Many of us want to know how to stay harder longer, with maintaining an erection that’s hard enough for sex a common concern.
In these cases, going straight for that little blue pill seems like the obvious decision. In reality, there are plenty of things you can do yourself to keep your dick hard.
Before we dive in, it’s important to understand that erectile issues can occur amongst men of all ages – so if you’re having trouble maintaining an erection, you’re not alone.
So, without further ado, here’s how to keep an erection for longer.
Understanding erectile dysfunction (ED)
Whether it’s the inability to get hard after too much alcohol, or a one-off experience, the term ‘erectile dysfunction’ is not something we want to hear. The problem is, when we think about ‘ED’ we believe our sex lives are over.
Don’t worry, this is not the case! Far from it.
However, erectile dysfunction is more of a spectrum than a one-size-fits-all approach. For some of us, it’s not being able to get hard at all, while for others it may be the difficulty maintaining an erection long enough for sex.
Either way, a lot goes into getting it up. Your head, heart, hormones and blood vessels need to work together in order to get hot and sweaty between the sheets.
So, naturally, when things don’t quite work out as you would have hoped, it can be tempting to jump for medications.
Firstly, stop stressing! Now keep reading to find out how to keep your dick hard.
How to maintain an erection
While erectile dysfunction isn’t necessarily an absolute guarantee with ageing, it’s natural for older men to experience troubles maintaining an erection as they get older.
This is because as we age, our testosterone levels slowly decrease, and the potential for other health concerns to creep in is higher.
So, if you’re wondering how to keep an erection, keep going.
Stay hard with plenty of exercise
While we may not recommend trying to run while your dick’s hard, getting regular exercise will benefit your overall health – and that includes sexual health!
Since regular exercise is associated with cardiovascular health, heading out for a run or hitting the gym will in turn benefit your erections.
Think about it. It’s not just your dick that’s doing the work – since your whole body has to work to send blood flow down there. When something interrupts this pattern, whether an underlying health issue or a psychological factor – maintaining an erection may be difficult.
Also Read: Is your low fat diet affecting your libido?
Many men work themselves up even more after experiencing a single erectile issue. This creates a level of anxiety around their next sexual performance.
However, experiencing ED could be due to an underlying health issue – for example, high blood pressure or heart disease. In order to reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease (and therefore your chances of ED), it’s time to get fit!
While we’d all love a six-pack, improving your erections doesn’t mean needing to hit the gym 24/7. Whether it’s parking further away from the office at work or taking the stairs over the elevator, extra daily activity will gradually improve your fitness level.
So, what should you do? Aim for at least 30mins of moderate-intensity exercise daily. This will help you to keep on top of heart health and boost your erections.
Eat a healthy diet
We all know that processed, fatty foods are bad for us. Nobody said that ordering multiple take-outs each week was going to do us any good – sorry!
So it comes as no surprise that our diets can do a lot to our ability to keep it up. Much like getting exercise to support heart health, when we eat well, our bodies perform how they should. This includes maintaining an erection.
If you’re wondering how to stay harder longer, it may be time to review your diet. A poor diet and low activity levels can restrict blood flow – making it difficult to get hard.
As if we needed any more reasons to eat a healthy diet! Studies have shown that men eating a range of fruit, veg and healthy fats have a reduced risk of ED. But as well as improving your hard-ons, eating well can also reduce your risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes – which are both risk factors for ED.
Unsure how to maintain an erection? Mix up your diet! Here’s how to make small changes for big (boner) improvements:
- Eat fewer processed foods, red meat and sugar
- Reduce your sugar intake in coffee, tea etc
- Either cut out soda and drink more water, or switch to diet soda
- Eat plenty of whole grains and legumes
- Pack more veg into your meals, eating less red meat and more fish and chicken
- Reduce your consumption of processed meats, such as jerky
Reduce alcohol intake
Much like a poor diet, drinking too much alcohol can play havoc with your health – including your ability to stay hard.
While whiskey dick may feel like a one-off occurrence for the light drinkers amongst us, cutting back on the booze can have several benefits.
Not only can cutting back (or cutting out entirely) alcohol can improve your overall health, but it can also improve blood flow and erectile function. So if you’re wondering how to keep your dick hard, it may be time to cut out those weekly beers!
After all, heavy drinkers can also be damaging their liver, nerves and disrupting male sex hormones – making maintaining an erection even harder (no pun intended).
But we don’t mean to be total party poopers! Since the odd beer or two won’t make your boners a total flop, following an alcohol-limited lifestyle will certainly help you get, and stay hard.
Stop smoking
I’m not gonna beat around the bush, if you’re a smoker, you need to stop. Not only will smoking cause long-term damage to your lungs (and your general health) but it can also cause chaos with your blood vessels.
Since your blood vessels are crucial in maintaining an erection, you need to keep them in top working order! So if you’re a regular smoker, cut out nicotine – or you could find your blood vessels are being restricted.
Keep tabs on your weight
When it comes to erectile dysfunction concerns, several things are typically linked – showing symptoms of underlying problems via ED. This is the same for your weight.
If you’re carrying a few extra pounds, not only could you be at risk of type 2 diabetes (which in itself can cause nerve damage and then ED), but you’re also increasing your risk of heart disease.
When you’re having trouble maintaining an erection, improving your overall health and weight will certainly help you get hard and stay that way!
Check your testosterone levels
While low testosterone is possible in younger men, particularly low levels are commonly seen in men over 40. Our T levels start to naturally decrease at around 1% each year as we get older – but you shouldn’t see a significant drop overnight!
During this drop, you may feel like you have no sex drive, can’t perform as long as you used to and have trouble maintaining an erection. If this sounds like you, you could be suffering from low testosterone.
Thankfully, there are some simple habits you can implement to improve performance and stamina and get your energy back!
Ditch bodybuilding steroids
If you’re looking to get hench, it’s understandably tempting to look to anabolic steroids. While poppin’ veins and muscles bigger than Hulk Hogan might be the dream, steroids can have some nasty side effects.
One of which is their ability to shrink your testes, bringing your testosterone production to an abrupt halt. If I were you, I’d cut out the illegal steroids full stop.
Keep stress to a minimum
When you’re having trouble maintaining an erection, you’re naturally going to feel stressed about the situation. This in turn can cause more sexual performance anxiety – which means it’s more likely to happen again.
While life can be pretty stressful sometimes, try to keep stress to a minimum and take some time out for yourself. Studies have shown that stress boosts the hormone adrenaline, which can make your blood vessels contract.
Not what you want when you’re trying to get blood flow down there.
Conclusion
Still trying to work out how to stay harder longer? Following these easy lifestyle changes should set you on the path for getting hard – and staying that way.
By combining a healthy diet with regular exercise and a little self-relaxation, troubles maintaining an erection will be a thing of the past.
Ready to power up your erections?
When you feel as though your sexual performance is flagging and you’re struggling to stay hard, it’s no surprise you feel off your game.
But it doesn’t have to be that way! This is why we created Viasil. Our 100% natural male performance enhancer helps you fight back against ED, so you can jump back in the sack and experience long-lasting sex – with confidence.
