Kegels 101: Why Your Pelvic Floor Deserves Some Attention
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Kegels 101: Why Your Pelvic Floor Deserves Some Attention
We talk about strengthening our core, protecting our backs, exercising our legs and taking care of our sexual health.
But there's an incredibly important group of muscles that doesn't get nearly enough attention:
Your pelvic floor.
Your pelvic floor is a group of muscles and connective tissues that forms a supportive base beneath your pelvic organs. Think of it a little like a hammock supporting your bladder, uterus and rectum.
These muscles are involved in bladder and bowel control, core stability, pregnancy and childbirth, sexual function—and yes, orgasm.
And just like other muscles in your body, your pelvic floor can benefit from intentional movement and exercise.
One of the simplest ways to start?
Kegels.
What Exactly Is a Kegel?
A Kegel is the intentional contraction and relaxation of your pelvic-floor muscles.
These are some of the same muscles you naturally engage when you're trying to prevent yourself from passing gas or stop the flow of urine.
Your pelvic floor helps support your pelvic organs and contributes to bladder and bowel control, sexual function and pelvic stability.
Pregnancy, childbirth, aging, hormonal changes, surgery, chronic coughing, constipation and repeated straining can all affect pelvic-floor function.
That means pelvic-floor health is worth thinking about throughout your life—not just after you've had a baby.
6 Benefits of a Strong, Functional Pelvic Floor
1. Better Bladder Control
This is probably the benefit you've heard about most.
Pelvic-floor muscle training can improve urinary control, particularly stress incontinence—the little leak that can happen when you cough, sneeze, laugh, jump or exercise.
Your bladder isn't supposed to get the final say every time you sneeze.
2. Support for Your Pelvic Organs
Your pelvic floor helps support your bladder, uterus and rectum.
When the supporting structures of the pelvis weaken, one or more pelvic organs can descend toward or into the vaginal canal. This is known as pelvic organ prolapse.
Maintaining good pelvic-floor function can help provide muscular support for these organs, and pelvic-floor muscle training may improve symptoms for some people with prolapse.
However, Kegels cannot reverse or “fix” an existing anatomical prolapse.
If you're experiencing vaginal pressure, heaviness, bulging or other possible prolapse symptoms, talk with your healthcare provider or a pelvic-floor physical therapist.
3. Pregnancy, Labor, Delivery & Postpartum Recovery
Pregnancy asks a LOT from your pelvic floor.
For months, these muscles help support the increasing weight of the uterus and baby. Labor and vaginal delivery can place additional demands on the pelvic floor.
Learning to intentionally contract AND relax these muscles gives you better awareness and control of an area of your body that plays an important role throughout pregnancy, birth and recovery.
Pelvic-floor training during pregnancy may also reduce urinary leakage during and after pregnancy.
But here's something important:
Birth isn't simply about having the strongest pelvic floor possible.
During labor and delivery, those muscles also need to be able to relax and lengthen.
Pelvic health is about function—not keeping every muscle clenched as tightly as possible.
If you're pregnant, preparing for delivery, postpartum or experiencing pelvic-floor symptoms, a pelvic-floor physical therapist can be an incredible addition to your healthcare team.
4. Your Pelvic Floor Is Part of Your Core
When most of us hear “core,” we immediately think abs.
Your functional core is much more than your abdominal muscles.
Your diaphragm, deep abdominal muscles, spinal stabilizers and pelvic floor work together to manage pressure inside your abdomen and stabilize your trunk.
That makes your pelvic floor an important part of overall core function.
And remember:
Strong doesn't mean constantly tight.
A healthy pelvic floor needs to contract when necessary—and fully relax when it isn't needed.
5. Sexual Function & Orgasm Control
Your pelvic floor participates in sexual response, too.
Pelvic-floor muscles contract rhythmically during orgasm, and pelvic-floor muscle training may improve aspects of sexual function for some women.
Learning how to intentionally contract and relax these muscles can also give you greater awareness of the muscular sensations involved in arousal and orgasm.
Think of it less as:
“Do Kegels and you'll automatically have better orgasms.”
And more as:
Learning to intentionally engage and relax muscles involved in sexual response gives you another way to understand and connect with your own body.
And around here, we're big fans of understanding your own anatomy.
6. Bowel Control
Your pelvic floor doesn't only support your bladder.
These muscles also contribute to bowel continence and controlling gas. Pelvic-floor muscle training may be recommended for some people experiencing bowel-control problems.
These aren't just “sex muscles.”
They're functional muscles doing important work every single day.
How to Do Kegels: A Beginner's Guide
The hardest part for many beginners isn't actually doing a Kegel.
It's figuring out which muscles they're supposed to be using.
Step 1: Find Your Pelvic Floor
Imagine you're trying to stop yourself from passing gas.
You should feel a subtle tightening and lifting sensation internally around the vaginal and rectal area.
That's your pelvic floor.
Another way to identify the muscles is to notice which muscles you would use if you were trying to stop your urine stream.
But there's an important distinction:
Don't routinely practice Kegels while you're urinating.
Repeatedly interrupting your urine stream can interfere with completely emptying your bladder. Think of stopping urine only as a way to identify the muscles—not as your daily exercise.
