Kagel exercises

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Kegel Exercises
The exercises given below are performed to improve awareness, and
to heighten pleasurable feelings from the vagina, as well as increasing
longevity for men, during sexual intercourse. Women who are non-
orgasmic are helped by these exercises and women who have not
experienced orgasm through vaginal stimulation by a penis,
sometimes become orgasmic by this method, too. The pubococcygeus
muscle (PC for short), or the anteromedial part of the levator ani
muscle, is the sling of muscles supporting your genitals. Both women
and men have a PC muscle, and both can benefit sexually from
exercising it. Likewise, reports indicate that men have taught
themselves to enjoy multiple orgasms by delaying ejaculation through
control of the pubococcygeus muscle.

Graber and Kline-Graber (1979) examined the role of the PC muscle in

relation to female orgasm in 281 women, and reported a statistically
significant difference between orgasmic and anorgasmic women and
the physiological state of the PC muscle as measured using a
pressure sensitive device inserted in the vagina. These researchers
suggested the pubococcygeus muscle plays an important part in the
pathophysiology of female orgasm.

Although the exercises are well known, there is often conflicting

information as to how many times to do each exercise.

The erotic, sexual, sensitivity of the vagina varies with individual

women. However, nerve endings that respond to touch are only
contained near the entrance. Therefore, the walls of the first third of
the vagina are more responsive to sexual stimulation than those of the
inner two.thirds. The inner two thirds is sensitive to stretch and
pressure, and many women get considerable pleasure from this area
during the deep thrusting which takes place during intercourse. Since it
is the outer third of the vagina that is most sensitive, however, almost
any penis is large enough to stimulate this area, even though the size

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of an erect penis, regardless of its size when a flaccid, varies very little
from man to man, it is true that some women have a preference for a
larger or smaller penis. But this preference varies with the individual
woman, it's not generally based on the anatomey of the vagina. A
large penis does not make a man a better lover.

An important physical characteristic of the vagina is the large muscle

that surrounds the opening; it also covers the whole pelvic floor (from
the pubic bone to the tail bone.) This is called the pubococcoygeus
muscle, or "PC muscle," and is one of the muscles that contracts
during orgasm. If you put your finger into the entrance to your vagina
and/or the entrance to your anus or both during an orgasm, you
usually can feel this muscle contract. This muscle may be lacking in
firmness in some women, especially after childbirth. Like any other
muscle, the PC muscle needs exercise to keep it in its best condition.
A Series of exercises popularly referred to as "Kegels" were developed
by Dr. Arnold Kegel for women with the common problem of urinary
incontinence. These women would expel urine when they sneezed or
coughed and these exercises were designed to tighten the PC muscle,
and help them retain the urine. Many gymecologists recommend these
exercises routinely to women after they have had a baby. "Kegeling" is
also taught in many natural childbirth classes. Kegels are
recommended for women, especially after they have had a baby, in
order to develop vaginal and rectal muscle support. Women who
conscientiously carry out these exercises find they develop better
control of their bowels and bladder. In addition to this they may also
discover that the vagina, through these exercises, regains its former
tightness for intercourse.

A side effect was noted in that some of the women who followed Dr.
Kegel's advice reported that after about six weeks of practicing the
exercises they experienced increased pleasure during sexual
intercourse. The women I have worked with have also found that
exercising this muscle increases sensitivity in the vaginal area. In
addition, Strengthening the PC muscle helps reduce spontaneous
urination with orgasm, an occurrence which is not unusual among
women.

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A woman may locate her pubococcygeus muscle by urinating her legs

apart. The muscle she tightens to do this is the PC muscle. Men or
women may practice finding the muscle by stopping a stream of urine
in mid-flow. The muscle you squeeze to stop the flow of urine is the PC
muscle. Practice stopping the flow of urine a few times in order to
become familar with the muscle. A woman might lie down and put her
finger in the opening of her vagina and contract the PC muscle, to feel
the contraction around her finger.

After practicing the following exercises for about six weeks, see if you
notice any difference in the strength of your PC muscle when your put
your finger in your vagina and squeeze.

1. The first Kegel exercise consists of squeezing the PC muscle

for three seconds, then relaxing the muscle for three seconds, and
squeezing it again. At first, do ten, three-second squeezes at three
different times during the day. It may be difficult at first It may be
difficult at first to keep contracting for a full three seconds. If that is the
case, contract for one or two seconds, and build up the time as the
muscle gets stronger. The advantage to these exercises is that you
can do them anywhere and at any time and no one can tell you're
doing them. Practice when you stop the car for a red light or in the
morning when you xrake up. Or do them when you answer the
telephone at home or at work, or at when you'are lying doom to rest.
The muscles surrounding your anus may also move during the
exercise, but if you find that you are moving your thigh muscles, your
stomach or buttocks, you are probably squeezing the wrong muscle.

2. The second exercise is like the first except that the objective
is to squeeze the muscle, release it, squeeze again and release as
quickly as possible. This is nicknamed the "flutter" exercise. Again,
squeeze and release ten times at three different times during the day.
When you first start doing this exercise, it may feel like a tongue
twister; you may not be able to tell if you are contracting or releasing,
and for a while it may keep getting muddled all together. However,
after working at it slowly, you will gradually be able to do the flutter

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more rapidly.

3. The third exercise consists of imagining that there is a

tampon at the opening to the vagina and that you are sucking it up into
your vagina. Some women are actually able to suck water into their
vagina and then spurt it out again if they do this exercise while taking a
bath.

4. The fourth exercise consists of bearing dowm as during a

bowel movement, but with the emphasis more on the vagina than the
anal area. This exercise is more apparent to an observer. Both the
sucking in and the bearing dowm should be held for three seconds, as
with the first exercise.

Each of the four exercises should be practiced ten times, at three

different times during the day. As you progress with these Kegel
exercises, slowly increase the number in each series until you are able
to do twenty of each exercises in succession. You can do them as
frequently during the day as you can find time, but consider three times
daily a minimum.

If you notice some discomfort or tightness in the pelvic area at the

beginning, reduce the number of daily exercises. Like any muscle that
is being exercised for the first time, it may get a little stiff at first. It is
quite important to keep this muscle, like the others in your body, in
good tone. These exercises can become as simple a habit as brushing
your teeth and, like brushing your teeth, they should be continued for
the rest of your life.

The above instructions are from For Yourself: The

Fulfillment of Female Sexuality, by Lonnie Garfield Barbach, Ph.D.,
Signet Books: New York (1975), chapter five, with some editing
and insertion of related material from other sources.

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links

B. Graber & G. Kline-Graber (1979), J. Clin. Psychiatry, Aug., 40

(8):348-51.

Annotated bibliography of works by and about Arnold H. Kegel The

Kegel Exercises The Kegel Perineometer The Pubococcygeus Muscle
and directly related matters - by John D. Perry, Ph.D., Perry Research
Institute, Inc., 1984

An Annotated Bibliography on Sexual Arousal, Orgasm, and Female

Ejaculation in Humans and Animals - Kim Wallen, Ph.D., Department
of Psychology, Emery University, 1997

Kegel Exercises - C. Everett Koop, M.D.

Pelvic Floor Muscle Exercises or Kegel Exercises - Diane K. Newman,

RNC,MSN,FAAN, Access to Continence Care & Treatment

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