Kegels Exercise for Women

Kegel exercises are also known as pelvic floor muscle training or pelvic muscle strengthening exercises. This routine requires the tightening and relaxing of the pelvic floor several times in a row.

Benefits

• Avoid accidental passing of gas, urine or stool.
• Experience easier sexual arousal, more sensual sex and more powerful orgasms.
• Tighter vagina and bigger G-spot.
• Easier delivery of baby and faster recovery after giving birth.

Steps to Perform Women’s Kegel

1. Find the right muscles. Pretend you are trying to stop urinating in midstream. You will feel a contraction that starts from the anus to the urethra. That is a part of your pelvic floor muscle. Remember how that area feels when tightened.
2. To start a set of the exercise, tighten your pelvic floor area. Hold for 3 seconds.
3. Relax your pelvic floor area for 3 seconds. A 3-second contraction and a 3-second relaxed pelvic floor is counted as one Kegel.
4. Repeat the routine 10 times in a row. That is one set of Kegel. If you feel you cannot complete 10 Kegels in a set, go easy on yourself and complete what you can. Try to do more on the next set.
5. When you feel that the exercise is getting easier, work your way up to 10 seconds of squeezing and 10 seconds of relaxing. Do at least 3 separate sets each day. It is recommended that you do each set while lying down, sitting or standing.

Three Main Muscles for Kegels

When doing Kegels, there are three main muscles that are trained:

• Ischiocavernosus muscle (IC) & Bulbocavernosus muscle (BC) – These muscles work hand in hand during sexual intercourse. They are responsible for pumping more blood into the vaginal area, as well as lubricating the vaginal walls. With these muscles, the clitoris is able to have an erection. IC and BC contract during orgasms. Women who are able to experience multiple orgasms usually have very strong IC and BC muscles.
• Pubococcygeus muscle (PC) – This is a large muscle that is found behind the pubic bone and stretches to the tailbone. PC muscle helps to hold the pelvic organs as well as control the flow of urine. A strong PC muscle also enables women to have a greater chance of having an orgasm.

More Ways to Find the Right Muscles

• Insert one or two clean fingers inside the vagina. Tighten the muscles surrounding your fingers. You will feel your pelvic floor muscles tightening.
• When urinating, try to interfere with the flow of your urine. The pelvic floor muscles will contract during this action. Remember how that feels, and try to tighten that same muscle after urinating.
• Pretend that you are stopping yourself from passing gas. You should feel the pelvic floor muscles tighten from your anus to your urethra. That is the correct muscle for doing Kegels.

When to do Kegels

• Do a few Kegels after every urination. This will encourage the flow of the urine that’s left in the bladder, thus emptying the bladder completely.
• Make Kegel exercises a part of your daily routine by doing a set while waiting in line, sitting at work, or watching a movie.

Safety Precautions

• Do not do Kegels while urinating, as you may be at risk of not being able to empty your bladder completely. This can lead to urinary tract infection.
• Make sure you do not have a full bladder while doing Kegels. It is best to perform Kegels with an empty bladder.
• Focus on just the pelvic floor muscles. For beneficial Kegel exercises, it is important not to squeeze the muscles in the thighs, abdomen or buttocks. When unsure, do your Kegels while lying down. Rest your hand on your abdomen. You should not feel any tightening or movement on your stomach.
• Do not hold your breath. Maintain a relaxed breathing during Kegels to avoid stressing the rest of your body. Most unsuccessful Kegels are usually caused by holding the breath while doing the exercise.
• A pain in the abdomen after doing Kegels is a sign that you are not exercising properly. Discontinue your routine for at least a week and try again, making sure that you are only contracting the pelvic floor muscles.
• Don’t overdo your Kegel exercises. Your pelvic floor muscles also get sore. When you feel sore after or during the exercise, discontinue the routine and give your muscles a few days to rest. Too much tightening of the pelvic floor muscles can lead to painful sex. You should not squeeze for longer than 10 seconds. Also, the contractions should not be too tight for it to become uncomfortable.
• When you no longer feel the tightening of muscles during exercise, it means that your muscles are tired. Give it a rest and you can start a new set in a few minutes.

Signs of a Weakened Pelvic Floor

• Leaking a few drops of urine when laughing, sneezing or coughing.
• Have the urge to urinate even after urinating.
• Leaking stool.

Some women experience a weakened pelvic floor after childbirth or surgery, too much straining due to excessive coughing or constipation, aging, and being overweight. Kegel may not be effective for severe cases of urine and fecal incontinence.

Kegels were originally designed for women’s health. However, it has been recently discovered that men can also benefit from this exercise.