The special technique taught in this section relies on you knowing a little bit about the internal structure of your penis. It will help you understand why you are being asked to do certain things.
We are going to be concentrating on the internal muscles of the penis, in particular those intimately connected with the pleasure and function of orgasm and ejaculation called the pubococcygeus (pronounced pew-bo-kok-cye-gee-us) or ‘PC’ muscle for short.
The illustration on the next page shows the internal structure of the male genitals. You should note a sheath of muscle running from the anus forward toward, between the legs (the perineum) the root of the scrotum. This forms part of the PC muscle.
For the more scientifically minded, the PC muscle begins at the back of the pubis and from the front part of the obturator fascia, running backward horizontally along the side of the anal canal toward the coccyx and sacrum to which if finds attachment.
In between the end of the vertebral column and the anus, the two PC muscles come together and form a thick, muscular layer lying on the raphé formed by the iliococcygei.
The greater part of this muscle is inserted into the coccyx and into the last one or two pieces of the sacrum.
In plain English, what this means is that there is a sheath of muscle that runs from your anus forward in-between your legs to the base of your scrotum or balls. You may not know it’s there or have used it much, but all that is about to change.
It’s important to remember that there are no bones or muscles in the penis itself, which is made up primarily of spongy tissue that becomes engorged with blood during arousal and erection. However, two or three inches of the penis are rooted inside the body in the PC muscle.
When you want to stop urinating in mid-flow, it is this muscle you use to stop the flow of liquid through the urethra. If you want to control a bowel movement and tighten your anus, you are also tightening the PC muscle, as both are interrelated. It is also the PC muscle that rapidly and rhythmically contracts when you orgasm and ejaculate, moving the semen up through the penis and out of the body. It is these rapid, involuntary muscular contractions during orgasm that produce the unique and pleasurable sensations experienced during ejaculation.
Orgasm and Ejaculation
Understanding what happens in your body when you orgasm and ejaculate will help you understand why the exercise you will learn can be so effective in improving your sexual pleasure.
When a man has sex or is masturbating, he eventually reaches a point of maximum sexual excitement and stimulation and feels himself ‘coming’, sometimes referred to as ‘the point of no return’. This is that short period when he feels ejaculation and orgasm are inevitable and cannot be stopped.
It is then that a spinal reflex causes the rapid rhythmic contractions of the PC muscle, along with contractions of muscles in or around the anal sphincter, rectum, perineum (the area between your legs bordered by your anus at the back and your scrotum at the front), urethra and prostate gland. It is these rhythmic contractions that account for the spurting action of semen during ejaculation.
At first the intervals between muscle contractions are about 0.8 seconds, but these rapidly become longer and the contractions become slower, with the intensity of the contractions tapering off after the first three or four initial spasms.
The word ‘orgasm’ refers specifically to these sudden and rhythmic muscular contractions in the pelvic region that release accumulated sexual tension and result in an intensely pleasurable sensation. Orgasms can vary from person to person and for each individual at different times. For some it can be an explosive rush of overwhelming sensations where all inhibitions and self-control are lost.
At other times and for other people it can be a subtler and less intense experience. The varying intensities of orgasm can be due to physical factors such as fatigue, length of time between orgasms, mood, relation to your partner and the condition of the PC muscle.
Of course, orgasm is not just a pelvic event but also involves an alteration of brain wave patterns as well as the tensing of muscles in many other parts of the body. However, the chief focus of sensation for most men occurs with the intensely pleasurable contractions of the PC muscle, anal sphincter, rectum, perineum and genitals.
Much like working out your biceps can give you better definition and more upper arm strength, the PC muscle can also be exercised to improve its strength and condition.
Because the muscle is so intimately connected to the pleasure of orgasm, toning up the PC can help you not only strengthen and better define your erections but also increase the pleasurable sensations experienced when coming.
Discovering the Pubococcygeus Muscle
Your first task is to identify and locate your own PC muscle. There are several ways of doing this. Try each one and find out which is best for you. Don’t worry if you cannot feel anything with any of the techniques, this is common in men who, with little or no previous awareness of the PC muscle, have let the muscle weaken. You may need to try longer and harder to feel the muscle, but the rewards will more than repay your effort.
