Kegel exercises were invented by Dr. Arnold H. Kegel, an American gynecologist, in the 1940s to help improve the support of several important pelvic organs, such as the urinary bladder, uterus, and rectum. These exercises are designed to strengthen your pelvic floor musculature and provide a nonsurgical treatment option for a variety of pelvic floor issues such as incontinence.
Technique
Women and men should think of the Kegel exercise as if they are attempting to hold back flatulence or stop the flow of urine. The muscle contraction should lift the entire pelvic floor, but you may feel more tension in the back or front pelvic area. It is important to ensure that you are engaging only your pelvic muscles and not other muscle groups in your abdomen or legs. To check this, try to move these other muscles while performing a Kegel exercise. If any of them move while doing a Kegel, then you should refocus on isolating just the pelvic muscles.
Once you have become comfortable with the exercise, you can increase the intensity and duration of your contractions. You should start out by contracting for a few seconds at a time, working your way up to 10-second holds. Doing multiple sets of 10 repetitions is recommended for best results. Be sure to give yourself rest between each set to avoid strain.
At times, it may not feel like you are doing something when you contract your pelvic floor muscles. Don’t get disheartened; just keep practicing and soon the right muscles will become stronger! With practice comes progress, so try to do the Kegel exercises faithfully and most importantly don’t forget to relax after each contraction.
Always consult with an expert!
Kegel exercises are a great way to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles, but it’s important that they’re done correctly in order to get the best results. Make sure you have an experienced pelvic floor therapist guiding you through the process so that you can be sure you’re performing your Kegel exercises correctly. They will also help you identify the correct muscles to target, and provide feedback on how hard and long you should squeeze. This helps prevent incorrect muscle recruitment and builds better control