels a day, with ten to 5 Kegels per set. A good way to space your sets out is to perform them in the morning, afternoon and evening. You can aim to do each set in a different position, e.g. one sitting, one standing and one lying down.

When you first start practicing Kegels, you may not be able to finish a set of ten in a row. This is fine – you just need to keep working at it. Do what you can and, each time you practice, try to increase the number you do until you can easily manage ten to 20 Kegels, three times a day.

It may take up to six months to see an improvement in your erectile function, but most people notice a difference after six to eight weeks.

Sources

1. Exercises to Eliminate Erectile Dysfunction (2023). Healthline. [Accessed 8 September 2025].
2. Erectile dysfunction | NHS inform (2024). NHS Inform. [Accessed 8 September 2025].
3. Randomised controlled trial of pelvic floor muscle exercises and manometric biofeedback for erectile dysfunction - PMC (2004). British Journal of General Practice. [Accessed 8 September 2025].
4. Pelvic floor exercises for male patients (2022). Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. [Accessed 8 September 2025].
5. Kegel Exercises: Benefits, How To & Results (2023). Cleveland Clinic. [Accessed 8 September 2025].
6. Kegel's Exercise : Males - Physiopedia Physiopedia. [Accessed 8 September 2025].
7. Erectile Dysfunction Exercises | Urology Specialists (2023). Urology Specialists. [Accessed 8 September 2025].
8. 6 exercises for erectile dysfunction (ED) (2024). MedicalNewsToday. [Accessed 8 September 2025].
9. Kegel exercises for men: Understand the benefits - Mayo Clinic (2024). Mayo Clinic. [Accessed 8 September 2025].
10. Kegels – They’re for Men, Too: 3 Exercises to Curb ED - The Urology Group (2024). The Urology Group. [Accessed 8 September 2025].