The Continence Advisory Service
Fartown Health Centre
Spaines Road
Huddersfield
HD2 2QA
Tele: 01484 415515
Pelvic Floor
Exercises for Men
Locala Community Partnerships
Freepost plus RSTJ-EYJA-UCTB
Beckside Court, Bradford Road, Batley WF17 5PW
Customer Liaison: 01924 351531
www.locala.org.uk
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Pelvic Floor Muscle Exercises for Men
Helpful Addresses and links :
Did you know ?
Bladder & Bowel Foundation
There are different reasons for urinary problems in men such as;




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treatments for prostate cancer and an enlarged prostate
obesity
smoking
constipation
heavy lifting
The aim of this leaflet is to provide


Information about pelvic floor muscles
Advice about how to perform pelvic floor muscle exercises
effectively
SATRA Innovation Park
Rockingham Road
Kettering
Northants NN16 9JH
Telephone 01536 533255
www.bladder&bowelfoundation.org
PROMOCON 2001
Promoting Continence and Product Awareness
Redbank House St Chad’s Street
Cheetham
Manchester
Helpline 0161 834 2001
www.promocon2001.co.uk
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comment visit;
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How often should I do these exercises?
Information about pelvic floor muscles
The routine of slow and fast exercises should be repeated 4 times a
day.
Try and tie them into your daily routine. Some people do the
exercises when they are in the bathroom.
Try and practice the tightening movement when you feel that you
are at risk of leaking such as when getting up from a chair or when
coughing or sneezing.
The sensation of urgency to pass urine can be reduced by
tightening the pelvic floor muscles.
Other helpful tips

Pelvic floor muscles support the bladder and bowel.
The muscles can become weak e.g. after surgery.

This can lead to problems such as difficulty controlling
when you pass urine or leakage when coughing and
sneezing (stress incontinence)
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Watch your weight and level of fitness. Any extra weight puts
pressure on your pelvic floor.

Avoid constipation and eat a healthy diet. Straining to empty
your bowel can put pressure and overload on your pelvic
floor.

The urethra (bladder outlet) and the rectum (bowel
outlet) pass through the pelvic floor muscles.

Stop smoking and seek advice if you have problems with a
chronic cough caused by bronchitis or hay fever
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Avoid heavy lifting
The pelvic floor muscles play a vital role in bladder
and bowel control. Strengthening these muscles
should help to give you more control when you pass
urine.
How do I do Pelvic Floor Muscle Exercises
The Exercises
Now that you have found the correct muscles and understand
what it feels like to tighten them you can start practicing pelvic
floor exercises.
Locala’s continence service clinical staff are specially trained in
assessing pelvic floor muscles and can teach you how to perform
the exercises correctly.
It’s important to concentrate and focus as you do them. The
muscle will not strengthen if you do not work it properly.
These exercises need to become part of your daily routine.
Don’t be disheartened if progress seems slow. It may take 3
months before you notice any improvement in your symptoms.
First identify the correct muscle;
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
Sit or lie comfortably with the muscles of your thighs and
abdomen relaxed.
Imagine you are trying to stop yourself breaking wind by
tightening the muscle around your back passage.
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Now imagine you are trying to stop yourself passing urine
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If you are tightening the correct muscles you should feel the
base of your penis and your scrotum lift forwards slightly.
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Slow exercises
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Tense the muscles as hard as possible and be aware of the
tightening and lifting sensation. Aim to hold this tension for 10
seconds.

Slowly relax the muscle and experience a feeling of letting the
muscle release and rest for 10 seconds

Repeat the tensing, lift and hold stage and the rest stage 10 times
If you cannot hold for 10 seconds start with 5 seconds and 5
repetitions then gradually build up over a period of weeks to
a full 10 second hold.
If you place your finger tips on the skin behind the scrotum
you should feel the muscle lift away from your finger as you
tighten your pelvic floor muscles.
Try to avoid;
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Holding your breath

Tightening your stomach and thighs
Fast exercises

Repeat the same action of tensing and lifting but this time just hold
on for 1 second and then release
You may have been given a your own tailor made
exercise programme by the nurse in line with her
findings during the assessment