Namaste in bed – literally.
Men who want to last longer in bed may want to take up yoga.
A new scientific review published in Trends in Urology & Men’s Health looks at different techniques that can help men last longer during sex without using erectile dysfunction drugs like Viagra.
The review from Anglia Ruskin University in the UK looked at men who suffer from premature ejaculation, which occurs when sperm leave the body earlier than expected during sex.
Premature ejaculation isn’t a cause for concern if it doesn’t happen often – about one in three men say they’ve experienced it at some point. But someone may be diagnosed with the condition if they always or almost always ejaculate within one to three minutes of penetration, are unable to delay ejaculation all or most of the time, or if they feel upset and frustrated and avoid sexual intimacy therefore, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Premature ejaculation is associated with several harmful health conditions, including psychological stress, poor self-esteem, anxiety, decreased libido and poor interpersonal relationships, according to the review.
“Strategies for men to help them last longer in the bedroom could help improve their relationship with their partner and their self-esteem,” said Lee Smith, professor of public health at Anglia Ruskin University and senior author of the review .
Researchers analyzed 54 studies involving 3,485 men, including one involving men between the ages of 18 and 45 – 35 of whom were instructed to run at least 30 minutes a day for five days a week, while the rest were told to walk no more than 30 minutes a day for five days a week.
The group of active men went from an average of 39 seconds during sex to more than 30 minutes, compared to the inactive men, who lasted just 50 seconds by the end of the study.
The results for the active men were similar to those of 35 men who were given dapoxetine, a drug used to treat premature ejaculation in older men, but which also comes with side effects such as nausea and dizziness.
Another study the authors reviewed involved 26 men who did yoga for 12 weeks, and the time they lasted during sex more than tripled, from an average of just under 26 seconds to almost a minute and a half.
Research also suggests that pelvic floor exercises can potentially help men last longer in bed, but it’s difficult for them to assess the effect of these exercises from electrical stimulation, which was also used in the same studies.
A study of 31 men showed positive results for a technique called “pause-squeeze” – where men pause during sex and squeeze the head of their penis to stop ejaculating before they want to – which allowed men to last an average of three minutes compared to one minute before the method.
Overall, the authors concluded that physical activity may be a potential therapy for improving male sexual performance.
“This evidence is based on studies involving a small number of men and we need more research in this area, but approaches such as physical activity could help all men,” Smith said. “It’s not just for men diagnosed with premature ejaculation.”
“Most men may not have performed as well as they wanted at one point and could benefit from lifestyle changes and techniques to last longer.”
The review also found that ginseng fruit extract may improve performance, but the evidence is weak and more research is needed to confirm the findings.