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Between a rock-hard body and a soft place.
Lifting weights has been shown to strengthen muscles, boost brain health and lower the risk of several health conditions, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
While pumping iron can build sturdy muscles, some moves may cause other areas of the body to go soft.
Pelvic floor muscles keep your core stable, hold organs in place and help with basic bodily functions — but overworking them can lead to chronic tightness and eventually, sexual dysfunction.
“The muscles around your pelvic floor play a role in erections and arousal,” personal trainer Toby King told The Post. “If they are constantly tight or overloaded, then they can restrict the blood flow and compress nerves that are essential for healthy sexual function.”
Over time, this can result in pelvic pain, pain during sex, pain during masturbation and ejaculation, bladder issues and daily discomfort.
So what should you watch out for? Anything that involves heavy bracing, such as squats, deadlifts and even ab-focused routines, can cause gym-goers to subconsciously tense their pelvic floor muscles without realizing, King explained.
“A lot of men are walking around constantly braced,” he said. “They tighten during lifts, they’re often tight all day too, and over time, this creates an overactive pelvic floor, which can interfere with erections and even cause pain.”
This can also be brought on by leg presses, ab rolling, hanging leg raises and even planking that holds tension in the core.
Cyclists and triathletes should also take note, as King says long sessions on a poorly set-up saddle can put pressure on the nerves and muscle tissue surrounding the area.
He compared this constant tension to working the biceps without giving them a rest, as over time, the muscle would stop working.
And while it can be tempting to push the limits and add more weight, heavy loads and poor technique can also worsen the issue.
“If your form is off and you’re not breathing correctly, then that pressure has to go somewhere, and often it ends up in the pelvic floor,” King added.
Worrying about symptoms can also bring on more stress, causing more tension and starting a vicious cycle of a too-tight pelvic floor.
King doesn’t recommend completely avoiding moves like squats and deadlifts that are good for body composition, but instead suggests reassessing your routine and limiting exercises that heavily target the groin, inner thighs and deep hip muscles while symptoms are present.
Learning how to relax tight pelvic muscles is key to reversing any problems. Start by doing “breathing work and stretches for your glutes and hips, such as the child’s pose and the happy baby pose,” King said.
And while kegels can actually make erectile dysfunction worse for some men, King suggests reverse kegels, or pelvic floor drop exercises, to reduce tension by using deep, diaphragmatic breathing to “push” the muscles down.
Above all else, seeing a pelvic floor physiotherapist is highly recommended to identify the issue and devise a treatment plan.
“You could have a problem with tightness, weakness, the muscles not relaxing and working as they should or a mixture of all three,” King advised.
Physical therapists will also focus on exercises beyond the pelvic floor.
“No muscle in the body works in isolation,” Tia Dankberg, a board-certified clinical specialist in pelvic and women’s health physical therapy at Brooks Rehabilitation, previously told The Post.
“More commonly, I have found that my interventions include extension-biased movements, improving rib cage mobility and hip flexibility,” she added.
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