Kegel exercises, also known as pelvic floor muscle training, are exercises that involve tightening and then releasing the muscles in your pelvic floor to strengthen them. These exercises can help prevent or control urinary incontinence and other pelvic floor problems. Kegel exercises can benefit both men and women who have problems with urine leakage or bowel control. Some factors that can weaken the pelvic floor muscles include pregnancy, childbirth, surgery, aging, excessive straining from constipation or chronic coughing, and being overweight.
To perform Kegel exercises, you need to find the right muscles to exercise. One way to do this is to pretend you are trying to avoid passing gas or pretend to tighten your vagina around a tampon. Once you have identified the right muscles, you can do the exercises in any position, although you might find it easiest to do them lying down at first.
Here are the steps to perform Kegel exercises:
- Make sure your bladder is empty, then sit or lie down.
- Tighten your pelvic floor muscles. Hold tight and count 3 to 5 seconds.
- Relax the muscles and count 3 to 5 seconds.
- Repeat 10 times, 3 times a day (morning, afternoon, and night) .
When starting out, only do the number of Kegel exercises that are fairly easy for you to do. For example, five Kegels that you hold for three seconds each twice a day. Slowly increase these numbers as you gain strength and endurance. Ideally, you’ll work up to holding your Kegels for five seconds, then relaxing your muscles for five seconds. Repeat this up to 10 times, at least two or three times per day.
