What are Kegels?
A Kegel is simply a contraction of the pelvic floor muscles, which are the sling-shaped muscles that surround and support the bladder, vagina, uterus, and rectum.
By performing these Kegel exercises women can help train muscles to treat bladder leaks, pelvic organ prolapse, lower back and hip pain, and can improve sex.
Benefits of Kegel Exercises for Women:
1. Kegels can make sex great for you and your partner:
When it comes to sex, Kegel exercises make the vagina feel tighter and can help improve the intensity of orgasm. The muscles of the pelvic floor are essential for orgasm.
They are in charge of the pleasurable genital contractions that take place during an orgasm. Longer and more powerful orgasms are experienced when your pelvic floor muscles are in good health. Women who have difficulty achieving orgasm may have weak pelvic floor muscles.
Exercising the pelvic floor muscles leads to increased blood flow in the pelvic region. Improved blood circulation increases sexual arousal, lubrication and the ability to achieve orgasm.
Likewise, a strong pelvic floor allows women to grip their partner tighter during penetration, which is often more pleasurable for their partner too!
The flexible pelvic floor muscles also allow for comfortable vaginal penetration. Women who experience painful penetration should consult a pelvic physical therapist as they may suffer from vaginismus, which is the involuntary, often painful contraction of the vaginal muscles.
2. Kegels can help overall fitness:
Lifestyle habits related to prolonged sitting, repetitive movements, injuries and pregnancy can wreak havoc on your body in various ways. Prolonged sitting can lead to a general deconditioning of both aerobic capacity and strength.
Stretching your abdominal muscles during pregnancy can weaken your core. Carrying the weight of a pregnant belly can shift your center of gravity forward and cause back pain. And pregnancy hormones cause ligaments to loosen, making clumsiness and injuries more likely.
Additionally, weight gain is common in lives busy with work, childcare, and social activities. Frequent exercise can help you recover from childbirth more quickly and lessen some of the effects.
Because the pelvic floor weakens with prolonged sitting, an injury to the hip, lower back or pelvis, and during childbirth, it is essential to add pelvic floor exercises to your regular exercise routine. A toned pelvic floor can reduce the risk of pelvic organ prolapse, incontinence and painful sexual intercourse.
3. Kegel Exercises can help pelvic health during menopause:
Variations in estrogen levels during the menopause may cause the pelvic floor muscles to receive less blood flow and result in a general decrease in muscle tone. Imagine your pelvic floor as a soapy sponge that you’re squeezing out under clean running water: Squeeze out the soap and then allow the sponge to fill with cool water as you loosen your grip on it.
This is what Kegels are doing for your tissues: squeezing out old blood and sucking in fresh blood to help the repair and strengthening process.
4. Kegels can help recovery from childbirth:
Whether you gave birth vaginally or by C-section, your pelvic floor muscles can weaken as a result of pregnancy. Vaginal delivery has the potential to worsen this weakness by causing muscle tearing and even episiotomy.
The good news is that these muscles will heal just like any other muscle would and will respond to Kegel exercises with greater strength just like other muscles would.
You can start strengthening your pelvic floor before you get pregnant and continue to strengthen it throughout your pregnancy by doing Kegel exercises, as long as you don’t feel any contractions of your uterus while you do them.
If you are pregnant, it is important to discuss your exercise program with your doctor.
5. Kegels can reduce Pelvic Organ Prolapse (POP):
A condition known as pelvic organ prolapse (POP) occurs when one or more pelvic organs press against the vaginal walls. This usually happens following a period of pregnancy or childbirth, or other events that may have stretched or weakened the pelvic floor muscles or their ligaments.
Long-term heavy lifting for exercise or work, as well as more chronic conditions like obesity, constipation, or episodes of persistent coughing, can also cause POP in women. Although pelvic organ prolapse is not fatal, it can result in discomfort, anxiety, and issues with the bladder or bowel. It can also lead to an overall decrease in enjoyment of life.
Pelvic organ prolapse is a condition characterized by a feeling of pressure in the pelvis or vagina. Often the descended organs can be palpated to varying degrees by inserting a finger into the vaginal opening.
They can also be viewed using a handheld mirror to view the vaginal opening. It may feel like the pelvic organs have become heavy or are falling away from the body. The feeling of pressure may worsen in the evening or after exercise or physical exertion such as heavy lifting.
It’s not uncommon to experience strange dribbling after urination, especially when getting up from the toilet to pull up underwear or zip-up pants.
The tendons that support the organs or the actual pelvic floor muscles themselves may tear and weaken, which results in POP. It is estimated that prolapse will occur to some extent in 50% of women who have given birth.
Age is also a factor in the development of POP for 50% of women aged 50 or older.
Prolonged pushing during labor and delivery (pushing for more than two and a half hours), tearing of the pelvic floor during childbirth, and delivery of a large baby are all factors that can lead to prolapse.
Women who are having their second, third or more births are at greater risk of developing POP. In some cases women who have had a C-section may also experience POP, especially if they pushed during labor before having a C-section. Sit ups, crunches and heavy lifting should be avoided, as this can lead to worsening of the prolapse.
POP is classified based on which organ or organs have fallen into the pelvic cavity. A urethrocele is a prolapse of the urethra through the lower anterior vaginal wall, while a cystocele is a prolapse of the bladder through the upper anterior vaginal wall.
6. Kegels can cure bladder leakage:
The pelvic floor muscles support the bladder, uterus, and rectum. When these muscles are not strong and coordinated, the bladder and bladder neck have less support and closure around the sphincter. This can cause incontinence.
Stress urinary incontinence is bladder leakage that occurs with strenuous movements such as exercising, lifting heavy objects, or while coughing, sneezing, or laughing. Kegels are the best cure for urinary incontinence.
7. Kegels can help develop better back and hip support:
The pelvic floor muscles are a component of the internal core, the muscles that support the trunk and hips. These muscles work in coordination with the deep layers of the abdominals to support the spine and connect to the deep rotator muscles of the hip for hip stability.
When the pelvic floor muscles do not have optimal strength and coordination, it can affect the joints of the pelvis, tailbone, and lower spine. An estimated 38% of women with urinary leakage also suffer from low back pain, and Kegels address both of these conditions.
Well, these are 7 of the many benefits women get from doing Kegel exercises. If you are interested in learning more about how proper Kegels should be performed for women or some of the products we offer at Intimate Rose, be sure to check out our blog and store!
