Kegel exercises strengthen the muscles around the vagina, urethra and rectum. Your ability to control these muscles will be increased if you practice faithfully and enough repetitions are done.
How to do Kegel exercises
To locate these muscles, stop and start your urine flow when you use the toilet. Try to tighten the muscles a small amount at the time, holding for 5 seconds at first, releasing slowly. As you tighten the muscles, you should feel the area from your urethra to the rectum lift slightly.
When to practice
- Start off by doing these exercises every time you are waiting for a red light, watching a TV commercial, or “on hold” on the telephone.
- Do these exercises 5 times each day. Start with 5 repetitions and work up to 10 repetitions.
- Increase your “holding” time to 10 seconds with each exercise.
- Work hard! As with any exercise program, improvement is often related to how faithfully you adhere to your program.
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