Most male fears revolve around satisfying women in bed. This is as a result of man’s innate desire to perform optimally sexually, accompanied with the unfortunate reality that a lot of men actually find it difficult to fulfill their partners’ sexual needs.
Hence, men tend to resort to several ways to help them achieve optimal performance in the bedroom, either by addressing the primary cause or seeking innovative ways to step up their sexual game.
At the end of this brief guide, you’d have become more knowledgeable about male performance and various aspects of it, including common misconceptions, several factors that affect it, and how to improve it.
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Male Sexual Performance Explained
Male performance is simply man’s ability to attain and maintain optimal sexual stamina. It’s often said that man’s ability to “perform” is often innate, meaning he’s born with it and will only lose it when he dies. And because we’re all different, it’s only natural that men have varying sexual stamina and libido.
There are several wrong or misconstrued perceptions about male performance – like how long it takes to delay and eventually reach orgasm. These misconceptions are partly as a result of the ubiquitous availability of adult movies showing men who last for hours and hours.
These have shaped how women feel about men’s performance, and have put even more pressure on man. In the final analysis, not all men are built the same. Some can last longer, resulting in great performance in the sack, others, not so much. The good news is there’s a wide range of male sexual enhancement aids that can improve the average man’s performance, thus turning him into a stud of sorts.
How the Brain Affects Male Performance
You’ve probably heard it before: the brain is the largest – and most important – sexual organ. This is true; the brain controls your libido, and has great influence on your sexual performance.
How exactly? Well, the two parts of the brain that affect male performance are the limbic system and cerebral cortex.
The cerebral cortex controls every form of thinking, which is a primary brain function. These thoughts include sexual thoughts too, which in turn causes sexual arousal. This sexual arousal allows for interaction between the cerebral cortex and brain nerves, which causes increase in pulse rate and blood flow into sex organs. The result of which is arousal and erection.
The limbic system on the other hand, is made up of the amygdala, hypothalamus, hippocampus and other parts which control your emotion, trigger the production of hormones like the testosterone and other mental processes, including sexual urge. Combined together, these complement each other to trigger and sustain sexual arousal.
The Link Between Male Performance and Testosterone
Controlled by the brain’s hypothalamus and produced mainly in the testes, testosterone is a sex hormone predominantly found in males –and to a lesser degree in women- that is important for sexual and reproductive development. It influences sexual drive and the production of sperm.
Other than sexual desire and development, testosterone also controls man’s physical and secondary sexual features as well as his moods. However, the ability to produce testosterone decreases with age in men. Studies by the American Urological Association have proven that two out of 10 men over the age of 60 suffer from low testosterone.
The lower your testosterone level, the lower your libido and sperm count, and this ultimately leads to poor sexual performance. Erectile dysfunction may then occur as a result of persistent low sex drive as well as the absence of adequate nitric oxide levels.
Other than age, some other factors that may affect testosterone production include: chemotherapy, damage to the testicular cell, diseases, inflammation, mental conditions affecting the hypothalamus, and so on.
Bottom line, testosterone regulates your sex drive. So, if you have lower testosterone production levels, you’re bound to experience lackluster sexual drive and performance.
Does Weight Loss Affect Male Performance?
Quick answer: Yes.
Long answer: It does so in 2 ways. Being overweight gets cholesterol deposited in your genitals. This in turn negatively affects the flow of blood to your genitals during erection.
Secondly, being overweight lowers your testosterone levels. This affects your ability to have an erection, which eventually lowers male performance.
It’s not a hopeless case however; losing weight gets rid of the cholesterol deposits in the genitals and thereby leads to the free flow of blood to the genitals. Getting rid of excess weight also raises testosterone levels and – as you already know – increases the sex drive necessary to enhance male performance.
But this isn’t a hard and fast rule. Being overweight doesn’t always cause low male performance. It wouldn’t be the entire truth to say or believe otherwise. While the link between excess weight and low male performance has been proven, there still are overweight people with optimal male performance.
