Mastering Kegel Exercises

At the Midwest Institute of Sexology, we teach 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. If you have any questions or comments, do not hesitate to contact us at the Institute... we are always interested in your feedback, and are available for telephone consultation, or by personal appointment, whenever necessary.

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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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 re-find 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!

By Barnaby B. Barratt PhD, DHS
Director, Midwest Institute of Sexology

Bookmark with:

• Delicious
• Digg
• reddit
• StumbleUpon

Don’t know what this is?

Read the 50connect Guide To Social Bookmarking.