Step 2: Get Comfortable
If you're brand new to Kegels, lying down is often the easiest position.
Relax your abdomen, thighs and buttocks and breathe normally.
Step 3: Squeeze AND Lift
Gently contract your pelvic-floor muscles.
Think about drawing the muscles inward and slightly upward rather than simply squeezing everything around your pelvis.
You shouldn't need to clench your buttocks, squeeze your thighs together or hold your breath.
Step 4: Hold for 3 Seconds
Keep breathing normally while maintaining the contraction.
Step 5: Completely Relax for 3 Seconds
This part matters.
Relaxing your pelvic floor is just as important as contracting it.
Step 6: Repeat
Begin with a few comfortable repetitions and gradually work toward:
10–15 contractions per set, up to 3 sets throughout the day.
As your coordination improves, change positions:
Lying down → Sitting → Standing
Gravity changes the challenge.
Don't Forget the Quick Squeeze
Your pelvic floor doesn't only need endurance. Sometimes it needs to respond quickly—like immediately before a cough or sneeze.
Once you're comfortable with your basic Kegels, add a few:
Quick squeeze → completely release → quick squeeze → completely release.
The goal isn't to walk around squeezing your pelvic floor all day.
The goal is control.
Contract when you need it.
Relax when you don't.
Ready to Put It Into Practice?
You absolutely don't need a product to perform a Kegel.
But pelvic-floor tools can provide resistance, sensory feedback or simply help you become more aware of muscles that can be surprisingly difficult to identify at first.
Here are a few tools I recommend incorporating into a pelvic-floor wellness routine.
Kegel Exerciser Set: Start With Resistance & Feedback
A Kegel exerciser set gives your pelvic-floor muscles something tangible to contract around, providing resistance and feedback during your exercises.
If your set includes different weights or resistance levels, start with the easiest option and gradually progress as your strength and coordination improve.
This isn't a competition.
We're training coordination, endurance and function—not chasing the heaviest weight.
Oly 2: Explore Pelvic-Floor Awareness
The Oly 2 can be another option for incorporating pelvic-floor awareness into your intimate wellness routine.
Once you've learned how to correctly contract and relax your pelvic floor, an insertable device can provide sensory feedback that may make those muscular contractions easier to recognize.
Pelvic-floor health and sexual wellness aren't two completely separate conversations.
Understanding what your body is doing—and learning how to intentionally control those muscles—is part of body literacy.
Aqua Jelle Lubricant: Make Comfort Part of the Routine
If you're using an insertable pelvic-floor exerciser or intimate wellness device, don't forget lubricant.
Aqua Jelle lubricant can help reduce unnecessary friction and make insertion more comfortable.
You don't earn bonus points for making pelvic-floor exercises uncomfortable.
In fact, discomfort can cause your body to tense—the opposite of what we're trying to accomplish when we're learning both contraction and relaxation.
Toy Cleaner: Take Care of Your Tools, Too
Anything designed to be inserted into the vagina needs to be appropriately cleaned according to the manufacturer's instructions.
A dedicated toy cleaner makes caring for your reusable intimate wellness products simple and convenient.
Clean your device as directed, allow it to dry completely and store it according to its manufacturer's recommendations.
Pelvic wellness includes hygiene, too.
One Important Thing I Want You to Know
Not everyone needs more Kegels.
This gets left out of the conversation far too often.
Some people have pelvic-floor muscles that are already overly tight or have difficulty relaxing. Continually adding strengthening exercises may actually make certain symptoms worse.
Pain with penetration, persistent pelvic pain, difficulty emptying your bladder or bowels, pelvic pressure or difficulty relaxing your pelvic floor are all good reasons to talk with a healthcare professional or pelvic-floor physical therapist before beginning an intensive strengthening routine.
And if you simply aren't sure whether you're contracting the correct muscles?
A pelvic-floor physical therapist can assess how your pelvic floor is functioning and teach you how to both contract and relax it correctly.
There is no prize for struggling through something your body is asking you to approach differently.
Your Pelvic Floor Deserves the Same Attention as the Rest of You
We strengthen our arms.
We train our legs.
We work our abdominal muscles.
We stretch our backs.
Your pelvic floor deserves some attention, too.
It supports you through everyday movement, pregnancy, childbirth, bladder and bowel function, aging and sexual response.
But perhaps one of the greatest benefits of learning about your pelvic floor is something I want every woman to have:
A better understanding of her own body.
Your anatomy isn't embarrassing.
Your pelvic health isn't something you need to whisper about.
And taking care of this part of your body isn't simply about sex.
It's healthcare.
It's confidence.
It's body literacy.
And you deserve all three.
This article is provided for educational purposes and isn't a substitute for individualized medical advice. Pregnancy, postpartum recovery, pelvic pain, incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse can change what type of pelvic-floor exercise is appropriate for you. Talk with your healthcare provider or a pelvic-floor physical therapist if you have symptoms or aren't sure whether Kegel exercises are appropriate for your body.
Sources & Further Reading
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases — Kegel Exercises: https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/urologic-diseases/kegel-exercises
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists — Exercise During Pregnancy