Medical Conditions that May Affect Male Performance
Several medical conditions have also been proven to adversely affect male performance. Some of these conditions are:
Depression
Depression affects every single part of your life, and that includes your sexual life. It does this by affecting your mental process (remember the limbic system?) which in turn reduces your sexual desire. This ultimately leads to low male performance.
Unfortunately, sex can boost your mood and improve your relationships but some anti-depressants can curb your sexual urge. It’s such a depressing cycle (pun unintended).
Sleep apnea
According to HuffingtonPost,
“Studies have shown that low testosterone levels frequently occur in men with obstructive sleep apnea. Men with obstructive sleep apnea are also more likely to suffer from complications to their sexual function, including low libido, erectile dysfunction and impotence.”
In summary, sleep apnea lowers your testosterone levels, and in essence, lowers your sex urge and male performance.
Hypertension/High blood pressure
When your blood pressure is too high it damages your vascular system and therefore reduces your ability to experience an erection. (Remember blood has to flow freely to your genitals to become erect?)
Diabetes
Diabetes also damages your vascular system, and you already know how that works: inability to get an erection.
Other than diseases and medical conditions, certain medications may also lower male performance. Unfortunately, some of the medications used to treat some of the medical conditions listed above are culprits, including medications for hypertension.
Foods that Enhance Male Performance
The story of male performance is not all doom. There are several ways to improve male performance, and food is one.
There are certain foods that basically boost your body’s ability to produce testosterone hormone, and in effect, improve your male performance. These foods can greatly complement medical assistance, prescription meds or supplements for erectile dysfunction. They include:
Beans
Almost all types of beans – kidney, white, and black– contain nutrients like zinc and vitamin D and supply the body adequately with them when consumed. These nutrients increase the body’s ability to produce testosterone and increase libido.
Fortified cereals
Fortified cereals help in reducing blood cholesterol. This in turn reduces the chances of cholesterol deposits in your genitals and improves blood flow to your organs to facilitate erection.
Beef
While consumption of red meat is highly discouraged, some parts of the animal, like liver (which contains vitamin D) will help to improve the production of testosterone in your body.
Oyster
Also rich in zinc, which regulates the male hormones, including testosterone.
Tuna
This vitamin D-enriched food both enhances production of testosterone, and also boosts the efficiency of your heart in pumping blood to your genitals for erection, by virtue of tuna being low in calorie and rich in protein.
The Effect of Exercise on Male Performance
The vital role of physical exercise in improving male performance cannot be overemphasized. Exercising helps you shed off excess weight and cholesterol, thereby preventing deposits to your genitals and allowing for free flow of blood in the body, including the male organ for proper erection.
More so, physical exercise increases your ability to tolerate stress, builds your physical stamina and floods your body with endorphins –the feel good hormones. As a result, you’re less likely to pack on more pounds, or suffer depression (endorphins typically counter the effects of cortisol, the stress and depression related hormone).
Naturally, because your brain will be functioning at optimal levels, your sex related organs should also experience an uptick in performance.
Male Sexual Supplements and Male Performance
One great, proven way to enhance male performance in short and medium terms, is to tackle low testosterone levels by using proven testosterone boosting supplements. Aptly called testosterone boosters, these are natural supplements that can increase your testosterone levels.
Majority of these male supplements work by directly boosting low testosterone levels. Others instead, serve to prevent existing testosterone from being converted to estrogen (the female sex hormone).
You have to be careful in your selection of male supplements however. While some are clinically tested and scientifically verified, many others are mere scams and are in fact dangerous to the health. So do your due diligence before choosing a male supplement.
Final Thoughts
As you can now see, male performance is vital to your existence as a man: ensures a fulfilling sex life and happy relationship or marriage. Even though it naturally reduces with age you can still make the best use of it and enjoy optimal male performance for a long time.
It all boils down to few things like eating healthy, exercising, avoiding or controlling stress, and avoiding testosterone-killing medications or treatments.
