How to do Kegel exercises?

What is Kegel Exercise?

While callisthenics exercises boost your physical fitness, Kegel exercises are useful for strengthening muscles below the bladder, the large intestine, and the uterus. These exercises help both men and women struggling to control their stool or urine.

Urine leaks and bowel control issues can arise as you age, put on weight, after the gestation period, and child delivery or gynaecological surgery in women or surgical prostate treatment in men. These issues can also be present in people with cerebral and neurological abnormalities.

How to perform Kegel Exercises?

You can perform Kegel exercises while relaxing, sitting at a desk or driving. It is like pretending you are urinating and then holding it.

To know how to do Kegel exercises, you need to first identify your pubococcygeal (PC) muscles.

● The PC muscles are identifiable when you pee. They help you hold your urine and stop releasing gases.

● After you've identified your PC muscles, you can work on stretching them.

● For five to twenty seconds, flex and hold onto your PC muscles. After that, let them go.

● You can perform this easy workout 10-20 times in succession. Do three sets a day.

● Gradually, you can perform more contractions and hold each one for a longer period.

Caution

Kegel exercises are safe, but caution is still advised. Here are some things to be mindful of:

● Avoid performing Kegel exercises while urinating. You run the risk of developing a urinary tract infection (UTI).

● Take deep breaths and keep your body relaxed while performing these movements.

● Ensure that you aren't contracting the muscles of your chest, thighs, lower abdomen, or belly.

● Continue with the exercises, but don't increase the number of repetitions. Going overboard can cause tension during bowel movements or urination.

Who Should Do Kegel Exercises?

Urologists frequently advise patients with overactive bladders, pelvic organ collapses, and other urinary tract disorders, including incontinence, to learn and perform Kegel exercises.

Learning how to do Kegel exercises to tone and strengthen the pelvic muscles is important. However, every individual is not a good fit for these exercises. Sometimes, the muscles become overly tight and unwinding them is challenging, which reduces the effectiveness of Kegel exercises and leads to pelvic floor issues. Your physician will advise you regarding your particular circumstances.

Signs of Improvement

Strengthening your pelvic floor muscles takes time. At first, Kegel exercises may seem uncomfortable. However, if you stick with them consistently, you will notice an improvement in the way your muscles function and in your bladder's overall health.

Instead of giving up if you are unable to regulate the urinary tract right away, consider these indicators as evidence that your pelvic floor muscle workouts are having an effect and that you are moving towards improved health:

● Extended intervals between toilet breaks

● Capacity to perform more sets or hold muscles for a longer time

● Resting all night long

Benefits

For men:

● Less dripping after urinating

● Less hesitancy when urinating

● Better stool control

● Better capacity for emptying the bladder

● Better sexual satisfaction

For women:

● Better management of gas, bowel, and urine incontinence

● Enhancements of sexual pleasure