Frequently asked questions

Very common. In the PEPA survey of 12,133 men aged 18 to 70 in the US, Germany and Italy, 22.7% met the criteria for premature ejaculation. In the Massachusetts Male Aging Study of 1,290 men aged 40 to 70, 52% reported some degree of erectile dysfunction.

Self-help methods that have been studied include pelvic floor training, aerobic exercise such as running, and behavioral techniques like start-stop. The studies are mostly small and results differ from man to man. If the problem persists or started suddenly, see a urologist; medication and counseling are options too.

In an Italian study of 40 men with lifelong premature ejaculation (Pastore et al., 2014), 33 reported being able to control ejaculation after 12 weeks of pelvic floor training. The study had no control group, and the authors call for larger trials. If PE keeps bothering you, a doctor can help.

Aerobic exercise (around 160 minutes a week), pelvic floor training, and diet plus exercise to lose weight have all been studied. In a randomized trial of 110 obese men (Esposito et al., 2004), about a third of the lifestyle group had erectile function scores in the normal range after 2 years. ED can also be an early sign of heart or blood vessel disease, so have the cause checked by a doctor.

In a UK randomized controlled trial of 55 men (Dorey et al., 2004), the group that did pelvic floor training had better erectile function scores. It was a small, supervised study, and ED has many causes: blood vessels, nerves, hormones and stress among them. If ED is bothering you, see a doctor first.

Studies on ED, PE and exercise also looked at aerobic exercise (around 150 minutes a week) and aerobic exercise combined with strength training. They are mostly small studies, and exercise is not a replacement for medical care. Our weekly exercise plan puts the three together.

We can't promise a cure. Men's Core is a site and app for men dealing with ED or PE, built around methods that research has reported to help. In clinical trials, pelvic floor training and aerobic exercise have been linked to changes in erectile function and ejaculatory control, and we offer them as science-based training. Most of these studies are small, and the same results are not guaranteed for everyone. Men's Core is not a medical device or a substitute for medical care, so if symptoms continue, consider seeing a doctor as well.

Kegels train the pelvic floor muscles (often called the PC muscles) by squeezing and relaxing them in turns. They are named after Arnold Kegel, the American doctor who popularized them in 1948, and they have been studied in men as training for the muscles involved in erection and ejaculation.

They are the muscles you use to hold in gas: squeeze around your back passage and lift it inward. In a mirror, the base of the penis rises slightly when you squeeze. If your belly, buttocks and thighs stay relaxed and you feel a lift around the anus, you are using the right muscles.

A common starting point is one set of 8 to 10 squeezes, each held for a few seconds and relaxed for the same time, three times a day (for example morning, noon and night). One or two sets a day is fine at first. Most studies in men with ED or PE kept up daily training for about 12 weeks.

Most studies measured results after about 12 weeks (3 months). People vary a lot. If nothing has changed by then, or the problem keeps bothering you, talk to a urologist or your doctor.

Four things: holding your breath (it pushes down on the pelvic floor), tensing your belly or buttocks (big muscles take over the work), repeatedly stopping your urine mid-stream as practice (the bladder may not empty fully), and continuing through pain. If you have had surgery, ask your surgeon before you start.

PC stands for pubococcygeus, the part of the pelvic floor that runs from the pubic bone to the tailbone. People often use "PC muscle" for the whole pelvic floor, so PC training means the same as Kegel exercises. The bulbospongiosus and ischiocavernosus muscles at the base of the penis are also involved in erection and ejaculation.

Lift your back passage and the base of the penis inward, hold for 3 to 5 seconds, then relax for the same time. Ten reps make a set; aim for three sets a day and build up to 8 to 10 second holds. Keep your buttocks, thighs and belly relaxed and keep breathing.

It listens to your concerns and explains the options, such as seeing a doctor, medication, diet and lifestyle, based on sourced information. It asks how much time you have each day and how active you are now, then builds a 12-week plan, and after each session you rate it easy, right or hard so it can adjust the next one. You can also just tell it "I'm traveling this week". It keeps what you tell it as short notes on your phone and uses them in later chats. You choose its name when you start. The AI partner cannot diagnose or treat anything, and its answers may contain mistakes; if symptoms bother you, see a doctor.

Yes. Talking to the AI partner, the workouts, the log and the articles on treatments and diet are all free. The app shows ads, but never during a workout. A one-time purchase removes ads; there is no subscription.

Your log and settings stay on your phone, and there is no account. Only when you send a message to the AI partner, and once a day when the app writes your greeting, are that message, recent conversation, short notes kept from your chats (up to 30, which you can view and delete in settings), your plan settings, recent session counts, meal totals and your condition ratings from the past week (mood, energy, sleep and stress, 1-5) sent through our server (AWS) to Anthropic's AI, Claude. Steps and workouts read from Apple Health or Health Connect are never sent to the AI or anyone else, and your training data is never used for ads. Meal photos you send go to the AI in reduced size for analysis only and are not stored. Voice input uses your phone’s speech recognition, and no recording is kept.

Reminders only say "Today's training". The app name on your home screen, Men's Core, does not mention any concern either.