Many men look for advice on keeping their erections hard and strong, because it’s a big part of great sex. Soft erections, or erections that won’t stay hard for as long as you want, may mean that a few things in your life need to be changed. The great news is that as long as you do not have serious medical problems, you can get harder erections.
What creates strong, hard erections?
Physically, an erection happens when a strong current of blood flows to the penis. This blood flow is triggered by your mind and your body’s response to being turned on. When people ask how to get a harder erection, it’s probably because either the mind or the body isn’t doing what it should! Again, if you don’t have major medical issues, you can do things to make your erection stronger.
Research on weak erections
Most of the research available on erections has to do with erectile dysfunction. But you don’t have to have erectile dysfunction to still suffer from soft erections. A harder erection will improve your sex life. You can do things to increase blood flow and help your body respond better when turned on. This in turn will make your erections stronger, last longer, and lead to great sex.
Some of the research on weak erections shows:
- Weak erections are not a new problem.
- Weak erections are mostly caused by low blood flow to the penis.
- This condition can affect men who heavily use drugs and stimulants.
- Men who are overweight may experience weak or soft erections.
- Men can get a harder erection by changing their lifestyles and improving their health.
As many as 52% of men over the age of 40 may have some amount of erectile dysfunction. According to an amino acids research team, causes of erectile dysfunction are either cardiovascular, hormonal, psychological, due to side effects, or physical.
The best thing to do is try male enhancement pills or talk with your doctor when you start seeing the signs of a weak erection. The tips below are general tips and are not intended to treat serious medical issues.
How to get harder erections
If you know that in order to get a harder erection, you are going to need to make some lifestyle changes, start here. These simple changes are easy to make and will improve your life all around. Men with great sex lives and strong erections benefit from good nutrition and a healthy mind and body. Studies show that the following simple actions can lead to stronger, healthier blood flow and circulation. This is the key to a better, longer-lasting erection.
#1: Improve your nutrition and diet right away
Food and diet play a big role in our health. In order to improve erections and have a healthy sex life, you have to try to improve your diet. A healthy diet includes lots of water, which increases circulation. It also includes protein for muscle growth, collagen for tissue, and vegetables and fruit for vitamins. Supplements work if your diet is limited by allergies or something else you can’t avoid.
Poor nutrition causes a number of issues in the body. This includes soft erections or erectile dysfunction. When thinking about how get a harder erection, think about how the body works. An erection requires strong blood flow and a healthy mind. Here are a few ways to change your diet for the better in order to get a harder erection.
- Cut out sugar. A diet heavy in sugar can lead to obesity. It can also interfere with sleep, which is important for a healthy mind. Sugar can block efforts to build muscle through strength training, too.
- Drink more water. Again, if you want to get a harder erection, you need to make sure blood flow and circulation in your body are healthy. Drink water to stay hydrated and maintain healthy flow of blood. Drinking water will help get rid of toxins in the blood stream, also.
- Eat regularly. Eat regularly to keep your blood sugar level. Low blood sugar and energy levels may make it hard to get or keep a strong erection.
- Stay away from fatty, fried food. These foods can restrict circulation and blood flow. Stick to foods that are cooked in healthy ways, such as steaming, baking, or grilling.
- Eat more fiber. Foods high in fiber fight bad cholesterol and and add good cholesterol to your diet. Bananas, oatmeal, apples, beans and popcorn are high in fiber and are fun to eat, as well.
#2: Reduce anxiety and stress
Sex is both a mind and body activity. If you are distracted, stressed out, or anxious, you may find yourself losing an erection. This is why staying stress free is a good way to get a harder erection. But keeping stress and anxiety low can be hard. Here are some ways to keep stress to a minimum in your life.
- Work out more (every day). This is good advice if you are trying to improve your sexual health and get harder erections. You will reduce stress, increase testosterone, lose weight, and improve blood flow.
- Relax more. If your lifestyle is very intense and you do not have a way to relax, you need to find one. Reading quietly and watching television (in the living room, not the bedroom) are great ways to relax. Playing a musical instrument, like a guitar, helps, too. Taking a walk is a good way to relax and exercise at the same time.
- See a therapist. It’s more and more common these days to see a therapist for anxiety or stress. Try it out. A good therapist will give you advice on how to reduce anxiety at home. If your anxiety is sex-related, see a therapist that specializes in sex therapy.
#3: Talk to your doctor about testosterone
Testosterone plays a role in sexual health. Increasing or maintaining strong testosterone levels is one of the most common considerations in thinking about how to get a harder erection. According to WebMD, testosterone in men begins to go down after 50 years old. However, younger men may have lower than usual testosterone for other reasons. If you are for some reason unable to get a hard erection, this may be an indicator of low testosterone.
