Treat premature ejaculation by jogging five times a week, scientists say

Many men looking to last longer in bed try elixirs, supplements, and pseudoscientific techniques like pre-sex masturbation. 

But a study suggests that a short burst of regular exercise is highly effective at treating premature ejaculation.

Researchers found that running for just 30 minutes five days a week could raise their time to climax by up to eight minutes.

Exercise can treat premature ejaculation by strengthening muscles around the genitals that assist in erections and ejaculations, scientists say.

Previous research has suggested that yoga can also prolong men’s bedroom stamina.

Dr Lee Smith, a public health expert at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, UK, who led the latest study, said: ‘There are clear indications that physical exercise, including running and engaging the pelvic floor muscles, show promise in several studies.

‘Given that drugs often have side effects, it appears that after all, the best medicine for avoiding premature ejaculation may well lie in exercise, and this possibility requires larger studies and further investigation.’

The paper was a meta-analysis of 54 studies involving a total of 3,500 men.

Premature ejaculation is when someone ejaculates much earlier than desired, usually within two minutes of entering their partner.

On average, men normally last about seven minutes in bed.

Treatments include the medication dapoxetine, which isn’t approved yet in the US. It works by inhibiting the release of feel good hormones that trigger ejaculation.

Other medications used off-label include local anesthetics and those commonly prescribed to treat depression.

In the study, researchers searched medical literature for studies examining cures for premature ejaculation.

They identified 54 studies, of which the majority (19) were completed in Europe.

The paper then included a narrative summary of the main papers, highlighting that exercise may be as effective as medication against premature ejaculation. 

In a paper from 2017, 105 men about 28 years old and with premature ejaculation were recruited.

Of these, a third were given dapoxetine, while a third performed moderate physical acitivity — running for 30 minutes five times a week — and a third did little exercise.

After a month, there was an improvement both in the group using the drug and those that did exercise. There was no significant difference between them, suggesting exercise was just as effective.

They also highlighted a separate 2014 study on 78 men who were about 41 years old and had premature ejaculation.

They were all asked to do pelvic floor exercises three times a day for a month to treat the condition.

Results showed that more than half (55 percent) had their premature ejaculation cured over this period.

Their time to ejaculate after entering a partner also rose from two to ten minutes. 

The study concludes: ‘Premature ejaculation has been managed with various non-pharmacological approaches (e.g. behavioral and surgical approaches) that have been found to be effective in relatively small randomized clinical trials.

‘Large randomized control trials are urgently needed to further guide clinicians to select the best option for different groups of patients.’

The study was published in the journal Trends in Urology and Men’s Health.