There are multiple reasons why getting fit is important for your wellbeing; but one particular reason is that it vastly benefits your sexual health. Susan Crain Bakos, author of The Daily Sex Bible: Inspirations and Techniques for the Best Year of Sex Ever, asserts, ‘You, too, can become a sex goddess. I’m perfectly serious: By investing a little time, less effort and no money, you can become a powerful erotic force, a woman capable of reducing your partner to a state of gasping, spent gratitude. All you have to do is become sexually fit – and I swear you won’t have to set foot in a gym.’
Even if you just walk a bit more or climb a few extra stairs each day, you can make a big difference to your overall wellness. In the same way, practicing a few simple exercises – or sexercises – can raise your level of sexual fitness. Why is this important? The more sexually fit you are, the more your orgasms occur, are more intense and last for longer. Moreover, being sexually fit actually helps you to develop amazing control over your partner’s pleasure: instead of feeling like a surrendered wife, you can be the lover of his secret fantasies with you in the driving seat. All it takes is a few minutes a day, and you’re on your way to sexual fitness. And the name of the game is Kegel exercises.
Before you roll your eyes and mutter “I’ve read this before,” don’t put Kegels off for “someday”. According to Crain Bakos, ‘Kegels are compulsory, not optional. They help you reach orgasm more easily and feel it more intensely while giving you more erotic control over your man. And they require surprisingly little effort. Kegels tone and strengthen the pubococcygeus muscles – the three sets of muscles running from the back to the front of your pubic bone and encircling the openings of the vagina and rectum. They’re named after Arnold Kegel, the Los Angeles doctor who promoted their development in the 1940s as a cure for urinary incontinence and post-childbirth “flaccid vagina” syndrome. Few people realise he adapted them from sexual exercises practiced in India for thousands of years.’
Crain Bakos adds, ‘A woman with strong PCs can grasp her partner’s penis and play with it by contracting and releasing her muscles, taking lovemaking beyond everyday sex and into the territory of the Kama Sutra. Without Kegels the PCs are flabby. Period. You can practice Kegels while driving, standing in line or lying on the sofa watching television. Varying your position from sitting, to standing, to lying down over the course of a week optimises the exercises.’ So how do you do Kegels?
1. Find the Muscles: Crain Bakos advises, ‘Locate your PC muscles by stopping and starting the flow of urine.’ Just don’t make a habit of stopping your flow as this can lead to health problems.
2. Perform the Short Kegel Squeeze: ‘Contract the PCs 20 times at approximately one squeeze per second, exhaling gently as you tighten,’ Crain Bakos instructs. ‘Don’t bear down when you release; simply let go. Do two sets every day. Gradually build up to two sets of 75 a day.’ Then add:
3. Perform the Long Kegel Squeeze: You shouldn’t attempt this one until you’ve got your two sets of 75 short Kegel squeezes under your belt. Crain Bakos details, ‘Hold the muscle contraction for a count of three. Relax between contractions. Work up to holding for 10 seconds and relaxing for 10 seconds. Again, start with two sets of 20 each and gradually build up to 75.’