While the ‘Does Size Matter?’ debate seems to split female opinion, there’s no denying the importance of strong erections.
A weak erection – or complete erectile dysfunction (ED) – can leave women feeling undesirable and men with damaged pride.
Meanwhile, stronger erections have been linked with improved sexual stamina. A more enjoyable time for everyone.
Thankfully, there is plenty you can do to improve the strength of your erection.
Here are ten tips for achieving stronger hard-ons and a more satisfying sex life.
1. Increase your fitness through cardio
Most of the tips on the list are behaviors to improve the flow of blood to your penis. Regular cardio exercise does this by strengthening your heart.
Regular cardio workouts will also stave off obesity, which has been known to lower libido and testosterone.
However, be aware that training TOO HARD can stress your body, reducing testosterone levels and damaging erection quality, so don’t overdo it in the gym.
2. Quit smoking
Impotence is a commonly-cited symptom of smoking cigarettes.
That’s because smoking can damage your arteries, potentially limiting bloodflow to your penis.
As such, quitting smoking will boost the strength of your erections, as well as increasing your life expectancy.
3. Switch up your diet
There are a few vitamins and minerals that have been linked with improved bloodflow.
These include:
- Vitamin E, which can be found in sunflower oil and other nut oils.
- Vitamin B, found in leafy green vegetables like spinach and kale.
- Iron, found in green vegetables and red meat.
- Potassium, found in bananas and oranges.
4. Improve your testosterone levels
Your poor erections may be down to poor testosterone levels, so consider getting this checked with your doctor.
You can boost testosterone through supplements (see our recommended products). There are also many ways to boost it naturally, such as through regular exercise, better sleep and a healthy diet.
5. Improve the strength of your kegels
The muscles partly responsible for strong erections are called ‘kegels’. These are also the muscles used to stop the flow of pee. You can boost the strength of your kegels through repeated use, the same way you would any other muscle.
Target the kegels by keeping them clenched for a certain amount of time. It’s good form to also clench your buttocks.
Just as with any muscle, it’s important to push your kegels to their limits, then take rest days. Try ten sets of 30-second clenches, four times a week. If that’s too easy, step up to one-minute clenches.
6. Reduce stress
Stress can reduce your libido, which will have a negative effect on your erections.
It’ll also boost production of cortisol, which narrows your arteries and decreases testosterone, further damaging your ability to achieve a strong hard-on.
The ‘in-the moment’ stress of body dysmorphia or performance anxiety can have a devastating effect on your libido too. In fact, this is one of the most commonly cited causes of ED.
Poor sleep also ramps up your cortisol levels, so try and get your eight hours a day.
7. Reduce porn consumption
Regular porn consumption has been proven to desensitize you to sexual imagery.
In fact, a regular symptom of porn addiction is the need for increasingly graphic imagery in order to get off.
This necessity can prevent you from being able to get turned on during real-life foreplay and sex. Cutting porn out of your life is the best solution to this problem.
8. Cut out masturbation
Many men have reported that their libido – and the quality of their erection – increases when they haven’t ejaculated for a long time. Try a ‘NoFap’ streak before your next sexual encounter and see how that affects your erection.
9. Reduce alcohol consumption
As William Shakespeare famously wrote: “Alcohol provokes desire, but can reduce performance.”
Too much booze will narrow your arteries, reducing the bloodflow to your penis. The sensation is commonly known as ‘whiskey dick’, although any type of alcohol can play these tricks with your privates. Other drugs, including marijuana, can cause similar problems.
As is common with health advice, there is contradictory evidence here. Dark beers can actually BOOST erection strength, due to the iron being consumed, according to some studies.
10. See a medical professional
If you feel the previous nine steps haven’t improved your hard-ons, consider telling your doctor about the problem. It could be that there’s something wrong with your cardiovascular system.
