average guy with a question

Sihobin: Im an average 24 year old guy (both personality wise and penis wise (6"x5")) and recently I have started hitting the gym ALOT. Being somewhat overweight i began to fear what my life would become if I continued on that same path. Good news is that Ive lost 70 lbs and Im on way to a new me. But my question involves the locker rooms. I seem to always get an erection in the locker room, and I try my best to hide it. I am straight, and the fact that it happens even when Im alone in the locker room shows that it isn't the other guys causing it. I am somewhat shy when it comes to full nudity (I could count on one hand the number of people who have seen me naked since puberty), but ironically I have no problems at all down to my underwear. Being a Psychologist in training (graduated from Undergrad two weeks ago, entering the Doctorate program in Fall of 2004) I usually rationalize it as a response from not being from a family open to nudity (my own brother has seen me naked one time and that was years ago). Ergo, nudity in my mind is a taboo, and equated with sex. Naturally causing a sexual response when the nudity presents its self. What Im wondering is ... does this sort of thing happen often to other guys? Ive never seen anyone with an erection in a locker room before. Or maybe my erections stem from my embarassment. I don't know ... maybe Im just weird. Any advice, anecdotes, or what have you, would be greatly appreciated.

Well, needless to say, I'm proud that you're demonstrating such initiative in getting yourself into better shape. Your heart and your self-confidence will thank you in the long run.

As for the erections, I'm glad you supplied us with some personal background info, but did you ever think that it just might be okay to get an erection in the presence of others? Doesn't sound like you're getting aroused from the company of the other men, so you don't have the sexuality to worry about. I keep hearing from other men that various states of arousal are common in the locker room. Chalk it up to increased blood flow, seriously; you've spent a significant amount of time in your work, and with your muscles getting the good workout, the following symptoms make sense: increased blood flow, awareness, a surge in active energy, rises in testosterone, protein synthesization... and a woody.

So don't worry about it. Unless someone gets in your face and gives you grief about it, just realize that nobody's too worried about your wood.

biglittle1: I have found out from my own experience that the relaxation effect after a good strenuous workout caused spontaneous erections for me as well...... sometimes the scent of my sweaty bod or clothes or just the saunas or the hot water in the shower was enough to set me off.... If an unexpected erection is the worst side effect of excersize I think we would all take our workout regimes more seriously.

Can I get a spotter here?

bl1

I think you have sorted out the why pretty well. The more showers you take at the gym and the less quickly you run for your shorts the more at ease you will become.
This is all new to your dick as well so the minute you off the shorts and jump in the shower he has to decide what is appropriate...when in doubt pop a woodie. After the novelty wears off he will figure it is a waste of energy (sort of a joke)
A warm shower after a work out feels good so enjoy it a dont sweat the erection. The more attention you pay to it the more others will look. It happens...thankfully!

Sihobin: Thanks for the input. While in school part of the psy. program were monthly trips to the in house Mental Health Clinic. Ive always said you cant properly treat a patient if you havent been in their shoes, so these trips in my opinion are a good thing. But, back on topic, during one such visit I was asked to name three aspects of my life that I found to be embarassing. My locker room/nudity issues were one of those I listed. Over the next three visits we looked at each of them, and formulated possible solutions. When the last visit came, regarding my nudity issues, the doc told me to find a trusted individual and just go naked for as long as I felt comfortable in their presence. I thought it was kind of overkill for such a small problem but now Iam thinking I should think about it more. The doc told me of a swimmer he treated in the 70's who had issues along the same lines. Not only did he have feelings of anxiety, the thoughts were affecting his performance. Treatment involved exposure therapy where the swimmer went into a locker room and stayed naked all day long. After this exposure therapy (in-vivo systematic desensitization as we call it in the field) this individual overcame his shyness and went on to win some big national swimming competition. So maybe I should try this on a smaller scale, but I think it would be kind of weird asking a friend, "Hey, care if I come over to your place and go naked all day?". There I go off topic again, anyways thanks for the advice, and feel free to leave more.

