Kegels are pelvic exercises that help strengthen the pelvic floor muscles after childbirth, surgery, or because of aging or obesity. They were introduced in the 1950’s by Dr. Arnold Kegel to help his patients with incontinence and other similar issues.

Who Should Do Kegels?

Any adult can benefit from kegels, even if there are no health problems kegeling can help firm things up, prevent future complications and improve sexual function (even leading to stronger orgasms). As if these weren’t reasons enough for starting below-the-belt exercises, kegels are also great for:

• preventing vaginal or intestinal prolapse (when part of the reproductive or intestinal tract begins to fall out of the body, which can happen when the pelvic muscles become too weak over time).
• tightening up the pubococcygeus (PC) muscles after surgery, during pregnancy or after childbirth.
• Tightening PC muscles for people who are obese, or after recently losing a lot of weight.
• Helping with stress incontinence (accidently urinating during laughter, coughing, jogging, lifting or sneezing).
• Helping with urge incontinence (feeling such a strong need to urinate you can’t reach the bathroom in time).

In short, kegels may be most beneficial for certain groups, but anyone can profit from doing these simple little exercises.

Seriously, Kegels For Men?

Super seriously! For many years kegels were thought only to benefit women, but recent studies suggest certain demographics of men may get just as much benefit from regular kegeling. Namely, men who have had a prostatectomy or other lower body surgeries, men with diabetes, incontinence issues or men who have had problems with sexual function such as premature ejaculation may find benefits through regular kegeling.

Some Tips On How To Properly Perform Kegels

For both genders, it is important to find the right muscles before beginning. To do this, try stopping mid-stream during urination or clenching as if you were to try to prevent passing gas. These are the muscles you want to work on during kegels. Note, you should not make a practice of stopping urination, as some medical professionals believe this may contribute to urinary tract infections or other unpleasant issues. You just want to do it one or two times to find the right muscles to focus on during the exercises. Another tip, you do not want to contract your ab, thigh, buttocks or any other surrounding muscles during kegels, try just to isolate the pelvic floor muscles and work solely on those. Experts say to start, hold these muscles in for 3 seconds and releasing, doing about 3 sets of 10 reps a day should be enough to start seeing results in weeks. Over time you can add seconds until you are contracting for up to 10 seconds at a time. You can do these exercises virtually anywhere without anyone even noticing.

So there you have it, kegels for all! If you have any questions about incontinence, surgery or pregnancy aftercare or want more information on kegel techniques feel free to sign up to DocChat to start a video conference with one of our board certified, highly qualified physicians today!