While getting a harder erection has more to do with blood flow than anything else, low testosterone can certainly impact it. Talk to your doctor to figure out if you might have a testosterone issue. For example, if you have a low libido AND are unable to get a hard enough erection, testosterone therapy may help. Research shows that testosterone treatments may not help at all with how to get a harder erection if you already have normal levels.
Still, per a quote published on Harvard Health Blog by Dr. Abraham Morgentaler, “…testosterone by itself, for men with sexual dysfunction that includes erectile dysfunction, can improve erections in the majority of men who take it.”
#4: Exercise every day
Exercise is one of the best tips for how to get a harder erection. There are a few strong reasons for that. One is that exercise boosts circulation – the blood and oxygen running through your body. If you have a circulation problem that cuts of blood flow to your penis, you’ll probably experience issues before or during sex. This can be frustrating, but there are things you can do to fix blood flow problems. You will also feel much better after exercising. This is yet another reason to add exercise to your daily habits.
Three exercises that improve blood flow:
- Stretching: Stretching often helps fix any blood flow problems caused by muscle or scar tissue. Try standing up tall (like in Mountain Pose in yoga). Put your hands on your hips and lean backward a little bit. Keep your hips where they are and continue to lean your upper body backward. Do this four or five times. Next, while standing tall, stretch one arm overhead, leaning in the opposite direction. Hold for five to ten seconds. Repeat with the opposite arm.
- Jump roping or jumping jacks: These low impact aerobic exercises get your heart pumping, which increases circulation all through the body. Try doing 25 to 50 jumping jacks per day, or substitute with jump roping.
- Swimming: Swimming is a total body workout that has many benefits. Swimming will help tone your body while lengthening (stretching) it and increasing blood flow. This is a low impact exercise, too, so if you have injuries to your knees or feet swimming is a good choice.
There is another reason exercise is a good choice when thinking about how to get a harder erection. Exercise helps you lose weight. Weight is one of the things that impacts erections. If you are overweight and suffer from soft erections or are not able to get as hard of an erection as you would like, try losing weight. See if that does not improve your sex life.
Lastly, exercise boosts testosterone. This is true for both men and women but is especially true for men. Strength training is a great way to increase testosterone in the body. If you have soft erections due to low testosterone, talk to your doctor. He or she may suggest exercise before medical treatments. Exercise is cheaper than testosterone treatment. It could be the missing key to your sexual health.
#5: Stop smoking and reduce how much you drink
If you’re truly interested in how to get a harder erection, consider reducing toxins. Research says that smoking, excess drinking, and substance abuse impact erections. Consider this: an erection is a result of blood flow to the penis. When toxins enter the bloodstream, those toxins affect blood flow. Smoking brings nicotine into the bloodstream.
Here’s what Healthline.com has to say about how smoking can impact erections:
“Even if the nervous system is operating at full strength, an erection might not be physically possible if the blood vessels are unhealthy due to smoking.”
Whether you have complete erectile dysfunction, or just cannot keep your erection hard, there is a link between that and toxins in the blood or weak blood vessels. Alcohol and or other substances do, too. If you have soft erections, try to reduce the amount of toxins you are putting in your body.
Here are some ideas, if the thought of completely stopping smoking or drinking turns you off:
- Smoke less and do not smoke before sex.
- Cut back your drinking by one or two days a week.
- Enroll in a program to help you quit smoking.
- Switch from liquor-based drinks to wine.
#6: Try a New Diet
The last tip for how to get a harder erection has to do with trying out a new diet. As we mentioned earlier, what you eat has an impact on your erection. Beyond eating for health, the website Anabolic Men says that there are foods you can eat to actually make your erection harder. According to the site, nine foods boost blood flow, which is important if you want to learn how to get a harder erection.
The nine foods the website lists are garlic, citrus fruits, oysters, beets, blueberries, leafy greens, dark chocolate, chili peppers, and pomegranate.
Along with adding variety to your diet, these foods are healthy and will help you lose weight, if that’s necessary.
Try these recipes to get your blood pumping and help get a harder erection:
- Baby spinach and kale salad with beets or blueberries
- Raw oysters with a garlic-lemon dressing
- A blueberry-lemon Greek yogurt smoothie
- A bowl of pomegranate seeds with fresh lemon juice
- Dark chocolate
Bonus: Think Positively
The bonus tip for how to get a harder erection is simple: think positively about your sex life. If you have guilt about sex, change what you need to in order to feel less guilty. This may mean giving up cheating, or even just letting go of hurt from past relationships. Healthy sex starts in the mind. You can improve the way your body responds when you’re turned on by making sure your thoughts about sex are healthy and positive.