Firstly, when you go to the toilet, try to stop the flow of urine one or more times before your bladder is empty. If you didn’t manage it the first time, don’t give up; keep trying every time you visit the toilet. Even if you only manage to reduce the flow slightly, you are still using the PC muscle to do so. The important thing is to feel some kind of movement, however slight, inside your body.
Remember to let your bladder empty completely as normal at the end of this test. Now try repeating that feeling when you are not urinating, replicating that tightening sensation you felt in the toilet.
Another test can be performed when you next have an erection. Can you make your penis jump or twitch substantially by tensing the PC muscle?
Try tensing the anal sphincter muscle as if to stop a bowel movement. Does your penis twitch slightly when you do this?
It should do because, as we have seen, these muscles are all connected. Make sure you only tense the muscles of your rectum and not the large muscles of your bottom or the upper muscles of your legs and thighs.
A third but more invasive method could prove more effective for you. It involves gently inserting your index or middle finger just inside your anus.
First wash and then lubricate your finger liberally with a water-based lubricant such as KY Jelly and check that you do not have sharp or jagged fingernails as you could damage the delicate lining of the rectum. If necessary, clip your fingernails down before performing this test. Relax and slowly and gently insert your finger. Once your finger is inside, try tensing your anal sphincter to grip your finger.
Not only should your finger be gripped, but you should feel a pulling or tensing sensation running forward from your anus between your legs to what feels like the base of your scrotum.
Readers perform these more invasive checks at their own risk. If you don’t like the idea of inserting a finger inside yourself, put a finger or two on your perineum, the area between your legs bordered by the base of your scrotum at the front, your anus at the back and your thighs on either side.
Press down gently and try clenching your anus and see if you feel the sheath of muscle under the skin move. Again, try to keep your thigh, back and abdominal muscles relaxed. If you felt something, if only very subtly, that’s good, but if you didn’t, do not worry because you are not alone. See below for an illustration of the internal structure of the perineum.
It has been found that approximately one third of the population will be unable to contract the PC muscle voluntarily or to only a small degree. If you have never been aware of this muscle before you may not have used it voluntarily in a long time, if ever, so a greater effort is needed to locate and then manipulate it.
Remember, the stronger your PC muscle, the more enjoyable sex will ultimately be so perseverance and patience may be needed in equal degree in the early stages. Having difficulty? The following common observations may help you decide.
When you try to draw up, draw in or otherwise tense the perineum, no actual retraction occurs, instead there is a tightening of the gluteus muscles (the large muscles that make up the ‘cheeks’ of your bottom).
In an effort to close the urethra while urinating, only a slight twitching is observed and the urine either slows down slightly or does not stop at all.
When contracting the anus as if to stop a bowel movement, the action is limited to a puckering of the anus, and no retraction, or drawing up of the anus is felt.
Do not worry if any of the above apply to you, it just indicates that your PC muscle is quite weak but will still respond, just like any other muscle, to the application of exercise.
The Exercises
No matter what method you use to identify your PC muscle, the key to success is learning how to repeat that tightening sensation again and again in order to tone and strengthen the muscle.
Remember that you can perform these exercises at any time and anywhere because they are very discreet and involve no visible movement on the outside of your body.
So now you can put all those times you are sitting in the car, bus, train or plane, on the telephone or sitting in front of the television or computer to good use.
Also realize that, as with any exercise program, results will not be immediate, just as bigger biceps don’t appear the first time you visit the gym. As a rough guide; allow at least six weeks or more of consistent application of the exercises before you notice any significant improvement.
If you are very keen to improve your sex life and perform the exercises more frequently and with greater vigor, you could see improvements in a shorter time period.
The exercises are simple and easy to do. They can be done in the privacy of your own home and learning them only takes a few minutes. You will need little or no medical help or follow up, unless you wish to involve your doctor. You will know whether they work by the results you get.
The exercises may be difficult to perform at first but that is to be expected. As the weeks pass you will find you can perform them more easily and for longer than before and the tightening sensation will become progressively more apparent as the muscle gains in strength.
There are many different training methods suggested from many different sources. The key is to find a regime that you feel comfortable with. In the beginning you don’t want to over-do things so begin slowly. There are no set rules or regulations to follow and what follows is merely a guideline.
