Kegel exercises strengthen the pelvic floor muscles, which support the uterus, bladder, small intestine and rectum and can prevent or control urinary incontinence.
These exercises were developed in the late 1940s by Dr Arnold H. Kegel, an American gynaecologist.
They are simple contraction and release exercises to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles.
Why do Kegel exercises?
Women and men of all ages need to maintain pelvic floor muscle strength. Especially those with stress incontinence, i.e. those who regularly lose urine when coughing, sneezing or exercising, should benefit from these exercises.
Many factors can weaken a woman’s pelvic floor, such as pregnancy, childbirth, aging and weight gain.
For pregnant women, these exercises help the body cope with the increasing weight of the baby.
Healthy and fit prenatal muscles recover more easily after birth.
The pelvic floor muscles support the uterus, bladder and bowels. If the muscles are weak, these pelvic organs can collapse into a woman’s vagina. As well as being extremely uncomfortable, this can also cause urinary incontinence.
In particular, as women age, it is essential to keep the pelvic floor muscles healthy as, at menopause, the muscles change and can become weak. A pelvic floor exercise routine helps to minimise the effects of the menopause on pelvic support and bladder control.
Men may also experience a weakening of their pelvic floor muscles as they age. This can lead to urinary and faecal incontinence, especially if the man has had prostate surgery
Locate your pelvic muscles
Several techniques can be used to find the right set of muscles to exercise.
- Technique 1:
- Imagine you are urinating (urinating).
- Contract the muscles you would use to stop the flow of urine.
- Don’t actually practice stopping your urine flow, especially if your bladder is full.
- This can actually weaken your muscles and prevent your bladder from emptying completely and that will increase your risk of a urinary tract infection (UTI).
- Technique 2:
- Contract the muscles you use to hold in stool or prevent yourself from passing gas, but don’t contract the muscles in your buttocks (buttocks), abdomen (stomach) or inner thigh.
- If you do this correctly, your body should not heave at all
| Female | Male |
| Imagine that you are trying to avoid passing gas. Imagine you are trying to avoid passing gas. | Imagine that you are trying to avoid passing gas. Imagine you are trying to avoid passing gas. |
| Pretend you are tightening your vagina around a tampon. . | When you urinate, try to stop your stream of urine |
If you have identified the correct muscles, you will feel the contraction more at the back of the pelvic area than at the front.
Performing and using the contract-release manoeuvre
- Contract your pelvic floor muscles for 3 to 5 seconds.
- Release for 3 to 5 seconds.
- Repeat the contract-release cycle 10 times.
If you leKegel exercises for emergencies
- If you leak urine when you cough, sneeze, laugh, bend over or lift something heavy (stress incontinence), doing one or more Kegels may be enough to prevent leakage.
- If you feel the need to urinate and are unsure about going to the toilet, doing Kegels can get you safely to the toilet.
