Women

 by: Beverley Brooke

You probably became familiar with Kegel exercises during your pregnancy. Kegel exercises are equally important after pregnancy to help restore the tone and strength of your vaginal wall.

Kegel exercises help strengthen your pelvic muscles, which weaken during childbirth. Why would you want to strengthen these muscles? If they are weak, you could have bladder control problems. You may also find that intercourse is more fulfilling when you have control of your kegel muscles.

Not sure how to do your Kegel’s? Pretend that you are trying to stop the flow of urine the next time you are sitting on the toilet (or anywhere for that matter). Those are the very muscles you need to contract in order to do your Kegels. You can also insert a finger into your vagina and try squeezing just like you are trying to stop the flow of urine. If you feel tightness around your finger, you are performing the exercise correctly.

Be sure when you are doing your Kegel’s that you concentrate on the pelvic floor muscles specifically; try not to do any other exercises. You should squeeze for about 15 seconds several times per day.

It is important that you don’t overdo your Kegel’s particularly in the early weeks after birth, or you may become very sore. Consider working up to doing three sets of ten repetitions over the course of the day.