Kegel exercises are important as they improve the general wellness and wellbeing of your pelvic muscles, bit did you know they can actually heighten sexual arousal too?
These exercises are muscle movements which women are advised to do to improve the strength of their pelvic floor muscles. They were originally developed to help women (and some men) reduce the severity of bowel and urinary incontinence, but the sexual benefits are now becoming well known.
As these exercises are so discrete, they can be done at virtually any time and in any place. Not only do they improve bladder control and bowel continence, these easy little exercises also help to enhance the female orgasm, improve the tone of vagina and pelvis, prevent pelvic prolapse from occurring, reduce premature ejaculation and reduce certain types of prostate symptoms.
For men and women who leak urine when they cough, sneeze or laugh, kegel exercises are frequently recommended (although more severe leakage may be due to other problems and you should see your GP if you are experiencing this).
To practise a kegel exercise, you should think about them in terms of urine stoppage. In order to get a feel for which muscles to use, you can practise this on the toilet at first, but you should not do your kegel exercises regularly whilst weeing as this can lead to bladder infections as you don’t fully evacuate the bladder. Start to wee, and then stop the stream of urine in mid flow. The muscles that you do this with (or attempt to do this with!) are your kegels. Next, when not on the toilet, clench these muscles in as if you are attempting to stop a stream of urine. It’s best to do this while lying on your back but you can do it anywhere. Tighten the muscles and then hold them for five seconds, and then release for five seconds. Repeat this five times in a row, and work up to a place where you can hold the muscle for 10 seconds instead of five each time, doing 10 reps.