Kegal exercises

[tripleV]

Since reading a couple posts about this topic, i didnt find anything about how to do them........so here goes....

http://www.keyworlds.com/k/kegal_exercises.htm

http://www.universityobgyn.com/kegal.htm

 

[Temple]

If you aren't doing these now then I highly recommend that you start. Thanks for posting the links 3V

 

[Suzr]

Interestingly enough about 12 years ago before I started workingout I had alot of trouble with weak pelvic floor muscles. I think this was due to having had 3 children via vaginal birth and never having exercised. I was so bad that I couldn't run more than a few steps with having some urine leakage.
I have found that weight training in general and squats in particular have long ago cured this problem. When you are doing weighted squats you are forced to do Kegals to stablize and push through the upward phase (concentric) of the squat.

Another added benefit to add to the squat's many merits.

 

[thebabydoc]

You know, if you guys want responses to questions like these, just PM me that there's a post and I'll do my best to reply.

Kegel's exercises are designed to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles, usually damaged/weakened by childbearing (or menopause). 40-50% of all women over the age of 50 have some degree of stress urinary incontinence (SUI), which is the involuntary leakage of urine with increased intraabdominal pressure (cough, sneeze, valsalva, etc...)

Easiest way to explain Kegel's is this:

When going to the bathroom (voiding), begin and then stop. Begin voiding and then stop again. Do this a few times until you feel comfortable that you can identify, isolate, and contract this muscle.

Then you are ready to do Kegel's exercises. At any time, any place, tighten the aforementioned muscle, hold 5-10 seconds, then relax. Do 10 "reps", as many sets as you can remember daily. Like all exercises, it will take about 2 weeks to see some results. 50% of women with SUI will get a fair degree of improvement. For post-menopausal women, it is essential to be on estrogen as this directly affects the tissues of the vagina and urethra which are estrogen-sensitve.

There are also vaginal weights (no kidding) which can be used as aids as is there a magnectic/electro stimulating chair that has been shown to help. A last resort is surgery called a bladder suspension which is actually a pretty simple and elegant procedure with a high long-term (>10year) success rate (~85%).

Suzr is correct that squats, if done properly, may help significantly as they will strengthen the entire pelvic floor. However, if done improperly, they can result in increased stress to the pelvic floor and additional weakening of those muscles.

thebabydoc

 

[BatZgirl]

RE;

Great links - thanks