Your doctor may have mentioned that you should be doing Kegel exercises, no matter what your genitalia looks like.
Why should you bother?
There is one major reason to do Kegels: to strengthen the pelvic floor.
Who cares about the pelvic floor?
Well, everyone should. You may not have any problems with incontinence now, but over the course of your life, your pelvic muscles loosen, allowing for leakage from the bladder to happen. Hence the market for TENA, Poise, Always (yes, they have bladder protection pads as well as menstrual pads), and Depends.
Ok! Pelvic strength is important! How do I exercise it?
First you need to find the muscles. Go to the bathroom and start to urinate. Then stop it mid-stream. The muscles you use to stop the flow are your pelvic muscles.
Now that you know which muscles you’re supposed to be exercising, it’s time to get to it.
The general process is fairly easy: tighten your muscles for 5 seconds, release for 5 seconds, and repeat 10-15 times, three times daily. Gradually build up your strength by increasing the amount of time you tighten your muscles; 10 seconds, 15 seconds, etc. The easiest position to do these exercises is when lying down, moderate position is sitting up, and hardest is while standing.
Please note: Don’t exercise the wrong muscle group. The rest of your body should be relaxed during this time. Don’t hold your breath, clench your teeth, or tense any other muscles.
If you have any trouble finding the correct muscle group, the reference below gives more techniques for finding them. It also has some suggestions about when you can do the exercises. I do mine at meal times, because then I didn’t forget to eat, or exercise!
Reference
www.urologyhealth.org/urologic-conditions/pelvic-floor-muscles
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