Kegels. For most of us, Kegels are the thing your mum told you to do as a teenager – and much like cleaning your room or staying clear of the hot bad boy riding a motorcycle – not many of us took her seriously.
But, low and behold – like the bad boy and the tidy room – mum was right. Kegels are important.
But how do you do them? And, if you already do them, how do you know you’re doing Kegels correctly?
Firstly, who needs to do Kegels?
The short answer is ‘most of us’. One-third of women will experience pelvic floor disorder in their life, meaning even more of us experience ‘pelvic floor weakness’. If you’re not sure whether you have a weak pelvic floor, you can always do an internal check yourself, or – even better – check with a local pelvic floor physio or your gyno.
How to check you’re doing a Kegel correctly
The best way to do this at home is by doing an internal exam on yourself to feel for the contraction and relaxation of the muscle.
- Start by washing your hands with soap and water. Then lay down on your back.
- Insert your index finger into your vagina up to the first knuckle resting against your anus (ie have the flat of your nail resting towards your tailbone).
- This will be your starting position. When you’re ready, try to contract your pelvic floor and see if you can feel a tightening around your finger.
- Then, relax the pelvic floor. You should feel a loosening of the grip of the vagina around your index finger.
- Next, insert your finger further into the vagina and you should be able to hook your finger into each side (towards to left and right side of your body). Your pelvic floor is in the shape of a hammock and you should feel like your finger can hook over the side of the ‘hammock’.
- From here, contract and relax your pelvic floor again. Ideally, your finger should feel like it’s being lifted into the vagina even further with each contraction.
If you don’t feel much – or any – change in sensation around your finger, it’s a good idea to check in with a health professional to get some personalised advice.
How many Kegels should you do?
This all depends on the individual, but while you’re practising your contraction and relaxation of the pelvic floor muscle, it’s a good idea to change up your workout by doing quick contractions (1 second contractions and 1 second releases).
You can also play with endurance by holding your contraction for five or 10 seconds. Try and measure how long you can hold the muscle tight for and aim to hold for longer and longer each time.
Finally, work with intensity. How does it feel to contract your pelvic floor to 20%? What about 60% And then 100%?
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