Kegel Exercises: What are Kegel exercises and how to do them (A Complete Guide)

Kegel exercises, also known as pelvic floor exercises, are one of the most effective ways of improving and maintaining bowel and bladder functions. They work by increasing the strength of the pelvic floor and can improve or even eliminate urine leakage. 

These muscles can become weak, especially as we age, but they are easy to train with kegel exercises which can be started at any age. This can lead to tangible improvements in control.  

The pelvic floor (or kegel muscles) forms the foundation of the body’s ‘core’ muscles, sitting at the base of the pelvis. While many people think of the ‘core’ as the stomach (particularly the ever-glorified abdominal muscles!) there are many other important supporting muscles that are overlooked, but which need to be maintained and strengthened. 

The kegel muscles connect the pubic bone to the spine, and hold the organs of the urinary tract, bowel and bladder in place, forming a sort of hammock that keeps everything in this region supported. 

If the pelvic floor or kegel muscles become too weak, there can be various symptoms, including incontinence.

Kegel exercises are the best way to strengthen and maintain your pelvic floor. 

There are various ways you can to strengthen the pelvic floor, but the simplest Kegel exercises are a type of clench and release exercise used to train the Kegel muscles, strengthening them and the pelvic floor as a whole.  

The great thing about Kegel exercises is that they are simple, and  can be performed anytime and anywhere, so you don’t need to worry about getting a gym membership or the latest fitness clothing.  

There are several variants of these exercises and they can range from the simplest clench and release exercises mentioned above, all the way up to full strengthening programs and even weighted pelvic floor exercises.  

If you’ve never tried Kegel exercises before, you may struggle to engage these muscles at first, but with some practice you will find it easier to exercise and control them.  

To find the kegel muscles, try: 

• Stopping and starting your urine flow while urinating. Try these two or three times and you should be able to feel and understand where the kegel muscles are and how to tense them. 

• You can also try simply stopping your urine flow or imagining someone has just walked in on you while urinating and trying to stop your urine flow. 

Now that you understand how it feels to tense the pelvic floor, you can start training it with Kegel exercises. 

Slow Kegels

• Tense or contract your Kegel muscles and hold this for five seconds, then let the muscle totally relax for five seconds. Continue to breath normally as you do this. 

• Repeat the contraction and hold for five seconds, then relax again for five seconds. 

• Repeat this slow and steady contraction and release exercise in a controlled manner 10 times.  

• If you want to make the exercise more difficult you can gradually increase the amount of time you maintain the contraction eventually building up to 10 seconds. Always keep the rest period the same as the amount of time you are contracting.  

• Remember to stop and rest if you feel any pain or discomfort. 

Fast Kegels

• Fast Kegels use the same technique as slow Kegels, contract, hold and relax. 

• With fast Kegels however, you need to speed up the process, tensing only for a second before releasing, and then tensing again immediately. 

• Mixing in 10 fast Kegels after 10 slow Kegels is a great way to build strength and control 

• Make this exercise more difficult by increasing the amount of fast Kegels you do to 15 or eventually 20. 

Kegel exercises for women

Women can also use the slow and fast Kegel techniques mentioned above as well as: 

• Weighted kegel exercises 

• Using a Kegel trainer such as EMY. 

While doing these exercises, don't hold your breath or tighten your stomach, buttock or thigh muscles at the same time. Focus on engaging only the Kegel muscles themselves.   

Aim to do these exercises 3 to 4 times a day, whenever you get the chance. Start with laying or sitting, and as you get stronger you can then do the exercises standing.  

After a few months, you should start to notice results. You should carry on doing the exercises, even when you notice them starting to work, for continued results.  

If you want to learn more about specific types of exercises, check out our pages on pelvic floor exercises for women, pelvic floor exercises for men and pelvic floor exercises during pregnancy. You can track your pelvic progress with the TENA Pelvic Floor Fitness app. 

Check out TENA’s new incontinence trainer, EMY, for more information on how it works and the benefits it can provide. 

As well as strengthening the pelvic floor and consequently being able to improve and even eliminate bedwetting and incontinence, other benefits of pelvic floor exercises include: 

• preventing prolapse 

• increased sensitivity during sex and stronger orgasms for women 

• reduced symptoms of erectile dysfunction for men 

• less risk of incontinence after pregnancy when used during pregnancy and after giving birth.

If you’re struggling with Kegel exercises, it is important to seek advice from your doctor. They will be able to offer advice on how to perform the exercises correctly, as well as address any other issues you may be having while performing these exercises.  

Results can vary depending on various factors such as age or how often you perform Kegel exercises, but you can expect to see results, such as less frequent incontinence or leakage, from anywhere between a few weeks to several months. It’s important to note that continuing to perform these exercises is the best way to see ongoing benefits and prevent leakage long term.  

If you’re struggling with urine leakage and need protection in the meantime, we have products fit to handle every leak, for both Women and Men.