Mastering Kegel Exercises: Strengthen Your Pelvic Floor for Better Health and Intimacy

Many women focus on maintaining the tone of their abdominal, back, and leg muscles to stay fit and firm. However, not everyone is aware that vaginal muscles also need regular exercise.

The Ancient Art of Vaginal Muscle Mastery

The technique of training and controlling vaginal muscles has been known since ancient times. Eastern countries have long practiced this art, passing it down through generations. Such exercises are described in ancient texts like the Kama Sutra and Tantra. In those times, the technique was primarily used to enhance sexual experiences and was often practiced by temple courtesans.

The Invention of Kegel Exercises

In the mid-20th century, American gynecologist Arnold Kegel developed a series of exercises to treat urinary incontinence in women without surgery. Initially, these exercises involved using special cones that women would hold in place with their vaginal muscles. Later, Kegel introduced the perineometer, a device that measured the patient’s effort and progress in strengthening the pelvic floor muscles. Today, experts recommend performing these exercises without any auxiliary tools.

Kegel’s method is based on the fact that the pelvic floor muscles support the bladder, uterus, and intestines. Weak muscles can lead to urinary incontinence over time. Statistics show that one in five women will face this issue at some point in their lives.

Benefits of Kegel Exercises

Beyond preventing and treating urinary incontinence, training the vaginal muscles offers several beneficial “side effects.”

Health Benefits

Kegel exercises are recommended for women preparing for childbirth, as trained muscles are less likely to tear during delivery, making the process smoother and less painful.
These exercises are also beneficial for postpartum women to restore stretched vaginal muscles.
Training the intimate muscles improves blood circulation, which helps prevent various urogenital system diseases (from inflammatory processes to pelvic organ prolapse) and rectal issues (such as hemorrhoids).

Enhancing Sexual Life

Kegel exercises improve vaginal tone and heighten the sensitivity of erogenous zones, leading to more intense and vivid orgasms.
Trained muscles provide a better grip during intercourse, which is particularly important if the penis is not fully erect, and help eliminate unwanted sounds caused by air entering the vagina.
Learning to control vaginal muscles allows women to better manage the timing of orgasm, either delaying or hastening it.

Benefits for Men

Kegel exercises are also beneficial for men. Improved blood circulation helps prevent and treat urogenital system diseases (such as prostatitis) and rectal issues. Additionally, controlling the relevant muscles can help men prolong sexual intercourse by delaying ejaculation.

How to Perform Kegel Exercises

One of the advantages of Kegel exercises is that they can be done anywhere and at any time—sitting in a subway car, standing in a queue, or lying on the couch watching TV. To begin, identify the muscles you need to train by trying to stop the flow of urine midstream. The muscles used to do this are the ones you should focus on.

Perform the exercises moderately, without excessive strain, and remember to breathe naturally and evenly. Kegel exercises consist of three parts:

Squeezes: Tighten the muscles (as if stopping urine flow) and hold for three seconds, then relax.
Contractions: Quickly tighten and relax the vaginal muscles as rapidly as possible.
Push-outs: Push out as if expelling an object from the vagina.

Additionally, you can gradually learn to tighten and relax the upper, middle, and lower sections of the vaginal muscles separately. Initially, this may be challenging, but with regular practice, this skill will improve.

Lower part: Muscles at the entrance of the vagina. These are usually the most developed and are a good starting point for training.
Middle part: Muscles of the vaginal canal.
Upper part: Muscles at the top of the vagina, near the cervix.

Begin with ten squeezes, ten contractions, and ten push-outs, five times a day. After a week, increase the number of each exercise to fifteen. Continue increasing the number of exercises each week until you reach thirty.

Once you feel you have achieved significant results—exercises are easy to perform, muscles are well-controlled, and sexual life has improved—you can gradually reduce the number of exercises. However, do not stop completely. To maintain muscle tone, continue with twenty squeezes, contractions, and push-outs two to three times a day.

For more information on pelvic health, visit the Mayo Clinic website.