The most crucial aspect of male sexual function is the male hormone. It’s the male hormone that triggers sexual desire and keeps the cells that make up the reproductive organs healthy and functioning properly. Let me explain how modern people, who suffer from a lack of exercise, have been losing out due to this vital male hormone. Today, I want to talk about exercise therapy that can improve male sexual function.
I’ll discuss how male sexual function works, how it can break down, and how running can help recover it. Traditionally, treatment for erectile dysfunction started with medications. It’s a well-known fact that exercise helps with erectile dysfunction. Doctors know it too, but prescribing exercise has been difficult because there was no standard on what kind and how much exercise to do.
Recently, standards have been established, and after applying them to myself and explaining them in detail to my patients, I’ve seen many lives change, not just in terms of erectile dysfunction but in overall health improvements. That’s why I’ve studied harder, prepared a book, and am here to share this information.
First, let’s talk about how male sexual function works. When we talk about erection, it seems to happen instantly, but there are stages involved. There are about four stages. The first step in sexual function is sexual desire, the urge to have sexual intercourse or sexual activity today. This desire is created by the male hormone. Our brain needs to be soaked with male hormones for the fire of sexual desire to ignite.
When the brain sends the command for an erection, this signal travels down through a bundle of nerves. Three main types of nerves transmit commands internally. Among them, the signal is transmitted through the autonomic nervous system, specifically the parasympathetic nerves. I’ll explain later why this particular nerve is used to send the command.
When the erection command travels down this nerve bundle, it reaches the endothelial cells inside the penis’s blood vessels. The blood vessels of the penis are not made up of a single layer but multiple layers, and when these nerve bundles touch the innermost endothelial cells, they accept the nerve signal and produce nitric oxide. You might have heard about nitric oxide recently due to advertisements, suggesting we need to consume arginine that secretes nitric oxide to treat symptoms of erectile dysfunction. Nitric oxide plays a crucial role here.
The nitric oxide secreted by the endothelial cells moves to the smooth muscle cells that make up the blood vessel walls. As mentioned, the blood vessels consist of several layers, and the outer muscle layer controls the thickness of the blood vessels. These muscle cells are usually slightly contracted, maintaining the blood vessels in a somewhat constricted state to regulate a moderate amount of blood pressure.
When nitric oxide enters these muscle cells, they relax, causing the blood vessels to widen. Most blood vessels in our body can contract and relax, but the special thing about penile blood vessels is their ability to transform into a spiral shape, enabling them to control a much broader range of blood flow than usual. This spiral structure allows a significantly larger volume of blood to suddenly flood into the penile corpora cavernosa, causing the penis to swell and create an erection. Erectile dysfunction can start from any of these four stages of erection. Once one stage is damaged, the following stage cannot occur due to the chain reaction. Therefore, a decrease in male hormones leading to reduced sexual desire can cause erectile dysfunction.
If excessive stress inhibits the parasympathetic nerves that transmit signals, the erection signal will not be sent. Various adult diseases can destroy penile blood vessels, preventing an erection. If endothelial cells are damaged, preventing the production of nitric oxide and causing the blood vessels to be destroyed, an erection will not occur. Now, let’s talk about erection and rigidity. We sometimes compare an erect penis to a bone, saying it’s as hard as a rock or as hard as bone. To achieve this hardness, besides the blood vessels unwinding, another mechanism is necessary.
The structural position of the blood vessels within the penile corpora cavernosa is a secret. The corpora cavernosa is made of very tough and rigid tissue. The penis’s corpora cavernosa, like a sponge or tough organ, is said to be as hard as whale tendons. This tough tissue contains sharp swords along the surface of the penis. Even during sleep in the morning, you’ll notice it gradually hardens a bit, undergoing a process of becoming firmer.
So, as advertised, there are two types of exercises: vigorous group exercise and solo exercise. Some people perform exercises that hurt the penis, making it only suitable for athletes. However, I would like to suggest that not only physical exercises are beneficial but also playing board games, shooting pool, or listening to music could be good.
Because if you listen to music, whether it’s enjoying Jay Rabbit or Big Bang with your partner, it elevates your mood just a bit. The best flavor is already there.
