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For women who have weak pelvic floor muscles due to pregnancy, childbirth, surgery, aging or weight problems, Kegel exercises provide a way to tighten those muscles without surgery. Benefits of Kegel exercises include help for urinary incontinence and tightening of loose vaginal muscles.
Who Will Benefit from Kegel Exercises?
Kegel exercises are designed to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles. These are the muscles needed to support various structures, including the bladder, vagina an d uterus. While all women should practice Kegel exercises regardless of any medical condition, they are particularly helpful for women who:
- Are pregnant and post-partum: Kegel exercises help to tone loose vaginal muscles for women who have just delivered a baby. And for pregnant women, exercising pelvic muscles will help prevent urine incontinence after pregnancy, which is a common complaint of women.
- Have urinary incontinence: the loss of bladder control can be helped by Kegel exercises. It won’t help in all cases, but your doctor can tell you if they will help in your particular case.
- Want to prevent a prolapsed uterus: when the uterus begins to slide down through the cervix and into the vagina, it’s known as a prolapsed uterus. This is less likely to happen to women with strong pelvic muscles, so Kegel exercises help to prevent his condition. It’s most common with women who have delivered children vaginally and post-menopausal women.
- Have jobs requiring heavy lifting: lifting and straining at the job can lead to prolapse, so Kegel exercises will help prevent it.
- Are healthy, but older: as we get older, our muscles lose tone and tend to become weaker. Vaginal muscles are just like other muscles in the body, so exercising them using Kegel exercises helps to keep them fit and strong.
It’s smart to start slow and build up, just like you would with any other muscle group. If Kegel exercises are new to you, start with squeezing your pelvic muscles for two to four seconds. Do 5 to 10 repetitions, and as it becomes easier, hold it for longer periods and increase your repetitions.
The key is finding the muscle. One way to be sure you are able to isolate the correct muscle is by trying to stop the flow of urine while going to the bathroom. The same muscle that allows you to stop the flow of urine is the muscle you want to exercise while doing a Kegel contraction. Just be sure you are isolating the pelvic floor muscle – that’s the one to focus on.
After you’ve learned the technique, you can do Kegel exercises any time or any place you choose. Nobody except you will know what you are doing. Kegel exercises are a great way to benefit your overall health, and will help you for years to come. Add them to your regular exercise routine on a daily basis.
