Kegel exercises are beneficial for many reasons and recommended by medical experts as an essential part of any self-care routine. This article will discuss what and where these important muscles are, the history of kegel exercise as well as common myths about the pelvic floor and how to properly work out your core.

Health and Your Pelvic Floor

We all know that physical activity has a significant role to play in overall health, and the medical community is in agreement that the result of not using a muscle can result in the muscle losing elasticity, strength, and size.

The kegels are part of the system of muscles that connect under the pelvis and help keep all your internal organs supported. It sounds important, because it is!

Where Are Kegel Muscles and What Do They Do?

Locating your kegels won’t be difficult, especially if you have ever found yourself stuck in traffic with a full bladder. The system of muscles engage when using the restroom or when trying to hold it in.

Kegels are part of the pelvic floor, a crisscross of muscles and connective tissue that helps support the organs within the cavity of the pelvis. The pelvic floor is also an integral part of the core and as we all have learned, keeping the base strong helps with many aspects of day to day life, including balance and posture.

Men and women have many of the same muscles:

• Ischiocavernosus
• Bulbospongiosus
• Transverse perineal muscles
• Levator ani
• External anal sphincter

Each of these muscles has a different and equally important job and keeping them strong is well worth 5 minutes a day of concentrated effort.

Incontinence Connection

Kegels got their name from their discoverer, Dr. Arnold Kegel, a gynecologist who discovered that targeted exercises to the muscles surrounding the vagina helped new mothers treat urinary incontinence after childbirth. The discovery was groundbreaking for the 40s, and since then many doctors have prescribed pelvic floor strengthening to improve quality of life and treating even severe conditions like prolapse (a medical problem where internal organs slump out of place).

Today gynecologists, obstetricians and physical therapists all recommend kegel exercises to improve the pelvic muscles and to help with occasional incontinence. While atrophy is not the only issue regarding a momentary loss of bladder control, strengthening the pelvic muscles is a huge part of improving and even treating the symptom.

Incontinence can be connected to:

• Getting older
• Obesity
• Pelvic Surgery
• Injury
• Stress
• Childbirth
• Even long distance running or other high impact sports

Not Just For Women, Men Can Benefit Too

Men and women share a lot of the same muscles in the pelvic floor. This is important because the pelvic floor is equally as crucial for reproductive health (and preventing incontinence) as it is with women. Think about it, kegels are something you can do with your girlfriend or boyfriend, and why not? All it means is you both will be having better sex!

Likewise, a qualified MD can easily explain which male Kegels can be strengthened with what moves. Always let them know when you are trying something new.

Unfortunately, there are no kegel exerciser devices or toys for men. But maybe someday!

Kegel Exercises Can Make Sex More Enjoyable! For Everyone!

Now that we have your attention, kegels can help:

• Tighten the vaginal walls (your partner will be impressed)
• Enhance orgasims
• Relax muscles, for a more open feeling
• Boost arousal
• Last longer in bed

Workout Your Tenderloins

There are relatively few risks involved with doing kegels. In fact ballroom dancing is more likely to result in injury than doing kegel exercises, but safety is always most important to improvement. Also, you don’t want to strain the muscles and make them sore, especially if it gets in the way of intimacy.

Also, before you begin your kegels, it may be a good idea to empty the bladder, since doing them will apply pressure against the bladder.

Kegel Devices

Thank gracious that we live in a day and age where there are high tech and safe devices out there to not only work out the pelvic floor but give you a pleasant sensation in the process (too bad that can’t be offered at the gym).

Balls

There is a debate on when or where vaginal kegel balls originated, but they have been around for a long time and used in a variety of different civilizations all across Asia. They have been called by many names including; ben wa balls, orgasm balls, rin-no-tama, Venus balls, and geisha balls. These vaginal weights have spanned the centuries and location, and varied mostly in what they are made of but not much else. The small balls were inserted vaginally and held in place with the pubococcygeus muscles and utilized resistance to train the muscles to grip and hold, building them up and strengthening them in the process.

The LELO Luna Beads Noir are deliciously seductive in their design, with two ice smooth balls that come with their own silicone holster that can support both balls while inside or keep them together when stored away. Plus, utilizing them can promise bigger and stronger orgasms.

Thoroughly enjoy your pelvic floor workout with the extra slick Fun Factory Smartball Uno that can accompany the ‘vagay’ through the day. Then upgrade to the Fun Factory Smartball Duo with double the fun balls and a handy-dandy silicone finger loop for easy access and removal.

For a challenge, lay on your back with legs in the air, locate the pull string and gently apply some resistance for extra gripping power.

Get High Tech Kegels

LELO Hula Beads comes with a remote that can control the rotating and vibrating dual beads, creating sensuous pleasures and activating the kegel muscles, strengthening them. Plus the beads can double as a personal massager.

Or work out your pelvic floor with the super slick Aneros EVI Kegel Exerciser, which is specially designed with a bulbous plug shape made of soft body-safe silicone. The design is made to hit all the pleasure zones including the clitoris and G-spot. The versatile dildo is also waterproof so you can do kegels in the shower or bubble bath. Watch sex-educator and activist Ducky Doolittle review the Aneros EVI Kegel Exerciser on YouTube for a great tutorial on how to use the toy and get the most out of its special design.

Go All Natural

If devices are not your thing, or you just love a challenge, device-free pelvic floor workouts are a great alternative. For one thing, many of the moves are discreet enough to be performed in a gym with no one being the wiser, but some steps can be done even when you are standing in line at the grocery store, or sitting in traffic, or watching TV.

Both men and women can do most of these exercises, but some are going to be anatomy specific.

Your personal trainer (if you have one) can show you numerous moves for sexual health. Ok, maybe not the movements you were just thinking of, but your relationship with your trainer is your business. So we’ll cover the PG topic: actual moves that can target and build the muscles in and around the pelvis. But feel free to think about your trainer while doing them. This is a judgement free zone.

Good Moves for Your Personal Grooves

Don’t think there are kegel exercise video workouts, think again!

Here are a few links to some videos from well trained and licensed professionals who teach the ropes of pelvic exercises:

• Kegels for urinary incontinence
• Kegels for male sexual enhancement
• Training for the pelvic floor

There are many more videos available online, but the best thing to do is consult a gynecologist or a physical therapist before starting any fitness program.

Lovin’ Your Muffin, or Magic Wand

Self-care is about more than just eating right, drinking water, or getting plenty of sleep and activity in, it is about caring for your body and showing how much you appreciate all you have.

Whether you’re a man who wants to last longer in bed, or a woman who wants to have greater elasticity and bigger orgasms, there is no wrong reason to do kegel exercises. It is all part of the self-care bubble and there are plenty of good reasons to keep the pelvic floor tight and strong.

Plus loving your body and taking care of it is a wonderful way to live. So take a big breath, squeeze, hold, and release. Your body will return the love!