You could start with quick or short Kegel squeezes. As the muscle may be relatively weak, holding it in tension for too long will be difficult at first, so try to contract the muscle 20 times, using your breath as a pacing guide. Tense and breathe in on the count of one, relax and breathe out on the count of two, tense on three, relax on four etc. until you count to 40.
Breathe normally and squeeze as hard as you can. You may find that a tightening of the muscles in the stomach and thighs happens no matter what you do at first.
This is common. But after the first few days or weeks, when you’ve completely isolated the muscle, these extra contractions should be hardly noticeable. Learn to relax between contractions. Without this relaxation the muscles will not grow as quickly. Relaxation is as important to your control as are the contractions.
If you learn how to relax these muscles during sexual intercourse, you can last much longer. It can sometimes help to use your imagination when exercising.
The power of visualization to increase physical performance has been used for decades by top athletes and sportsmen. The great body-builder-turned-actor Arnold Schwarzenegger worked out using precise mental images to guide the growth of his muscles. If it’s good enough for him, it’s good enough for you!
Try to see your PC muscle as a thick, wide rubber band running between your legs. When you squeeze, see the rubber band tightening and stretching. When you relax, see the band become loose again. As the weeks go by try to see the rubber band progressively getting bigger, thicker and stronger.
The 20 squeezes count as one session. Perform one session once a day for the first two or three weeks. Do not try to rush ahead. The key is to slowly gain confidence that you can control the muscle and gradually increase the frequency of your exercise to build up the PC muscle’s strength.
After two or three weeks doing one session a day and if you feel ready for it, aim to perform two sessions of 20 squeezes per day for the next three or four weeks.
After you’ve mastered performing 40 (two sessions of 20) strong, short squeezes per day and the PC muscle begins to respond to exercise, the tensing and relaxing should become less of an effort. Now is the time to gradually build up the tensing to 75 (a count of 150) twice a day, again using your breathing as a timing guide.
As before, do this for three or four weeks. When you can comfortably do 75 quick Kegel contractions twice a day, it is time to build on your progress and more sand add sustained or long Kegel movements.
Long Kegel squeezes are equally simple. Instead of holding the muscle contraction for a count of one breath, hold it for a count of three to five seconds. Breathe normally but don’t tie your breath to the squeezing this time.
Your training sessions are exactly the same as before, except you are holding the squeeze for longer this time. As before, start with one 20 count long squeeze session per day for two or three weeks, graduating to two sessions of 20 long squeezes per day for another two or more weeks. When this has become relatively easy, step up your again training to 75 long squeezes each session twice a day. The important thing is to take your time and go at a pace that is comfortable for you, without straining. The PC muscle is just like any other muscle and can become sore if you overdo it.
After several months of fairly intense training you should have developed your PC muscle to a high level of fitness and be experiencing the sexual benefits it brings. Don’t worry if you haven’t been able to rigidly stick to this training program, we all have busy lives and sometimes other ‘stuff’ sometimes just gets in the way.
The main thing is to at least do something as often as you can because any exercise is better than no exercise at all. The mind-blowing results will take longer to manifest themselves but it’s only a matter of time before they do if you stick with it.
Let’s say you’ve been good and stuck to the suggested training program. It’s a few months down the line and you’re experiencing the best orgasms you’ve ever had. As with any other muscle, the PC has it’s limits. You can’t go on strengthening it indefinitely once it’s reached it optimum condition.
Now you can cut back on the routine a little but keep the muscle in top condition with daily maintenance training. A maintenance regime of 150 strong, committed five second squeezes per day should be plenty but if you feel you want to do more that’s fine.
You can either perform them in a time you have set aside for the purpose or simply do the odd squeeze throughout the day, when it occurs to you to do so. You can perform maintenance training anywhere whilst you are going about your daily business.
Stick to this training regime and your PC muscle will grown in strength from week to week, as will the intensity of pleasure you experience when you orgasm.
Of course, all this advice on how to improve the quality and intensity of your orgasms is a bit pointless if you are having either getting an erection or feeling sexy enough to do it in the first place.
Lack of libido or the ability to achieve an erection are many and varied, so in this next section we take a look at the possible causes of erectile dysfunction and lack of sexual desire and show you how to naturally regain your desire and erectile function without having to resort to that famous little blue pill.