Dr Alverston Bailey, Contributor

Exercise can make your PC muscles do wonders during lovemaking

This week, we will walk you through a series of activities to enhance your sex life called sexercise.

Boosting performance

Physical exercise will boost your sexual appetite and improve your bedroom performance. A good workout will elevate your endorphin levels, relieve stress, promote weight loss and rejuvenate the body.

An active exercise programme will, therefore, fill you with renewed vigour, boost your confidence and slow the ageing process. Regular exercise also increases blood flow to the genitals.

A University of California study of middle-age sedentary men found that after just one hour of exercise three times a week, the men demonstrated improved sexual function, more frequent sex and orgasms, and greater satisfaction.

Similarly, researchers at Bentley College in Massachusetts found that women in their 40s engaged in sex more often (about seven times per month), and enjoyed it more than a sedentary group of their peers.

Good sex can be physically demanding, so improving cardiovascular (heart) fitness with aerobic activities such as walking, running, cycling or swimming for at least 30 minutes, three times per week, can help both partners to perform longer and more frequently.

To strengthen the shoulders, chest and abdominal, all of which are utilised during sexual intercourse, we recommend that you add push-ups and sit-ups or crunches to your aerobic routine.

The 'secret' sex muscles

The muscles of locomotion in your arms or legs are quite active during the day, but the 'secret' sex muscles are rarely active when you do your routine chores. However, by strengthening these muscles, you and your partner can enjoy more intense and fulfilling sex. This secret muscle is the pubococcygeus or PC muscle. It is actually a sling of muscles that support the pelvic floor and surround the internal genitalia. These muscles are involved in urination (when you stop yourself from urinating mid-stream). Both men and women have PC muscles.

Like any muscles in the body, the PC muscles can become weak for many reasons, such as childbirth, old age, severe weight loss, radiation treatment for cancer, etc.

Here are four tips to find your PC muscle:

Try to stop the flow of urine when you are sitting on the toilet. If you can do it, you are using the right muscles.

Imagine that you are trying to stop passing gas. Squeeze the muscles you would use. If you sense a 'pulling' feeling, those are the right muscles for pelvic exercises.

Kegel's exercises

The aim of Kegel's exercises is to restore muscle tone and strength to the pubococcygeus muscles. They are named after Los Angeles physician Arnold Kegel. These exercises are recommended for both men and women:

To prevent or reduce pelvic-floor problems and to increase sexual gratification.

To treat vaginal prolapse and prevent uterine prolapse in women.

For treating prostate pain and swelling resulting from benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostatitis in men.

For treating urinary incontinence in both men and women.

To enhance sexual enjoyment.

To help men learn greater ejaculatory control.

You can make these pelvic-floor muscles stronger with a few minutes of exercise every day.

The basic exercise can be done anytime and anywhere. Just squeeze your PC muscles as hard as you can, and hold them. Start by squeezing and holding for a count of three to five seconds, then release and relax for five seconds.

As a guideline, try to work up to a point where you can hold the squeeze for 10 seconds. And try to work up to doing 10 repetitions of Kegel exercises per set. So you squeeze, hold for 10 seconds, release, relax for 10 seconds, and repeat 10 times.

Do the exercise three to four times per day.

Do them during foreplay, before you have an orgasm, and even while having an orgasm. You may notice that Kegel's enhances sexual excitement and increases the intensity of your orgasms.

Stretches

The following pelvic stretches will help keep the muscles used during sex strong and flexible and help facilitate orgasm. Each stretch can be done in the bedroom on a firm mattress or on the floor. Wear loose clothing or nothing at all, and consider playing your favourite mood music.

Pelvic Lifts

Lie on your back with knees bent and slightly apart. Your feet should be flat on the floor and arms at your side. Inhale, clenching your abdominal and buttocks and lifting the pelvis until your back is straight. Do not arch your back. Breathe deeply as you hold the position for at least 10 seconds. Exhale as you lower your body and repeat the exercise.

Pelvic bounce

After you complete your lifts, try a few pelvic bounces, an exercise that can "evoke powerful sexual feelings", according to sex therapists David and Ellen Ramsdale.

As with the pelvic lift, your knees are bent and slightly apart. Your palms should face up. Inhale deeply and lift your pelvis just slightly off the ground.

Then, exhale and let it down, so your lower back bounces gently against the floor. Experiment with variations. Your goal is to feel a sense of openness and release.

The Butterfly

Lie on your back with knees bent. Your feet should be together and flat on the bed. Then, pull your feet in until they touch your buttocks. Turn your ankles so that the soles of your feet are facing each other and touching. Your knees will point out to the sides of the bed.

Lower your knees towards the bed, taking care not to force them down. You or your partner may gently press downward on your inner thighs. When your knees are as far apart as is comfortable, hold for 60 seconds. Gently bring the knees back together with your hands and relax.

The butterfly is also beneficial for menstrual irregularities, urinary problems and is thought to help ease the pain of childbirth.

Aerobics

There are many other exercises and stretches that can enhance not only your sex lives but your mental and physical health. Yoga and dance classes offer good workouts and help stretch the pelvic region. Swimming and other sports that involve kicking motions are also beneficial.

Regular exercise of almost any kind releases the pleasure hormone endorphin and improve cardiovascular fitness, strength and endurance. So commit yourself to start a sexercise programme today. Perhaps it might be the boost you need to add sparkle to your relationship.

Dr Alverston Bailey is a medical doctor and immediate past president of the Medical Association of Jamaica. Send comments and questions to editor@gleanerjm.com or fax 922-6223.