Before thinking about ways to improve your sexual performance, it is best to learn what causes low virility in men. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) believes that aging is closely related to degradation in sexual performance. Aging is mainly a result of insufficient kidney qi but may also result from spleen and stomach disorders, poor circulation, or excessive phlegm and dampness. Dr. Wu Jiandong of Taiwan Yongsheng Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinic provides advice for different kinds of men. I will also share my findings from asking 100 male bodybuilders about their favorite exercise to enhance male sexual performance.
TCM adherents often equate poor sexual performance with kidney deficiency, however, that’s not entirely accurate. From the TCM perspective, the kidneys control the reproductive, growth, digestive, and endocrine systems. The reduction of these systems’ functions is called kidney frailty. “Frailty” refers more to weakness and the lack of something. Therefore, kidney frailty is, in fact, a physical condition. It happens in both men and women.
Self-Assessment for Male Menopause
Menopause is less obvious in men than in women. Western medicine determines it by examining the testosterone concentration through blood tests. However, it can also be determined by observing the following signs:- Reduced libido and ability: lack of sexual desire, erectile dysfunction, and difficulty ejaculating.
- Decline in physical strength: lack of interest in outdoor activities or contact with friends.
- Mood swings: anger easily, difficulty communicating, lack of motivation, depression, and cognitive decline.
- Hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia, and nervousness.
- Thinning hair and body hair.
- Muscle tissue softens.
- Breasts get bigger: With less testosterone, breasts become enlarged.
- Waist and abdominal fat accumulates and thickens.
- Testicle atrophy.
- Osteoporosis: Men become shorter and are prone to sprains or fractures.
5 Causes of Low Male Virility
Dr. Wu divides men with low sexual virility into five major types:1. Decline of Vital Gate Fire
Older men are more likely to suffer from insufficient kidney qi. This is characterized by fatigue, slurry speech, and listlessness. In appearance, the face becomes thin and the eyes sunken. It may be accompanied by back pain, muscle and bone aches, frequent urination with clear and watery urine, and men may even quiver immediately after urinating. In TCM, it is also called kidney yang deficiency and kidney qi deficiency. TCM treatment mainly focuses on nourishing the kidneys. You can take Kidney Qi Pills, Jingui Kidney Qi Pills, or Gui Lu Er Xian Jiao (Turtle Shell & Deer Horn Two Immortals Glue).2. Heart and Spleen Deficiency
Those with innate insufficiency in qi and blood, acquired imbalances in diet, and work and rest irregularity can lead to weak vitality. Symptoms include poor appetite, poor gastrointestinal function, inability to sleep, fatigue, frequent diarrhea, frequent bloating, and the stomach often feeling cold. TCM treatment focuses on replenishing qi and blood and the spleen and stomach. Xiang Sha Liu Jun Pills (Six Gentlemen With Saussurea and Cardamom Combination), for example, is a suitable gastrointestinal medicine.3. Panicky and Kidney-Damaged
This is low male energy caused by emotions. Usually, it results from unpleasant memories, for example, being dumped by a woman. This type of person will have wandering eyes and a lack of concentration. TCM treatment focuses on calming the mind and stabilizing emotions. Only by calming the mind can the qi and blood return to normal operation.4. Liver Stagnation and Spleen Deficiency
This includes people who work long hours, are in a bad mood, and are anxious, which leads to poor circulation of qi and blood. This will make it difficult for qi and blood to reach the sexual organs. This type of person often feels tired from work, resulting in low sexual desire, erectile dysfunction, etc. TCM uses Chinese medicinal herbs to soothe the liver and improve mood.5. Damp-Heat Down Under
These people show all sorts of symptoms of inflammation in the urinary tract, such as urethritis, cystitis, or even prostate hypertrophy and prostatitis. These conditions will affect kidney function, causing urinary leaks and a painful feeling during urination. There may be soreness, stinging pain, white discharge in urine, and even pain. In terms of treatment, you should first address the inflammation problem, drink more water, and avoid sitting for long periods.3 Tips for Reviving Virility
Although we can divide the effects on male sexual behavior into five causes, Dr. Wu said that in clinical practice, half of the men suffer more from psychological issues, such as work fatigue, excessive pressure, or relationship woes. If you are usually in a bad mood, angry, anxious, irritable, or unable to sleep well, you will not be able to replenish your vitality properly, and of course, you will lose sexual desire.
- Don’t sit for long periods: Sexual performance is related to blood circulation in the pelvic cavity. Sitting for a long time will affect blood circulation, causing aging and reduced male virility.
- Regular work/rest routine: Go to bed before 11 p.m. With a regular wake/sleep schedule, the biological clock in the brain can function adequately, facilitating normal hormone secretion. If hormone secretion is irregular, it will not be in good supply when you need it most due to its insufficiency, thus affecting sexual performance.
- Regular exercise: Exercise can improve blood circulation. If circulation in the pelvis is good, sexual function will be, too.
- Strengthen large muscles: Strengthening the large muscles will increase testosterone.
- Multijoint muscle training: Usually, one muscle spans only one joint, and work on multijoint muscles can further affect the large muscles. Therefore, multijoint exercises can strengthen the large muscles and thus increase testosterone.
- Weight training: You must develop enough muscle strength and muscle hypertrophy through weight-bearing exercises to strengthen large muscles.
- Squats.
- Deep squats.
- Squats with loads.
- Squats with heavy loads.
- Squats with ultra-heavy loads.
The large muscles of the human body include the gluteal muscles, pectoralis major, and latissimus dorsi. Through simple deadlifts, pushups, barbell bench jerks, rowing, or lat pulldowns, and by continuously increasing the load, you can achieve the effect of exercising all these large muscles.
Cardiopulmonary exercise is also an indispensable exercise to improve male virility. Sex therapist Laura Berman explained that any exercise that helps cardiovascular function will help sexual response and feelings, too, because the healthier the blood flow and the blood vessels, the more exciting and better the response will be.
In addition, muscle training around the waist and abdomen improves male sexual performance in terms of persistence, endurance, and strength. It will also be visually pleasing and increase sensation. If older men feel that weight-bearing and cardiopulmonary exercise are too much, they can work with the gentler core muscles first. This will also help people who have begun to develop osteoporosis or have intervertebral foraminal stenosis.
Finally, through stretching, you can relax your body that has become stiff from sitting all day and increase your flexibility and balance. You can also go on outings to get in touch with nature, release stress, and relax your mood. Being in nature is an indispensable psychological factor for strengthening male virility.
Some of the herbs mentioned above may sound unfamiliar, but many can be found in health food and Asian grocery stores. In addition, because everyone’s body constitution is different, the corresponding treatment methods are also different. Please consult a professional doctor for specific treatment plans.
