Kegel exercises are usually performed to strengthen the pelvic floor, in order to provide adequate support to the uterus, small intestine, bladder, and rectum.
While most people think that doing kegel exercises is only for tightening the vaginal muscles, that’s not completely true as they charge up the complete pelvic floor muscles that surround the vagina. The pelvic floor is a layer of muscles and tissues, starting from the pubic bone to the tailbone, they are highly beneficial for the overall body as well.
Kegel exercises can be done just about anywhere, anytime. Apart from improving your sexual life, they also help in having a better bladder control and bowel movement, and protecting against urinary leakage and pelvic organ prolapse.
So, we list down a few benefits of doing kegel exercises:
1. Improves sex life
They can make a huge difference in your sex life as exercising the pelvic floor muscles leads good blood flow to the groin area. While it leads to better erections for men, it raises the chances of orgasm and pleasure during intercourse for females as well. They also help to strengthen the bulbospongiosus muscle, which is responsible for erection, orgasm, and ejaculation.
2. Leads to vaginal tightening
If you do kegel exercises, it will make your pelvic floor muscles stronger and thereby, tighten your vagina, leading to stronger orgasms. New mothers can try kegel exercises after giving birth to increase sexual self-efficacy post delivery.
3. Increases bladder control
Since pelvic floor muscles are directly responsible for controlling urine and bowel movements, if these muscles are stronger, there are more chances that you will have a better control on your movements. If you suffer from an overactive bladder or urine leakage after a sneeze, cough, or laugh, you must perform kegel exercises.
4. Reduce chances of prolapse
Pelvic organ prolapse occurs when the pelvic floor muscles weaken to really support the pelvic organs (the bladder and rectum). If you suffer from pelvic organ prolapse, one or more of the pelvic organs can actually come down to the pelvic floor, creating a bulge. Kegel exercises can help prevent the muscles from being weak and allowing prolapse.
5. Improves postpartum recovery
Pregnancy leads to weakening of a woman’s pelvic floor muscles. So if new mothers are looking to gain back strength and make sure their pelvic muscles heal faster, they should perform kegel exercises daily.
How to perform a kegel exercises
Sit in a comfortable position and locate the correct muscles. To identify your pelvic floor muscles, make sure to contract your muscles that you use to stop urination midstream. When you contract the right muscles, you will feel a pulling in your pelvis or sphincter. Without engaging your abdominal or gluteal muscles, cross your legs or just keep holding your breath.
Hold the contraction of the pelvic floor muscles for a few seconds before you finally release them. Repeat this 10-15 times, up to three times per day.
