Kegel exercises, help to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles. These are muscles around the uterus, bladder, bowel (small intestine) and rectum. Factors like old age, pregnancy and childbirth, and surgery could cause the pelvic floor muscles to become weak. This could cause the muscles to lower into the vagina, a condition known as pelvic organ prolapse (POP). POP could cause urine and faeces to leak out, another condition known as incontinence. One could also lose sensitivity around the vagina when this happens.
Doing Kegel exercises would help to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles and give you better control of your bladder and bowel. The good thing about Kegel exercises is that they are easy to do and you can do them right in your home without anyÂ
In today’s post, we would be looking at how to do Kegel exercises. But first, let us find out how to locate the pelvic floor muscles.Â
How To Locate The Pelvic Floor Muscles
Since you would be exercising the pelvic floor muscles when doing Kegel exercises, you must first know how to locate these muscles. As we noted above, the pelvic floor muscles are around the uterus, bladder, bowel, and rectum. To locate the muscles, you have to pretend like you are about to urinate or pass gas, then hold it. You will feel the muscles around the anus tighten. Those are your pelvic floor muscles. Note that when those muscles are tight, other parts of your body are free and relaxed.Â
How To Do Kegel Exercises For Women
To do Kegel exercises, follow the steps below:
- Stay in a relaxed position, either lying down or sitting.Â
- Tighten your pelvic floor muscles and hold them for 5 seconds.Â
- Release the muscles for about 5 seconds also
- Repeat the second and third steps 10 times in a row to complete one set.Â
- You can do this two or three times a day.Â
If you do this consistently for a few weeks or months, you would feel some improvement, as you would find it easier to control your bladder/bowel and experience fewer leakages.Â
Some other kegel exercises for women include quick flick kegels, happy baby pose, heel slides, and toe tapes.
Things To Note
There are a few things to keep in mind when doing Kegel exercises.
- Never Do It When Urinating
While you have to pretend to hold in urine to do the exercise, you should not do it when you are pressed or when urinating. This could further weaken the pelvic floor muscles and even cause damage to the bladder.Â
- It May Take A While To See Results
When you start Kegel exercises, you may not see results immediately. Do not let this discourage you or even force you to stop doing it. Depending on how weak your pelvic floor muscles are, it may take some time before you begin to notice some improvement in how you can control your bowel/bladder. So, be patient while you do it.Â
- Start Easy
You can start Kegel exercises by tightening the muscles for about 3 seconds, then slowly work your way up. The more you do it, the easier it gets.Â
Bottom Line
Kegel exercises are very easy to do. You can do them at home, at work, on the bus, anywhere. If you experience pain or discomfort while doing the exercise, you may have to see your doctor.Â
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- 5 Best Exercises For Full-Body Workout
Collins Nwokolo is a human physiologist, writer and health enthusiast. He loves writing helpful articles on health and fitness, which he enjoys sharing with everyone.
