Kegel Exercises: Benefits & Easy How-To Guide

If you are worrying about the little leak when you laugh or cough, relax! Kegel exercises are a simple yet effective solution to your worries. The leakage happens when the muscles that control your urine flow are weakened. Ageing, delivery or hormonal changes may cause the weakness down there. 

Whether you work out, cough, or sneeze, the little leak turns easy moments into distressing ones. However, Kegel Exercises are here for you. Explore this easy guide to the benefits of kegel exercises, how to do them and more. 

Do Kegel Exercises Really Work?

Yes, Kegel exercises do work! These are the gold standard exercises for making your pelvic floor muscles strong. Pelvic floor muscles include those that form a sling-like base/floor and let your pelvic organs (bladder, uterus, and rectum) rest on it.

Regular Kegel exercises activate and strengthen those muscles, which leads to better bladder and bowel control. 

Check Out the Benefits of Kegel Exercises 

Kegel exercises are like working out for your pelvic floor muscles. By strengthening those muscles down there, these exercises provide the following benefits:

1. Improve Control of Bladder Movements

Strong pelvic floor tissues let you control your pee urge, stream, and leaks, reducing the symptoms of urinary incontinence. 

2. Improve Control of Bowel Movements

Rectum control gets better when you do regular kegel exercises. It helps prevent bowel leakage. 

3. Better Support During Pregnancy

For pregnant mamas, kegel exercises help support the baby in the womb and prepare the muscles down there for childbirth. 

4. Promote Recovery After Delivery

If you do kegel exercises after childbirth, they will improve your pelvic health, promote healing and minimise risks for incontinence.

5. Prevent Pelvic Organ Prolapse

Strengthened pelvic floor muscles prevent or manage pelvic organ prolapse, where pelvic organs drop from their normal position due to weakened muscles.

6. Enhance Sexual Health 

Toned and strengthened muscles in your pelvic floor potentially lead to more pleasurable sexual experiences and better control over sexual responses.

Now that you have reviewed the benefits, you may be wondering how to do kegel exercises. It’s time to learn the proper technique for performing these exercises. 

Here’s How To Do Kegel Exercises

Follow these steps.

1. Locate Your Pelvic Floor Muscles

To identify your pelvic floor muscles, try stopping the flow of pee when you sit on the toilet. Or act as if you are trying to stop the gas passage. Your pelvic food muscles are the tightened or activated muscles you feel while doing these activities.

You may also insert a finger in your vagina and try squeezing it with surrounding muscles. 

2. Choose a Comfortable Position

You can do kegel exercises in any position while sitting, standing or lying. Choose your comfortable position.

3. Practice Contractions

Now that you are familiar with how your pelvic floor muscles feel when they activate, practise contracting them. 

4. Perform the Kegel Exercise Now. 

In your comfortable position, contract your pelvic floor muscles, count to 3, and then relax for 3 seconds. This set of contractions and relaxation is one Kegel. Remember to focus on your muscles down there and maintain a mind-body connection. 

5. Set Your Kegel Exercises Schedule

You may set your schedule according to your strengths. Start with 10 Kegels in the morning and 10 at night. If 10 feels tiring, you may start with 5. As you feel like you can do the set easily, double your number of Kegels–make it two sets. Gradually increase the frequency, like starting to perform them in the afternoon, too. 

Bonus Tip: Like urinary incontinence, if you experience other postpartum issues like separation of ab muscles and bulging of your tummy, start doing diastasis recti exercises to manage it.

Remember these Precautionary Measures of Kegel Exercises

While kegel exercises are safe, you must follow these measures to avoid displeasing circumstances.

1. Be Right with the Technique

To get optimal results and prevent straining nearby muscles or organs, it’s important to perform Kegels with proper technique. Do not engage your abs, thigh or buttock muscles—focus only on pelvic floor muscles.

2. Keep Breathing & Not Hold Your Breath

Do not stop breathing when you contract your pelvic floor muscles; doing so compromises the proper technique. Breathe normally when you perform contractions and relaxations. 

3. Never Do Them While Peeing

While you may want to practise Kegels while peeing, do not do that. Stopping the urine stream repeatedly while peeing leads to incomplete bladder emptying, which may cause urinary tract infections.

4. Talk to Your Doctor

If you have any underlying health conditions, such as pelvic pain, urinary tract infections, or recent surgery, consult a healthcare professional before starting Kegel exercises to ensure they are appropriate for you.

Kegel Exercises for Pregnancy—Are They Safe?

Yes, Kegel exercises for pregnancy are generally safe and can be beneficial for strengthening the pelvic floor muscles. They help support the added strain on your body and can aid in preventing urinary incontinence. However, consulting a pelvic floor physical therapist to learn the correct technique and get a proper kegel exercises schedule will be helpful.

Pair Kegel Exercises with Advanced Treatments for Best Results

Urinary incontinence can be distressing, especially when you experience the symptoms in public. Do not worry—Kegel exercises can help. Practising Kegels regularly makes your pelvic floor strong enough to improve bladder control. 

Kegel exercises may show results when you stay consistent with their performance for weeks or months. If you want a quick solution to address your symptoms of urinary incontinence, pair your exercising efforts with cutting-edge therapy like Empower RF treatment in Bradford. This is an innovative women’s wellness treatment that addresses urinary incontinence with the use of radiofrequency energy and electrical muscle stimulation. Empower RF strengthens your pelvic floor muscles and improves the tone and overall sexual health while complementing your Kegel exercises efforts.

Frequently Asked Questions About Kegel Exercises

1. What are the benefits of kegel exercises for women?

Kegel exercises for women are beneficial, as they strengthen pelvic floor muscles, support the baby during pregnancy, prepare the muscles for childbirth, and minimise symptoms of urinary incontinence.

2. Are kegel exercises for men practical?

Yes, kegel exercises for men do work. These exercises strengthen pelvic floor muscles, improve bladder and bowel movements &

3. Do kegel exercises tighten the vagina?

Kegel exercises tone pelvic floor muscles but does not work effectively for vaginal tightening.

4. How long do kegel exercises take to give results?

Kegel exercises provide noticeable results after six weeks.