How Kegel Exercises for Women Improve Pelvic Health

One of the most effective ways to support your pelvic health is through Kegel exercises. These relatively simple, yet powerful exercises can help strengthen the muscles of your pelvic floor, improve bladder control, and enhance overall core stability.

At AgilePT, we understand how important pelvic health is for women, whether you're postpartum, preparing for childbirth, or simply looking to improve your well-being.

In this article, we’ll answer common questions about Kegel exercises for women and provide tips on how to get the most out of your routine. Let's get started!

What Are Kegel Exercises?

Kegel exercises are simple bodyweight movements designed to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles, which support your bladder, uterus, and bowel. These pelvic muscles play a key role in controlling urination, supporting your pelvic organs, and maintaining overall pelvic health.

What Are the Benefits of Kegel Exercises?

Kegel exercises offer a variety of benefits, especially when it comes to pelvic health. By strengthening the pelvic floor muscles, Kegels can help with:

Improved Bladder Control: If you’ve experienced leaks when sneezing, laughing, or exercising (known as stress urinary incontinence), Kegel exercises can help by building strength in the muscles that control your bladder (1).
Support During Pregnancy and Postpartum Recovery: Kegel exercises are great for preparing your body for childbirth and can aid in postpartum recovery by helping to restore muscle strength and function after delivery.
Reduced Risk of Pelvic Organ Prolapse: A strong pelvic floor can help prevent the downward movement of pelvic organs, such as the bladder or uterus, which can occur when pelvic muscles weaken over time.
Build Muscle Tone: Regularly practicing Kegels can help improve muscle tone not only in the pelvic floor, but also in surrounding areas. This can enhance your overall muscle function and control, contributing to better strength and stability in your core.
Better Core Stability: Speaking of your core, your pelvic floor forms a key part, so stronger pelvic muscles can contribute to better posture and overall core strength, which can help prevent back pain and improve balance – a win-win!

If you're unsure whether you're doing Kegel exercises correctly or are experiencing discomfort, working with a pelvic floor therapist can be incredibly helpful. Pelvic floor physical therapists can assess your muscle function, guide you through the exercises, and create a personalized plan to help you achieve your health goals.

Pelvic floor therapy can also help with issues like muscle tightness or weakness, and ensure you're engaging the right muscles for the best results.

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How Long Does Kegeling Take to Build Strength?

Strength building takes time, and pelvic floor exercises are no different! Most people require at least 3 to 6 months to reach their desired level of improvement. You should see gradual improvement during this time, but don't give up after 2 weeks if you're not seeing the results that you want!

Don't know how to Kegel? Read my blog on how to do a kegel here!

Do I Have to do Kegels Forever?

Once you have achieved your goals, you can start doing more of a “maintenance” schedule of 2-3 times per week instead of daily. You can also stop doing Kegels altogether, and see if your pelvic floor symptoms return or not.

Some people decide that they feel best on a maintenance plan, and others feel fine without it. Most importantly, strength training and staying active are the most important ways to maintain results and keep your pelvic floor happy and healthy!

What is “Enough” Kegel Strength?

The truth is, we don't really know! Each person's pelvic floor strength is different. This is due to different genetics, birth history, and past and current exercise program. “Enough” pelvic floor strength probably varies based on what someone wants to do, and if they have any symptoms!

In general, we want people to be able to confidently contract and hold their pelvic floor contraction against gravity for about 10 seconds. Then, they should be able to repeat that 5-10 times in a row without losing power.

Want to learn how to design your own Kegel program?

Can Kegels Make Your Pelvic Muscles Too Tight?

While this is a common myth, there's no evidence that it's true! No muscle in the body, including the pelvic floor, will get physically shorter as the result of exercise. Exercise does make muscles thicker, which is what we want in order to improve strength!

There are some people who do experience discomfort in the pelvic floor muscles because of doing Kegels. This can indicate that the muscles are sensitive to exercise and that the person needs slightly different programming.

What if I Have Pain With Kegels?

Instead of stopping, try to reduce the level of effort and the number of repetitions that you're doing, and see if you can find a comfortable “dosage.” It's also important to let your muscles relax between each contraction.

Resting for at least 10 seconds in between each repetition is important, even if it's boring! If you're still having trouble, please consult a pelvic PT.

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Are Kegels Safe to do During Pregnancy?

Absolutely! Not only are they safe, they actually appear to be helpful in vaginal delivery and postpartum recovery. Kegel exercises strengthen the pelvic region, reducing the risk of developing stress incontinence in pregnancy, or lessening it if it's already happening.

According to this study conducted by Pires et al, which measured the results of pelvic floor muscle therapy for pregnant women, this form of therapy led to the “decrease of UI (urinary incontinence)” as well as “an increase in the muscle strength of PFM (pelvic floor muscles).”

What Other Pelvic Floor Exercises Are There?

Kegels can be a very powerful exercise for building pelvic floor strength, however you can also take this routine further by incorporating other pelvic floor muscle exercises. These include:

Bridge Exercise

This exercise engages both the pelvic floor and buttocks. It helps build overall core and pelvic strength.

How to do it: Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Slowly lift your hips off the floor, squeezing your pelvic floor and buttock muscles as you rise. Hold for a few seconds, then slowly lower your hips back down.

Squats

Squats are great for targeting weak pelvic floor muscles, as well as the lower body muscles like the glutes, hamstrings, and quads.

How to do it: Stand with your feet hip-width apart. Lower your body as if sitting on a chair, keeping your knees over your toes and squeezing your pelvic floor muscles as you rise back up.

Pelvic Tilts

This exercise targets the lower back and pelvic floor muscles, helping improve flexibility and relieve tension.

How to do it: Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat. Gently tilt your pelvis up toward your ribs, flattening your lower back against the floor. Engage your pelvic floor as you hold the tilt for a few seconds, then relax.

Heel Slides

Heel slides work the core and pelvic floor muscles by engaging them as you move your legs.

How to do it: Lie on your back with your knees bent. Slowly slide one heel along the floor, straightening your leg, while engaging your pelvic floor. Slide your heel back to the starting position and repeat on the other leg.

Side-Lying Leg Lifts

This exercise works the hips, thighs, and pelvic floor muscles.

How to do it: Lie on your side with your legs stacked. Engage your pelvic floor as you lift the top leg straight up and down in a controlled motion. Repeat on both sides.

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Do I Have to do Kegels if I Don't Have Any Symptoms or Problems?

There's no evidence that anyone has to do Kegels if they don't feel helpful. The best way to keep your pelvic floor healthy is to keep bowel function normal, stay active, and regularly strength train.

Some people enjoy the results of doing “extra” exercise for the pelvic floor. However, your pelvic floor will still get exercise if your whole body is as well!

Have more questions? Make an appointment with our pelvic floor physical therapist TODAY to get the guidance and support you need! We offer in-person or telehealth appointments!

Want to read more? See our Pelvic Floor Resource Page for more content!

Heather earned her Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from the University of Saint Augustine for Health Sciences in 2012. Prior to that she had earned her B.S. in Clinical Exercise Science from Virginia Commonwealth University. In 2017 she became a certified yoga instructor (RYT-200) and in 2022, she became a Board Certified Orthopaedic Clinical Specialist. She has also received training in PreNatal/Postpartum Rehabilitation.