1) What are they? These are specific exercises to strengthen the muscles of pelvic area. Both men and women should practice them to have better pelvic floor strength and thus have better sex as well.
2) Why should we do them? Sometimes aging, Pregnancy and childbirth, being over-weight, or certain surgeries result in weakening of pelvic muscles which can lead to poor control on urination (leaking of urine on coughing etc) Kegel exercises are useful in regaining strength of pelvic muscles in such cases. Kegel’s can also help men achieve stronger erections and gain greater control over ejaculation.
3) How to do them? Pelvic muscles are responsible for the acts of urination and defecation. So the basic exercise is to act as if to hold urination. Squeeze the muscles of the vagina to the count of ten and let them relax slowly. Sometimes people start out by squeezing the wrong muscles, thus making it ineffective. You should insert a finger in your vagina and feel the pressure around your finger while you are squeezing. Try to keep everything including the abdominal muscles/back or thigh relaxed while tightening the muscles around the vagina. Breathe normally during the whole exercise. One can start with the exercises in the lying or sitting position and later try doing them with your knees apart. For fun one can do them while having sex… your partner shall enjoy more once he feels the squeeze…
4) Duration of exercise should be initially 5 minutes twice a day to start with. Keep the squeeze for a count of 10 and then let go. With practice you could increase the duration to about 10-15 minutes and increase the holding part to a count of 15. Keep a dedicated time for the exercises: may be early morning before stepping out of bed and before bed time…
5) When will my symptoms improve? Some Improvement begins almost in the first week itself but it takes around 3 months to show full effect. If you feel they have done you good, you must continue doing them for life at a frequency that suits you the best.
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Thanks. Appreciate your valuable comments.