Reverse Kegels for men: how to do them, and when

A reverse Kegel trains the let-go half of pelvic-floor control. In GoBeast it is called Release, and it is the last set of every session. If you have never found the muscle, start with how to find your pelvic floor. You need to know where it is before you can let it go.

What a reverse Kegel is

Your pelvic floor holds some tension even at rest, a bit like shoulders you didn't know were raised. A reverse Kegel lets that background tension go.

Some guides describe it as gently pushing out, as if you were on the toilet. We don't teach it that way. Pushing or bearing down is effort. A reverse Kegel is the absence of effort: you stop holding, and the muscle softens and drops.

How to do a reverse Kegel, step by step

1. Get comfortable. Lie on your back with your knees bent, or sit tall on a firm chair. Rest one hand on your belly.
2. Find the area. Do one gentle Kegel so you know where the muscle is, between your scrotum and your anus. Then let it go.
3. Breathe in slowly for about 4 seconds. Let your belly widen into your hand, and let that area go soft and heavy, like the moment you start to pee. Don't push.
4. Breathe out slowly for about 4 seconds and keep it soft. Nothing lifts.
5. Repeat for 4 to 8 breaths. That is a GoBeast Release set, about 16 to 32 seconds.
6. Check the neighbours on the last breath: jaw, shoulders, belly, buttocks and inner thighs. Let each one go.

That is the whole move. It is slow, quiet and small. If you are working hard, you are doing something else.

What a reverse Kegel feels like

It is subtle. You may notice a slight heaviness or softening between your scrotum and anus, the opposite of the lift you feel in a Kegel. At first you may feel almost nothing, and that is fine.

You should not feel strain, pressure pushing outward, or pain.

Kegel vs reverse Kegel

You need both halves. Our 4-week Kegel workout plan ends every session with a relax set for that reason.

Inhale or exhale?

In our Release set, you soften on the in-breath and stay soft on the out-breath. That pairing is a coaching cue, not something a trial has tested. If softening on the out-breath feels more natural to you, that is fine. The two rules that matter are no pushing and no holding your breath.

Slow belly breathing is the easiest way in. Slow breathing, under 10 breaths a minute, is linked to feeling more relaxed and less anxious.² That finding comes from a review of small studies in healthy adults. Our guide to breathing and your pelvic floor has a step-by-step belly-breathing drill.

Common mistakes

• Pushing or bearing down. If you feel pressure pushing outward, stop and start again with less effort.
• Holding your breath. Keep the breath slow and smooth.
• Tightening your abs to help. Your belly should widen as you breathe in, not brace. This is also how to do a reverse Kegel without flexing your abs: hand on your belly, and let it rise.
• Rushing. Four seconds in and four out is slow on purpose.
• Using it to push through pain. Release is a relaxation set, not a way to make pain go away.

Reverse Kegels and early ejaculation: what we found

Many pages online claim reverse Kegels help with early (premature) ejaculation. We looked for evidence and found no trial of self-guided reverse Kegels for early ejaculation.

Squeezing, not releasing, is what the research tested. Pelvic-floor training has also been studied for early ejaculation, mostly in small clinic studies of supervised rehab that included electrical stimulation and biofeedback. Not everyone improved, some lost ground over the following years, and where it was compared with a medicine, the medicine did better on average. Guidelines don't recommend training on its own.^3,4,5,6

So we see reverse Kegels as a relaxation skill, nothing more. If early ejaculation bothers you, a doctor can talk you through the options.

Signs your pelvic floor may be too tight

Pelvic-floor strengthening isn't right for everyone. If you have pain in your pelvis, genitals, perineum or bottom, pain when you ejaculate or pee, or trouble starting to pee, your pelvic floor may be too tense rather than too weak, or something else may be going on. Guidelines advise against Kegel-style strengthening for pelvic pain with a tender pelvic floor. Stop, see a doctor, and ask about a pelvic-floor physiotherapist.^7,8,9

We found no trial of self-guided reverse Kegels for pelvic pain either, so a reverse Kegel at home is not a substitute for that check.

Kegels or reverse Kegels first?

• If any of the pain signs above apply: don't do Kegels. Stop, see a doctor, and ask about a pelvic-floor physiotherapist. Go back to strengthening only when a doctor or physio says it's OK.
• If none apply: learn both. Squeeze first, then finish each session with a reverse Kegel set, the way every GoBeast session ends.

How many reverse Kegels a day?

There is no research-backed number. In GoBeast, Release is 4 to 8 slow breaths at the end of each session. You can also take a few soft breaths whenever you notice you are clenching, at your desk or on the train. For a seated routine that ends this way, see Kegels at your desk.

When to stop

How GoBeast helps with this

• Release ends every session, so the let-go gets practised every day you train.
• Reverse Kegels are part of the ten Kegel levels.
• Pain switches you to a relax-first path.
• Eyes-free cues. A calm voice and haptic cues for every squeeze, hold and release, with the screen locked.

Comparing apps first? See how the main Kegel apps for men compare.

Questions