Locating the bc muscle

Westla, I was talking to my Urolgist about a month or two ago, about the BC. I told him that its gotten so strong that I can clench it so hard, and literally feel the bulging BC muscle run all the way down to under my scrotum.

He said that I could damage my BC if I clenched too hard, with so much force. Is it possible to do this?

As I’ve said many times, I’m not a doctor. But common sense tells us that muscles fatigue with strenuous contractions which may be a temporary form of damage. Usually they can recover with rest, so I can’t think of a situation where actual damage might occur.

However, I have noticed in myself that instead of squeezing out that last bit of urine, or helping my semen spurt during ejaculation, my BC now just clamps down and I dribble urine after my bladder empties and my ejaculations are no longer spurting. In other words, the muscle has become too strong for it’s intended function. So there may be consequences of overworking this muscle and perhaps that’s what the doctor meant.

Well, I know you know a lot about the anatomy, but IMO I think shooting far is more of timing the BC contractions (voluntary) with the PONR-Ejaculation contractions (involuntary). When my BC was weak, I could sometimes shoot far, and now it depends. If i’m lucky enough to time my contractions right, I can shoot 1 foot maybe more who knows (i’m not always seeing how far I can shoot, ya know?). But this only happens say, once every five times maybe. I have to get the timing right.

What is your opinion on shooting far? I think that by timing the contractions, you can squeeze the Semen/Sperm (?) out faster with a strong muscle.

But i’m not sure. Let me know.

Invictus

At ejaculation the BC is also stimulated with the same rhythmic contractions as the “inner” plumbing, so it’s not always easy to have voluntary control. Sometimes I try to make it relax at ejaculation and I do see some spurts, but they aren’t as powerful as they used to be when my BC was not overdeveloped. One shouldn’t have to consciously control this muscle, it should do its job without your mental assistance/resistance.

Shooting far is probably not important in the sense that sperm/semen placed near the cervix will get to where it’s supposed to and fertilize an egg. For “porno” purposes (our own satisfaction during masturbation, or to “impress” our partner when ejaculating outside his/her body) shooting far is only a visual enhancement and not important as long as you experience an orgasm and find the experience pleasurable. IMO.

I used to have a problem with premature ejaculation (after coming off an SSRI) and tried kegeling to help, but I found it made things worse. I’d like to try again for PE purposes, but I don’t want to get my old problem of the other kind of pe (premature ejaculation).

Now I’m wondering if I had been doing it wrong before. I can contract several different muscles in the pelvic area, although when I try to contract them strongly I lose some ability to separate them. Such as if I try to contract one too strongly I end up involving anal or abdominal muscles.

Specifically, I can contract an area above my anus, my anus, the perineum back towards my anus which can also lead to my testicles raising, and then a muscle that seemingly surrounds the base of my penis. This last muscle when flexed is like pulling the penis into the body. So as if I stood and rested my flaccid penis in my palm and flexed the penis is slightly pulled back towards/into my body and returns on relaxing.

Based on the descriptions in this thread I believe this last muscle is indeed the BC muscle. When I used to kegel I do believe I contracted this muscle, but I don’t believe it was separate from the others, nor the center of my efforts. I believe the one I contracted most was the area of the perineum.

Which is why I’m posting now, because I find one of the description of how to find the BC a little confusing. In so many words, “Place your finger on the area between your scrotum and anus and contract. This is your BC.”

However, if I were to attempt to find it that way I try to contract the other muscle I was talking about. The one at the perineum, but further back towards the anus (which is the one I believe I concentrated on before). I believe descriptions elsewhere on the Internet that describe the muscle as the one at the area between the anus and scrotum led me to believe that was the correct muscle.

Contracting the one that pulls the penis back also contracts in the perineum, but not so centered and is felt closer to the scrotum.

So I want to quadruple check to make sure that it is indeed this Penis-pulling-back-muscle that is the BC muscle?

And if so, I wonder if this is why many (such as myself) report that kegeling leads to worse premature ejaculation as opposed to rectifying it like many other report. Since I have read that by contracting muscles in the area will put pressure on the prostate and trigger ejaculation. I can definitely attest to this as I do contract my pelvic muscles when I want to ejaculate. So perhaps when kegeling is done incorrectly it leads to stronger muscles which pressure the prostate, while BC exercises will not. I don’t know yet and I’ll be looking at more threads, but I wanted to make sure this is indeed the correct muscle first and perhaps get some insight if anyone has a comment about the other muscles worsening premature ejaculation.

I think you’re over-analyzing the anatomy. The anatomical illustrations at the top of the page show the relationship of all the perineal and pelvic muscles. The only ones of importance to ejaculation are the Bulbocavernosus (BC - actually misnamed and also known as the Bulbospongiosus) and the Ischiocavernosus (IC). Contracting only those two (not easy for most guys) or all of them won’t make much difference. The goal of kegels is to strengthen the muscles involved in ejaculation. It’s OK to contract the others when you exercise.

Not being an expert on premature ejaculation I can only repeat what I’ve read. That is, the majority of it is mental not physical. If you think you’re going to “fail” by cumming early, then you will. Getting a better handle on your emotions and thought processes can probably go a long way in beating premature ejaculation. The part that kegels play is to allow you to use the BC to clamp down on the urethra and prevent fluid from passing. The concentration on a constant contraction also distracts you from the impending ejaculation (and thus the impending failure). Even if you strengthen the BC, if you don’t use it correctly to over come the urge to ejaculate, it becomes a wasted effort.

Of course there are other reasons for doing kegels than to help with a premature ejaculation problem. Stronger erections, more forceful ejaculations, etc. are benefits you can have regardless of the reason for doing the exercise.

