Why “anal training” is paramount when bottoming

Anal training. Ever heard of it?

WORDS BY BOBBY BOX
HEADER DESIGN BY ANISA CLEAVER 

While it’s a concept many might not be familiar with, it’s significant to a well-prepared and pleasurable anal sex experience. This is especially true if you’re new to anal sex, you’re looking to graduate to larger sizes or more extreme acts like fisting, or it’s been a while since you’ve last had something in your ass.

Anal training is the practice of gradually dilating your booty hole at a comfortable pace so you don’t experience pain or discomfort during anal intercourse. As pleasurable as anal sex can be, the fact of the matter is that it’s still a high-pressure act that’s susceptible to injuries and afflictions like microtears, hemorrhoids, skin tags, and fissures.

The muscles that require anal training are the anal sphincter muscles, which are a little over an inch inside your butt. Both the internal and external sphincter muscles form a ring around the anus, and their primary function is to prevent you from unexpectedly farting and shitting yourself.

This is to say they’re used to being closed tight the majority of the time, so when you suddenly attempt to penetrate these muscles, they can get shocked, in a sense, and become sore as a result. Kind of like when you lift too heavy at the gym and your muscles are sore the next day.

The anal sphincter, like all muscles, requires training to perform at their best. Only instead of lifting weights, anal training uses toys and penises to stretch the muscles and help them relax for penetration. And instead of progressing toward heavier weights, the goal of anal training is often to progress toward larger sizes.

Not only does anal training help the muscles relax, it also allows for skin elasticity and toughness courtesy of the friction and continual stretching involved with anal training. Both factors will also help prevent injury.

Anal Training 101

As a concept, anal training is simple. Start with a small toy, and gradually work your way toward larger sizes as your body gets comfortable. Anal training usually takes anywhere from four to six weeks, with each dilation session lasting about three to five minutes.

During these sessions, you will insert a toy to its widest point (or where it’s comfortable) and remove the toy, repeating this process 15 times for two sets. Stick with each toy for roughly two weeks. Though you will likely feel that you can upsize earlier, you want the muscle memory to understand relaxation.

These are just general guidelines, however, and some people have different goals and different holes. Some people’s skin and muscles are tighter than others, so if you take a little longer than expected, be gentle and don’t give up.

At no point in this experience should you feel pain. Some initial discomfort might occur as you initially enter and stretch the sphincter muscles, but this sensation should be fairly dull. If it feels intense, take a step back and only penetrate as far as is comfortable. When met with resistance, try leaving the toy inside for a few seconds so your muscles can relax, and press forward only when you’re ready.

If you’re worried that anal training will make your hole too relaxed (though it likely won’t: the anal sphincter is four times stronger than it needs to be) you can rectify this by repeatedly inserting your favourite anal toy and squeezing the sphincter muscles around it.

The Necessary Tools

Before you even consider putting a toy or penis in your butt, make sure it is liberally lubricated, as our bums don’t lubricate themselves enough to ease the friction of anal intercourse.

If you’re using a toy made from silicone, abstain from using silicone lubricants as they are not compatible. This lube can actually reduce the integrity of your silicone toy over time. When in doubt, a thick water-based lubricant is your safest bet.

When it comes to the toy, you want one that is small at the tip and grows larger toward the base, since experiencing gradual girth will be a lot more comfortable. You also need a toy with a flared base, so you don’t lose it inside you. You see, your booty acts like a vacuum beyond the sphincter muscles and will suck up whatever is inserted inside. The flared base prevents this from happening.

When you’re upsizing, aim for a toy that is roughly a finger wider than the last so you don’t jump too far ahead and hurt yourself. Admittedly, when shopping for anal toys, people’s eyes are bigger than their holes.

Fortunately, there are kits solely created for anal training purposes. For example, the Anal Training Kit and Education Set by b-Vibe includes three toys of graduated sizes, as well as a lubricant applicator, enema bulb, and a 50+ page guide to anal sex written by certified educators. There are also a number of different dilation sets and even prostate training kits available for similar purposes. Or, you can purchase larger sized toys as you’re ready to upsize.

This may seem like a lot of work, but it only gets quicker and easier as you progress, and it’s what’s best for your hole. Unfortunately, we were never taught much of anything about anal sex, so many people have no way of knowing what’s right and wrong without experiencing it first-hand, which can in some cases be quite traumatic.

So I want to applaud you for reading this article and proactively educating yourself on how to properly train for a fantastic anal f*cking. Give yourselves a pat on the back, or perhaps a modest-sized toy in the hole.

The post Why “anal training” is paramount when bottoming appeared first on GAY TIMES.