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What does the strength of your pelvic floor have to do with orgasms? A lot - if you want an amazing sex life!
The pelvic floor is a powerful set of muscles that sits between your tailbone and pubic bone. It supports your core and the organs of your lower abdomen. A strong pelvic floor could mean more intense and longer-lasting orgasms, as your pelvic floor muscles contract during an orgasm.
We can thank Arnold Henry Kegel, an American gynaecologist who invented the Kegel exercises (also called pelvic floor exercises) as a non-surgical treatment for genital relaxation. These exercises consist of repeatedly contracting and relaxing the muscles that form part of the pelvic floor.
When it comes to sex, Kegels build muscle strength, increase sensation and boost blood flow to the vagina. This helps you control the muscles and experience stronger orgasms. Doing Kegels also builds good muscle tone in your vagina, which enables it to stretch more during sex. The result: muscle and nerve stimulation for better sex.
Kegel benefits
Kegel exercises are beneficial for men and woman. They help control a condition that causes spontaneous discharge of urine when abdominal pressure increases (called stress incontinence). This is when you leak urine when you cough, laugh, sneeze, jog or while lifting a heavy object. Usually as your bladder fills up, you may get the urge to urinate and when you have a case of urge incontinence, your bladder may feel full even if it’s not. In a healthy bladder, your muscles remain relaxed as the bladder progressively fills up. Kegel exercises will help strengthen these muscles and recover control.
Try to do the exercises for five minutes, two or three times daily. You’ll soon notice an improvement in your ability to control urinary leakage. Kegel exercises can also help improve erections.
For men, these exercises may help you:
- Have stronger erections, while reducing the chance of erectile dysfunction.
- Orgasm without ejaculating.
- Overcome premature ejaculation and last longer in bed.
- Give more intense orgasms and make your partner last longer.
- Reduce your chances of urinary incontinence, prostate cancer, urine leakage and other consequences of ageing.
A Kegel exercise is like pretending you must urinate and then holding it in. You relax and tighten the muscles that control urine flow. It’s important to find the right muscles to tighten. If you’re still unsure whether you’re tightening the right muscles, just imagine that you’re trying to keep yourself from flatulence.
So, for women, insert a finger into your vagina. Tighten the muscles as if you’re holding in your urine, then let go. You should feel the muscles tighten and move up and down. These are the pelvic floor muscles. For men, insert a finger into your rectum. Tighten the muscles as if you’re holding in your urine, then let go. You should feel the muscles tighten and move up and down.
Get started
Once you have the movement figured out, do Kegel exercises three times a day:
- Make sure your bladder is empty, then sit or lie down.
- Tighten your pelvic floor muscles. Hold tight and count to eight.
- Relax the muscles and count to 10.
- Repeat 10 times, three times a day (morning, afternoon and night).
- Make sure you breathe deeply and relax your body when doing these exercises. Remember, when you contract your pelvic floor muscles, the muscles in your abdomen, back, buttocks, and sides should remain loose.
Always empty your bladder before doing Kegel exercises. As a beginner, find a quiet and comfortable place in your home to sit or lie down. As you practise, you’ll find that you can do them anywhere. If you feel pain in your abdomen or back after a Kegel session, it may be a sign that you’re not doing them properly. Don’t overdo the exercises; if you work the muscles too hard, they become tired and incapable of functioning correctly.