Thanks for the comments. However, I don’t have a problem with premature ejaculation anymore. Maybe if I haven’t ejaculated in several days or with the excitement of a new woman, but otherwise that’s behind me.

I was looking into kegeling as a part of a PE program, but having experienced worsened premature ejaculation before because of the exercises I didn’t want that to happen again. After reading this thread I thought maybe it was just due to the wrong muscle being exercised. Perhaps not after all.

For now I’ll refrain until I look into it more.

Thanks.

Hey I ran across this thread while searching for Kegels and the info here have been VERY beneficial!!

But just one question : is it normal that when non-erect (flacid) state I can’t contract the BC muscle more than, say, 1 second? If I put a resistance below it (a tennis call, say) I can last 2-4 seconds with a contraction but without it’s VERY difficult to keep it contracted. Is it because it’s too weak?? I still have no difficulty stopping the urine flow however..

Thanks!!

Alex

Thanks for the great explanation. It’s a really useful to have this information before starting my PE program

Alex (tb87) -

Sorry I missed your post, I was on vacation at the time and didn’t go back and read the hundreds of messages that were posted while I was gone. (But I see you haven’t been back since May 19, so I guess it’s OK.)

If you know how to do the kegel exercise then you’re probably contracting it correctly. Since it surrounds erectile tissue it wouldn’t be unusual to “not feel” it when it was contracted in a flaccid state. Perhaps that’s why putting external pressure on it with the tennis ball allow you to feel the contraction better. I don’t think it matters if the length of contraction changes now and then. As long as you’re exercising it then you should get the benefits.

Wait I thought the bc muscle forced urine out and the pc stopped urine flow?

The pubococcygeus (PC) muscle isn’t involved in urine flow at all. One of the main functions of the PC is to pull the rectum back up into the body after a bowel movement. The bulbocavernosus (BC, more correctly called the bulbospongeosus) can squeeze out urine if a man has recently urinated, but its main functions are to compress the bulb of the penis which makes the glans enlarge and become rigid and to force semen out of the urethra at ejaculation.

The urinary bladder has a sphincter muscle that starts and stops urine flow. We tell guys to consciously stop urine flow so they know what a kegel feels like, but the muscles involved don’t really have anything to do with urine flow.

Hey WestLA,

First of all, congratulations on the divine clarity of the »lecture«.
I don’t know if you still read the thread, but if you do, I have 2 simple questions for you:

1. There is a thread about the so-called IC (Ischiocavernosus) muscle – Kegel - the secret revealed – started by Matt356. Unfortunately, he does not have your writing abilities, but his general point is that the IC muscle is somehow even more important than the BC-muscle that you are talking about.
Since his efforts to help us locate the muscle or to advise us how to train it are somehow »esoteric«, I.e. Not really simple and unambiguous, I want to ask you the following: Is it a FACT, that, like you stated above, when one is waving his penis (thus engaging the BC-muscle), the IC-muscle automatically comes »into play« - which would mean that all the confusion from the thread mentioned above can thus be fairly simply resolved?

2. Can one or can one not »shoot farther« with a strong BC-muscle? (And, if it is not too much of drag for you, could you explicitly write down the benefits from having a strong BC- and a strong IC-muscle? (Or both?))

Thanks in advance for the answers, Naybolji

In defense of Matt356, English is not his primary language. So his explanation may not be as clear as it could be.

1. I want to ask you the following: Is it a FACT, that, like you stated above, when one is waving his penis (thus engaging the BC-muscle), the IC-muscle automatically comes »into play« - which would mean that all the confusion from the thread mentioned above can thus be fairly simply resolved?

As Matt356 points out, the BC (bulbocavernosus, but more correctly the bulbospongiosus) muscles help force urine and semen through the urethra and also help the corpus spongiosum become harder during ejaculation. The IC (ischiocavernosus) muscles compress the inner parts of the corpora cavernosa and make the main erectile chambers harder during ejaculation. Both are innervated by the same nerve.

See this table:

The BC/BS muscles (there are actually two, one on each side, but they’re interconnected and work as one) are larger and closer to the perineum and therefore and may be easier to discern and control consciously. But they all receive the same nerve stimulus and contract at the same time.

2. Can one or can one not »shoot farther« with a strong BC-muscle? (And, if it is not too much of drag for you, could you explicitly write down the benefits from having a strong BC- and a strong IC-muscle? (Or both?))

Well, the benefits, as pointed out by Matt356, is harder erections. Also, having a stronger BC/BS muscle will, or should, force semen through the urethra with more force. I believe there is a limit, however. It may be possible for too many kegels to cause the BC/BS to enlarge and actually constrict the urethra during ejaculation. That may not be a problem for very many, but it’s my believe (and not proved scientifically) that it could be a problem.

So daily, multi-rep sets of kegels may be beneficial for men who have never done them. But too many may cause problems. I’d suggest once you see an improvement in erection quality and/or ejaculation strength that your kegel exercises be done in a maintenance fashion (once or twice a week, or less) to avoid problems.

This last bit comes from my personal experience. I did kegels quite a bit over the past few years and now my ejaculations “feel” strong, but the semen only dribbles out. (I’ll be 60 next year, so that may have something to do with it.)

If you’re out to make babies then dribbling semen will work just as well as semen that’s shot out in a jet. If you’re going only for the visual effect, then you might want to consider a moderate kegel routine rather than a very strenuous one. Either way kegels will help with erection quality and strength.

I just read your article on locating the bc muscle and found it informative to say the least.

Great work,

Thank you!