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A Kegel is the one exercise you can do in a jeepney, at your desk or while feeding a baby, and nobody around you will know. It trains the pelvic floor, the muscles the NHS describes as sitting around the bladder, the vagina and the bottom. Cleveland Clinic lists the signs of a weak pelvic floor as leaking pee or poop, or feeling the need to pee when you do not have to.
Pregnancy and birth are the best-known reasons the pelvic floor weakens, but not the only ones. Cleveland Clinic’s patient guide says anyone can benefit from Kegel exercises, men included.
Nothing here is medical advice. It follows what the NHS and Cleveland Clinic tell patients, and a doctor is the right person for anything beyond that.
Find the right muscles first
Most people who say Kegels do not work for them have been squeezing the wrong muscles. Take a minute to find the right ones.
Imagine you are trying to stop yourself passing wind, and at the same time stop the flow of urine. The muscles that tighten and lift inside are the pelvic floor. Both the NHS and Cleveland Clinic describe it this way.
Cleveland Clinic suggests you can also try stopping the flow of urine on the toilet, but only a few times while you learn how it feels, because stopping and starting regularly can lead to infection. The NHS makes a related point: do your exercises after you have finished on the toilet, not during.
What should not move: your thighs, your buttocks and your stomach. If they tighten, the wrong muscles are doing the work.
A routine to start with
This is Cleveland Clinic’s sample starting schedule:
- Tighten the pelvic floor for three seconds, then relax for three seconds. That is one Kegel.
- Repeat ten times. If ten is too many, start with five.
- Do one set in the morning and one at night.
As the muscles get stronger, hold and relax for five seconds each, and add a third set in the day. Cleveland Clinic’s target is ten Kegels a set, five seconds on and five off, three sets a day.
The NHS adds quick squeezes alongside the long ones: squeeze and let go straight away, until the muscles tire. It suggests building up to ten long and ten quick squeezes, at least three times a day.
Lying down is easiest when the muscles are weak. Once it feels familiar, do them sitting and then standing.
The mistakes that stop it working
Holding your breath. Breathe normally throughout. Cleveland Clinic suggests counting out loud to keep the breathing going.
Pulling in the stomach or squeezing the buttocks. The NHS asks you not to pull in your stomach when you squeeze.
Pushing down instead of lifting. The movement is a squeeze and a lift, never a strain.
Doing too many. Cleveland Clinic warns that too many Kegels, or doing them when you do not need to, can leave the muscles too tight.
A Kegel should not hurt. If your stomach, back or head aches afterwards, you are probably holding your breath or using the wrong muscles.
How long before it helps
Cleveland Clinic says to expect results after six to eight weeks of doing them regularly, depending on how weak the muscles were to begin with. The first sign is usually fewer leaks.
When to see a doctor
If you cannot find the muscles, if Kegels hurt, or if the leaks are not getting better after a couple of months of steady practice, see your doctor. Cleveland Clinic notes that a healthcare provider can check that you are squeezing the right muscles, with tools that show the squeeze on a screen. The NHS says a doctor can refer you to a specialist for any problem that is bothering you after a birth, at any time.
Kegels after a birth
After a birth, pelvic floor exercises are among the first things the NHS suggests, along with walking and gentle stretches. Our guides to the postpartum belly and to diastasis recti exercises show how they fit with the deep stomach work that comes next.
Fit Bud’s pre- and post-natal fitness sessions start only with your doctor’s written clearance, and a coach works inside what your doctor or physio has said. Kegels are something you do on your own; what a coach adds is the rest of the plan, at home and around the baby. The pregnancy and after-birth gallery shows those sessions in ordinary homes, and when you are ready, tell us your town and how many weeks since the birth.