Within this flavor that can withstand firmness, the corpora cavernosa encases the penile artery. When sexual stimulation sends a command, this artery uncoils, allowing a large volume of blood to pour in. This influx causes the corpora cavernosa to swell with more blood than usual. But there’s a secret to the wall: while the entrance allows blood to flow in unimpeded, the exit is closely attached to the outside of the corpora cavernosa. As the corpora cavernosa expands, the exit for the blood gets blocked, making the entrance wider and the exit narrower. As the corpora cavernosa swells more, this effect intensifies. As the exit narrows, pressure naturally increases, and our heart doesn’t skimp on pressure. Blood pressure is very high. Imagine the pressure of clenching your fist tightly to shoot blood into the corpora cavernosa. This makes the penis as hard as a rock. So, when do we lose the strength of the corpora cavernosa? When does our rigidity decrease? Precisely when the corpora cavernosa is unhealthy, when the blood vessels within it are not healthy, we lose rigidity. Maintaining these structures properly is what keeps our blood vessels healthy. Various chronic diseases can damage blood vessels, with high blood pressure and high cholesterol being prime culprits. Smoking can also damage blood vessels by causing them to constrict. The corpora cavernosa, with the help of male hormones and morning erections, practices erections daily to maintain its elasticity. If morning erections disappear and male hormones drop, their health declines, leading to a loss of rigidity in men. Even if an erection occurs, it lacks the confident, robust feeling of the past.
At such times, running can help improve these conditions. Let’s talk about the abnormalities in sex hormones that appear in modern people due to a lack of exercise. As mentioned, the male hormone is crucial for male sexual function. It triggers sexual desire and maintains the health and functionality of the cells that make up the reproductive organs. Let me explain how a lack of exercise has affected this vital male hormone in modern people.
First, we sit a lot. Modern people sit for long periods. I sit for about 9 hours a day and drive for about 2 hours. That’s 11 hours of sitting. Sitting for such long periods means we’re pressing down on hard chairs from below.
And something is pressing down from above. About 60% of our body weight presses down. Naturally, this increases the pressure inside the pelvis. Even if our testes produce male hormones well, it becomes difficult for these hormones to be transported through the pelvic blood vessels to the rest of the body. The pressure is too high for them to pass through.
Hormones that stagnate in the pelvis end up getting trapped there, leading to the growth of the prostate. It’s the male hormone that causes the growth and hyperplasia of the prostate. Modern people who sit for long periods also tend to gain weight due to decreased physical activity. But we eat quite well, leading to weight gain all over the body, not sparing the thighs and lower abdomen. Fat starts to accumulate around the genital area. As fat builds up around it, it becomes difficult to dissipate body heat, leading to a rise in scrotal temperature. The temperature inside is crucial because, unlike the ovaries, the testes need to continuously divide cells to produce sperm and synthesize male hormones. The testes work best at a temperature lower than our body temperature, which is 34 degrees Celsius.
What happens if the temperature of the testes rises due to weight gain? Sperm function declines, sperm production is hindered, and male hormone levels drop. In the modern era of insufficient exercise, muscle mass is also reduced. Men with less muscle mass. What impact does this have? Muscle contains functions that produce male hormones. Only two organs can synthesize male hormones from start to finish: the testes and the adrenal glands located above our kidneys. But muscles can also partially produce them, specifically a precursor called DHEA. Muscles contain many enzymes that can convert DHEA into male hormones, especially large muscles. If we consider large muscles, we have muscles around the buttocks and thighs. So, there’s a saying that men should develop their lower body, perhaps stemming from this idea. How does running help with hormone production? Think of it inversely. Running consistently leads to weight loss. What happens when you lose weight? The temperature of the testes returns to its optimal level, allowing the production of male hormones as usual.
Secondly, the male hormones produced are well circulated throughout the body through exercise, spreading throughout the body instead of being trapped in the pelvis. After running, you might feel your leg muscles tightening a day or two later. That’s the feeling of muscle growth. Thus, developing muscles can lead to the growth of what might be called a second set of testes, providing an additional supply of male hormones. So, it helps the primary factory run smoothly, ensures the products aren’t damaged, delivers them well, and even gets the secondary factory up and running. That’s how you should think of it. As a result, male hormone levels can return to normal.
Today, I’ve shared how sexual function works, how male hormones function, how they can cause us harm, and how we can reverse that.
Although this might be a bit dry, understanding this information is crucial to grasp the upcoming content in Episode 2: “The Impact of Anxiety in Primitive and Modern Humans on Sexual Life.”
If you didn’t fully grasp it, I recommend watching this from the beginning to the end again. I hope you also pay close attention to the following content. Everyone, running is a fantastic exercise. If learned well, it can be a great exercise you can use for life. I’ll remember to share how sexual function can be recovered through running. Thank you.