AnonyMs: Sihobin: I am sure there are many on this board who would be pleased to have you in the buff hang around their house all day. After all, what is support for if not for helping out a bud in need? :D

Sihobin: Sorry AnonyMs but I'm somewhat of a connisure (never could spell that word) of anonmity (nor that one), hell I have four indentities I use online complete with names, addresses, email, etc. I usually route my internet connection through numerous proxies as well. The only time I use real names, addresses, etc. is when Im ordering online, and then I only do business with companies using 128bit encryption or higher. In today's age of identity theft you can never be too careful. That and if you can successfully pull off the "mysterious" archetype it drives the ladies wild. Besides if I were to decide to go naked somewhere it would probably be a suana somewhere or locker room whirlpool where nudity was permitted under normal circumstances. Like I said going and asking someone if I could go naked at their house is a bit weird.

H8Monga: *connoisseur*

... or you are a famous star and don't want us to know!

I'll keep your secret! :-X

Sihobin: No famous rock star here, just an average joe. Well not completely average, I am a member of Mensa. So if my average penis doesnt WOW her maybe my IQ that is in the top 2% of the global population will WOW her. Then I can walk around naked at her place.


Note: "Her" doesnt refer to any particular girl, it did at one time, but now shes gone. OK now Im depressed.

H8Monga: Stephen Hawking?!

My intelligence is debatable.

One thing I really like about this board is the variety of people who are intelligent and have achievements in life.

Good luck in solving your problem. I am too shy to be naked around anyone these days. I was used to it during middle school gym, but things were also different then. It might be that you equate nudity with sex, a lot of people seem to. And it has only happened at the gym? Not at home?

Sihobin: Nudity at home isnt really common for me, unless Im home alone, and even then it is only a trip from the bathroom to the bedroom. My dad has not seen me naked since before puberty, and my brother has only seen me naked once on accident when a neighbor and him (both 15 at the time) walked in on me drying off in my room. And as I said in my first post I could count on one hand the number of people who have seen me naked. But back to your question, yeah it happens at home too. But not as often, perhaps because at home Im not focused on it like I am in a locker room. Also to elaborate on my first post, underwear has never been a problem for me. I could strip down to my underwear in front of almost anyone. Obviously it would be easier in front of people I knew, but it isnt a problem in the locker room either seeing I most often walk to the shower with them on.

H8Monga: Maybe it's that when you strip nude, you may be thinking sexually. I guess the easiest thing to suggest is to try to think of something else... anything non-sexual to keep your mind off the awareness of being exposed. I take it you don't live alone to walk around in the nude.

Sihobin: Nah, I just finished college and Im planning on hanging around home for a bit until I begin my graduate program. So Im usually home alone for shower time so going from the bathroom to the bedroom naked is not a big deal, but otherwise no I dont have the time to walk around naked. I thought Id get over any shyness issues I had living in an all male dorm, but our floor was very quiet and reserved, and since no one else was walking down the halls naked I was not going to be the first. Really and truly my only real experience with nudity has been within the confines of a locker room.

hungcuriousNC: Well, let me be the cherry in the bunch.... My problem is that those types of areas are a turn on for me. Now just imagine the movie Porky's.... Okay, I would be Lassie. The sheer excitement of fantasy being played out is what gets me going. And then, you all can identify with me, the more I try to NOT think of those things, the more harder my dick gets. I've all but had to stop going to the gym b/c of this. LOL It's a problem at times, and then again, it's not. I kinda like it in my sick tormented way. LOL Can anyone identify?

chicagoil: I can relate to you. I get semi hard most times when I'm at the gym taking a shower, getting dressed, etc. And I'm at the gym quite often - 5-4 times a week. So even with the frequency of my visits, I still haven't gotten quite used to it.

Most of it is my shyness when I'm nude. I too think of nudity as a sexual thing. I didn't play sports in school, so I never had the occasion to take showers with other guys before I started working out at the gym as an adult. So I never had that conditioning. But the sexual part is a big part of it too. When I see other guys' dicks, I am turned on by the sight of some of them, so naturally I can't help my reaction - an erection. But the general sexual nature of a nude guy - seeing his sexual organ and the part of his body that gives him sexual pleasure causes this response.

Most of the time I'm able to cover up. I am not huge by any means, so this helps. Most of the time I cover up with a towel wrapped around my waist, and if anybody has seen my semi-hard on under my towel - if they were able to tell I was getting an erection - nobody has ever said anything. Or I cover it up in other clever ways - carrying my toiletries bag in front of my crotch or the boxers I've removed before taking my shower.

I too get nervous that somebody would say something if I sported an erection in the locker room. But like some other guys have said, even a hard penis is a natural thing, so I don't think anybody would say anything. I would certainly notice something like that, but probably wouldn't have the guts to say something to the guy.