Illustration by Ed Appleby.
How simple Kegel exercises can improve your sex life
By Viv Steele, Personal Trainer
Most people think that exercise is something you do in a gym or in front of a perky aerobics instructor, but exercising your internal muscles is something you can do anytime, anywhere. Let me explain.
The pubococcygeus (PC) muscle, located near your pubic bone, is the muscle that you flex to stop your flow of pee. It protects your internal organs down there, and is also the muscle that flexes and spasms when you orgasm. Like any muscle, it can be strengthened to improve its function—which is good news in the bedroom! Kegel exercises, called so after their inventor Arnold Kegel, are a discrete way to strengthen your PC muscle and improve sex, both for men and women.
For men, studies have shown that a Kegel regime can improve duration of erection, and also fix erectile dysfunction. Women have the most to benefit from Kegel exercises, a fact that is supported by the availability of tools to aid women in these exercises, including Ben Wa balls (orbs that you place in your vagina and move around / hold in with your PC muscle). Kegel himself published a study claiming that his exercises could increase the intensity, length, and frequency of the female orgasm, which has been anecdotally verified by many women. While the exercises don’t necessarily make the vagina tighter, flexing the muscle during sex can cause a nice gripping sensation around a partner’s penis.
If you don’t know where your PC is, practice finding it next time you go pee. Isolate the muscle by using it to stop and start the flow of your urine. You can also try to feel its effects by placing a finger or two inside your vagina and flexing—you’ll feel the muscle flutter against your fingers.
To exercise your PC, start by flexing it and holding it for up to 10 seconds (or as long as you can). Think of it like weightlifting; do a few sets of a few reps, and work your way up to more. Nobody will know you’re doing it but you, and you can do it anywhere! Try it out during sex, during your morning commute, during downtime at work, or just whenever. But do it consistently for a few weeks to see the benefits that it can bring!
Here’s a list of places you can work out your PC muscle:
-In class
-On the bus
-In line at Starbucks
-In the bath or shower
-At a stoplight
-In an elevator
