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Instructions For Kegel Exercises
The Midwest Institute
of Sexology*, teaches a variety of "sexercises" – ways to enjoy your
body and improve its capacity for sexual pleasure.
Perhaps the most basic of these is "Kegelling." These notes will help
you to understand kegel exercises and to integrate them into your daily
routine. Kegel exercises serve to tone and strengthen the pubococcygeus
or "PC" muscles which form the floor of the pelvis. The health of these
muscles plays a vitally important role in sexual arousal and climax,
as well as in other aspects of bodily functioning.
Why should men
do kegel exercises regularly?
- kegel exercises
increase the bloodflow to the genital area, and so support sexual
arousal mechanisms.
- kegel exercises
strengthen and tone the muscles that are involved in ejaculation,
and so men who Kegel can, if they do some additional work with themselves,
gain greater control over the timing of their ejaculations.
- kegel exercises
prevent incontinence and other problems that are often associated
with aging.
Why should women
do kegel exercises regularly?
- kegel exercises
increase the bloodflow to the genital area, and so support sexual
arousal mechanisms.
- kegel exercises
strengthen and tone the muscles of the vaginal canal, and so women
who Kegel can, if vaginal stimulation is their choice, and if they
do some additional work on themselves, improve their capacity to orgasm
by means of vaginal play, in terms of both the intensity and the frequency
of their orgasming.
- kegel exercises
are essential to the treatment of sexual difficulties such as vaginismus
and dyspareunia (pain on vaginal intercourse).
- kegel exercises
prevent incontinence, prolapses, and many other problems of the pelvic
floor that are often associated with aging.
- kegel exercises
strengthen and tone the musculature of the pelvic area in a way that
can make vaginal delivery during childbirth easier.
How do I find
my PC muscles?
- Go to the bathroom
and sit on the toilet (men, it is also a good idea to sit for this)
- In the middle
of your stream of urine, stop and start the stream several times.
The muscles you use to do this are your PC muscles. At first, you
may find that you are also squeezing your anal muscles; as you become
experienced with kegel exercises, try to separate out the muscle groups
that you are able to exercise by squeezing.
How do I do regular
kegel exercises?
- Now that you
have located your PC muscles, you can exercise them while your bladder
is completely empty.
- First, try squeezing
your PC muscles as hard as you can for a count of three seconds. Then
let them relax. To begin with, see how many times you can do this
before the muscles feel tired.
- Now figure out
a suitable exercise routine just as you would if you were trying to
tone and strengthen a different muscle group by going to the gym every
other day. For example, suppose you start by being able to do only
five strong squeezes; try doing three sets of five once or twice a
day for a week, and then try increasing this to three sets of eight
strong squeezes.
- If you work up
to three sets of thirty or more strong squeezes, you are probably
healthy enough for most purposes, and need only to maintain this level
of fitness by doing these three sets four times a week (instead of
once or twice a day).
- We also recommend
that you experiment by varying the type and timing of the PC squeezing
you do as you train these muscles: slow clenches, many quick flutters,
and so on. This will make you more familiar with these muscles – notice
also when your abdominal muscles or your anal muscles feel like they
also want to join in the exercise.
- Remember, you
should try to separate out kegel exercises from anal squeezing. If
you are in doubt, go back a refind your PC muscle while urinating.
- Once you are
skilled at kegel exercises, you should be able to do them without
anyone else knowing what you are doing... boring meetings at work,
tedious lectures at conferences, and other daily events all become
opportunities to work quietly on improving your sexual health!
*Reprinted with permission
Barnaby B. Barratt, PhD, DHS
Director, Midwest Institute of Sexology
Visit us at MVSexual.com
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