Seniors Site

Kegel Exercises Are Not For Pregnant Women Only

Kegel exercises are famous among pregnant women; doctors even advise women to train their pelvic floor muscles thus preventing post pregnancy incontinence from occurring. When Dr. Arnold Kegel developed this exercise in 1948, he only had post pregnancy incontinence in mind. Nowadays, the famous method is also applied and well-recommended for seniors having incontinence problems.

Both elderly men and women suffering from minor to severe incontinence are advised to strengthen their pelvic floor muscles therefore improving their urethral and rectal control. Kegel exercise will help you control bothersome incontinence from happening but one must stick to the exercise regime and should train the right muscle which is, more or less, the largest obstruction to successfully do the exercise method.

Take note, I said hardest but actually, it is easy enough to find which means the whole procedure is a piece of cake and if you happen to successfully master Kegel exercises, you’ll be amazed how efficiently it works for your body.

Finding that elusive pelvic floor muscle should be done consciously and with full concentration; one should be able to isolate the said muscle all by herself since literally, no one can point it out to you. Training wrong muscles can only worsen your condition so be careful in selecting which one is the right muscle to train.

The most basic technique that will help you find the right muscle is by testing it while urinating. Usually, when your pelvic floor muscles are good, you’ll be able to stop the flow of the urine at any time. Try stopping it at midstream without contracting all those surrounding muscles such as thighs, abdominals and buttock muscles. Take note of the only muscle that held up the flow—that’s the muscle you need. Repeat this procedure many times until you feel you got the right muscle contractions for Kegel exercises.

Kegel exercises are done 3 times a day with 10 repetitive contractions of pelvic floor muscles. This is done by alternately relaxing and tightening of the muscles slowly while lying down or sitting over a potty. Marked improvements are noticed after 3 months of regular training. However, if at some point you feel pain or discomfort, you are probably training the wrong muscles. You must stop at once and try to isolate the muscle once again. On the other hand, if you are having a hard time locating your pelvic floor muscles on your own, inquire about it in your next appointment with your doctor since there are medical techniques that can be applied to help you.