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Find your pelvic floor muscles
First you need to find those elusive muscles. When you squeeze your pelvic floor muscles you should feel a tightening sensation rectally, vaginally or both. This feels like a closing of that passage with an upward lift.
“If you put your finger in the area between your vagina and rectum – also known as the perineal body – and squeeze, you should feel the muscle tightening. Or you can insert your finger into your vagina and squeeze – the side walls will squeeze, lift in and tighten around it. Your partner should also feel this during sex, so ask for feedback to see if the muscles are getting stronger,” suggests Bettina.
Now exercise them
You can whip these muscles into shape with minimal effort. Kegels can be done anywhere, anytime.
Exercises
Start by doing two sets of exercises.
Set 1
Squeeze to hold the pelvic muscles as hard as you can. Imagine that you want to stop your flow of urine. When you feel you have reached your maximum, relax all the way down again. The relaxing is just as important as the squeeze so learn to let go completely between squeezes. Repeat 10 times.
Set 2
Now only squeeze to half of your maximum effort but hold it for up to 10 seconds. If you can only squeeze and hold for 3 seconds, start there and build up to 10 as you get stronger. Again, relax completely for the same amount of time. Repeat up to 10 times.
“These muscles tire very quickly so try to do each set a few times a day. If your muscles are weak, aim to do the exercises 5 to 6 times a day, otherwise you can aim to do them twice a day,” advises Bettina.
