Urologists Have Some Hot Takes on Whether Men Should Sit or Stand to Pee

AROUND THE WORLD—and on Reddit—there’s an eternal debate raging about whether men should sit or stand to pee. In the US, the answer seems like a no-brainer: standing. One YouGov poll found that only 10 percent of American men regularly sit down to pee, while 31 percent said they never do this. (There’s even that viral video years ago of a pastor arguing “a man is someone who pisses against the wall.”)But that same YouGov poll found that where you wee varies. In Germany, 40 percent of guys actually sit down every time to urinate. About 22 percent of Swedish men, for example, sit down every time, but 28 percent sit down most of the time. Entire threads online are devoted to this question, including a hybrid tactic as a compromise in which a guy pees sitting down at home but stands up at a urinal in public.Looking beyond preference, is there a right answer to take a leak? One study published in the journal Neurourology and Urodynamics tried to give a definitive answer. Depending on your camp, the answer might validate what you know—or piss you off.Do You Pee More Sitting or Standing?Researchers had no issue finding 52 guys to sign up for this peeing experiment. These dudes had no prior health issues and were between the ages of 18 and 39. The guys were randomly divided into two groups that sat to urinate. Then they would stand to pee. The other group did the same but in reverse order. Between each change in position was a "washout period" of 24 hours where guys did their business as usual.Researchers tracked how much urine came out and how quickly. So who reigned supreme on the porcelain throne? Well, neither.Sitting or standing to urinate didn’t change how much pee they got out in each session. There was a slight difference in how fast they got to max flow, though. Men were able to reach their peak speed slightly sooner when they peed sitting down, but researchers say this finding was “unlikely to be clinically meaningful and was partly dependent on a single outlier.” Meaning, one guy was pissing really hard while sitting, while everyone else peed at a similar rate and volume no matter what position they did it.The findings are not surprising to S. Adam Ramin, MD, urologist and medical director of Urology Cancer Specialists. “If you're a normal, young, healthy male, it will make no difference whether you sit or stand to urinate,” he says. “You will have a good stream either way.”There’s One Group of Guys That Should Sit to PeeTHE FINDINGS WOULD likely be different for older men, especially those with an enlarged prostate. “Sometimes in older men with an obstructing prostate, sitting to urinate may help them to empty their bladders more effectively as they are able to generate more abdominal force to squeeze the urine out,” says Boback Berookhim, MD, urologist at Northwell’s Lenox Hill Hospital.Are There Any Other Reasons to Change Your Peeing Posture?HEALTHWISE, NOT REALLY. But if you have a certain preference for one over the other, then there’s no harm in sticking with one position. There's some convenience with standing to pee: You pull it out, do your business, and move on. Peeing this way is “likely to save time,” says Dr. Berookhim.Sitters, on the other hand, might prefer the position because it’s slightly more hygienic. Dr. Ramin says guys are more likely to splash, sprinkle on the toilet seat, or even miss entirely when they’re standing versus sitting. Plus, sitters might be more likely to wash their hands after every use. Men are 1.5 times less likely to wash their hands than women after peeing—probably where they could use those saved seconds.Beyond that necessary bathroom etiquette, there’s really no other reason to switch up your tried-and-true urinary habits. Dr. Berookhim says he certainly wouldn’t tell a young, healthy guy to change the way they are using the bathroom if they are already doing fine.Korin Miller is a seasoned freelance writer specializing in general wellness, sexual health and relationships, and lifestyle trends, with work appearing in Men’s Health, Women’s Health, Everyday Health, Food & Wine, and more. She has a master’s degree from American University and lives by the beach.