Pelvic Floor Muscles: Should You Exercise Them?
Even if you go to the gym regularly, there may be muscles you aren’t exercising. Those are your pelvic floor muscles, which are responsible for supporting your internal organs, maintaining bladder control, and contracting during an orgasm.
Should you be exercising those muscles? What are the benefits? Let’s discuss your pelvic floor muscles and the importance of exercising them.
Pelvic floor exercises benefits
If you enjoy having orgasms and maintaining control of your bladder, you’ll want to exercise your pelvic floor. Pelvic floor exercises benefits include:
- Stronger orgasms
- Better bladder control
- Recovery after pregnancy or childbirth
- Smoother birthing process
- More frequent orgasms
- Better core strength
Ways to exercise your pelvic floor muscles
You’ve probably never seen a piece of equipment at the gym advertising its ability to strengthen your pelvic floor muscles. That’s because there are a variety of ways to exercise your pelvic floor muscles at home or even on the go while you run errands. These exercises should be done daily for maximum benefit.
Kegel exercises
You may have heard of Kegel exercises before. The great thing is that they don’t require any special equipment, so you can do them anywhere. They’re even subtle enough to do in public.
- Sit comfortably and think about the muscles you use to control your flow of urine.
- Tighten those muscles and hold the position for 3-5 seconds.
- Relax the muscle for several seconds.
- Repeat up to 10 times.
Kegel balls
Once you’ve gotten the hang of Kegel exercises, or if you’re having a difficult time isolating which muscles you are supposed to be using, you can up your game by purchasing Kegel balls. Kegel balls come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and weights and are inserted into your vagina. You use your pelvic floor muscles to hold the balls in place.
To use Kegel balls:
- Wash and dry them before and after every use.
- Lie flat on your back and relax your muscles.
- Gently insert the Kegel ball(s), using lubricant if necessary.
- Use your pelvic muscles to grip the ball(s) and slowly sit up.
- You can do Kegel exercises while the balls are in or just go about your day with the ball(s) inside for up to 6 hours.
- To remove Kegel balls, relax your muscles and pull the string (if there is one). If you use balls without a string and relaxing your muscles isn’t enough to release the balls, you can try jumping up and down, squatting, or coughing to release them.
Kegel weights
Kegel weights are similar to Kegel balls, but they tend to be more of a skinny cone shape rather than a round ball shape. The cone shape means your pelvic floor muscles have to work harder to keep the weights in place.
Kegel weights are used in a similar fashion to Kegel balls:
- Always wash and dry your Kegel weights before and after each use.
- Lay flat on your back and relax.
- Gently insert the Kegel weight as far as it will comfortably go, using lubricant if necessary.
- Grasp the weight using your pelvic floor muscles and slowly stand up. Walk around with the Kegel weight inside you for up to 15 minutes.
- As your pelvic muscles get stronger, you will periodically need to purchase heavier Kegel weights to feel the same benefit.
- To remove the Kegel weights, relax and pull on the string.
Kegel exerciser device
Kegel balls and weights are a fairly static exercise, and they need to be used as long as 15 minutes a day or longer to see real benefits. Why do that when you can use a Kegel exerciser device to actively engage your pelvic floor muscles and get a stronger pelvic floor workout in a shorter amount of time?
A Kegel exerciser device doesn’t just sit in your vagina to be held in place – it’s designed to be squeezed, with springs offering varying amounts of resistance to increase the intensity of the workout as you strengthen your pelvic floor muscles.
Conclusion
If you aren’t already exercising your pelvic floor muscles, it’s something you should seriously consider. Stronger pelvic floor muscles improve orgasms and prevent or control incontinence issues. Also, many pelvic floor exercises can be done while you go about your day, making it a convenient way to get exercise in your crazy life.
