Kegel Exercises

How to Do Kegel Exercises

Edited by Kristen, Ben Rubenstein, Flickety, KnowItSome and 23 others

Incorporating kegel exercises into your everyday routine can help ward off pelvic floor problems, including urinary incontinence, and is beneficial for women who have difficulty achieving orgasm. Many things can lead to weakened pelvic muscles, but kegels performed regularly can strengthen the pelvic muscles. It takes some effort and time to learn how to do kegels properly, but it is worth the effort.

EditSteps

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   Find your pelvic muscles.
   • While urinating, try to stop the flow. This tightening is the basic move of a kegel. However, don't use this as your regular kegel exercise routine. Doing kegels while urinating can actually have the opposite effect, weakening the muscle.
   • Place your finger in your vagina and squeeze your muscles. You should feel the muscles tightening and your pelvic floor move up. Relax and you'll feel the pelvic floor move back again.
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   Tighten and relax these muscles daily. Try and work up to 100-200 times a day. Or you can choose a certain thing to associate with them - for instance, kegel at every red light you come to, or every time you open the fridge.
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   Get into a comfortable position. You can do these exercises either sitting in a chair or lying on the floor. Make sure your buttock and tummy muscles are relaxed.
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   Concentrate only on the pelvic floor muscles and try not to tighten any other area of your body. Breathe normally during the exercise.
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   To do a quick kegel, quickly squeeze the pelvic floor muscles and release 10 times in a row. This should only take about 10 seconds.
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   To do a slow kegel, squeeze the pelvic floor muscles for 5 seconds and release. Do this 10 times. It should take about 50 seconds to complete a slow kegel.
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   To perform a pull-in kegel, think of your pelvic floor muscles as a vacuum.Tense your butt and pull your legs up and in. Hold this position for 5 seconds and then release it. Do this 10 times in a row. It should take about 50 seconds to complete.
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   Imagine you are trying to hold back urine; lift and squeeze from the inside. Try and hold that action for the count of three. Imagine that you are trying to stop yourself from passing wind; lift and squeeze your anus and hold for a count of three. Combine those two movements into one fluid movement. Starting from the front, lift and squeeze, don't let go, follow through to your anus, lift and squeeze. Relax. Hold this position for 10 seconds. Rest for 10 - 20 seconds and repeat.
   • Work towards 12 strong holds and as it starts to become easier, try holding for longer, and repeat as many times as you can.
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   Ask for help if you don't think you're doing kegels properly. Your doctor can help you identify and isolate the correct muscles to perform the exercise.
   • If necessary, your doctor can provide biofeedback training. This involves placing a monitoring device inside your vagina, and electrodes externally. The monitor can tell you how successful you were in contracting your pelvic floor muscles and how long you were able to hold the contraction.
   • A doctor can also use electrical stimulation to help you identify the pelvic floor muscles. During this process, a small electrical current adheres to the pelvic floor muscles. When activated, the current automatically contracts the muscle. After some use, you'll most likely be able to reproduce the effect on your own.
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    Perform kegel exercises regularly, about 3 or 4 times a day.
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    Expect results in a few months if you do kegels regularly. For some women, the results are dramatic; for others kegels prevent further urinary tract problems.
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    You can practice more complex Kegels after mastering the basics. Tighten up and down the vaginal barrel progressively.

Edit

• Try not to hold your breath, squeeze your buttocks or thighs, pull your tummy in tightly, or push down instead of squeezing and lifting.
• You can preform slow and quick kegel exercises any time and no one will be aware of what you are doing. Some women find it easy to incorporate them into their routine while driving, reading, watching TV, talking on the phone or sitting at a computer.
• Try to eat healthier foods too.
• Imagine your lungs are in pelvis and relax perineum on inhale and draw up on exhale.
• As you become more confident with these exercises, you will find that you will be able to do them standing up. The important thing is to keep practicing throughout the day and you can do them while you're washing the dishes, waiting in a queue, or even sitting at your desk in the office, during television show commercials, or when you are stopped at a stoplight while driving.
• Pregnant women can perform kegel exercises.

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