Tired of not feeling results after doing million kegels throughout the day? Don’t blame you.

Pelvic floor therapy gets a bad rap in that there’s too much emphasis on kegels. A kegel a day won’t keep the pelvic floor therapist away, trust me.

Kegels are simply a pelvic floor muscle contraction - the known ‘squeeze & lift’ . Where we go wrong is thinking that those in itself are what solve the problem. In many situations, quite the opposite.

Let’s talk fascia.

Fascia is a wild extensive connective tissue that brings surrounding muscles together to function simultaneously as a unit. By doing so, we can create more complex movement patterns while multiple muscle groups all work as a team - cool, right?

So, when those pelvic floor muscles alone aren’t cutting it, we get help from our nearby friends. Say hello to your:

glutes (the booty)
hip adductors (groin muscles)
abdominals

Recruiting these muscle groups can help strengthen the pelvic floor muscles through co-activation, thus a more automatic way to “turn on” your pelvic floor without trying to crank out a million kegels.

Another way to increase the squeeze is getting the hip rotators activated as well, with studies showing that it helps increase “vaginal squeeze pressure” without intentionally trying to do so.

Certain exercises use this co-contraction method to induce more of the automatic pelvic floor activation, thus strengthening without even thinking about it. Here are some examples of solid pelvic floor strengthening exercises WITHOUT having to do kegels:

1. Squats

Inhale on your way down, keeping the abs engaged. Exhale, squeezing your glutes which will also contract your pelvic floor muscles, on your way back up to standing.

2. Hip Adduction Squeezes

Inhale while your laid on your bad, muscles relaxed, then exhale long and slow while gradually squeezing the ball with your thighs.
(Tip: if you don’t have a ball, just use a pillow and fold it!)

3. Bridges

Inhale while you’re lying down, every relaxed. Then squeeze your glutes on the exhale as you bridge up. (Tip: a great one if you have prolapse!)

Could kegels actually make it worse?

Kegels usually cause harm from a coordination standpoint, meaning many women simply don’t do them correctly.

What NOT to do when performing a kegel:

Bear down like you’re pushing gas out: it’s the opposite of what we’re going for, and this can increase risk of developing prolapse and potential hemorrhoids due to the increased pressure.
Hold your breath: this creates a whole lot of unecessary pressure pushing directly onto the pelvic floor muscles.
Puff out your ribs or upper chest: this focuses too much on accessory muscles, neglecting a key muscle that helps engage your pelvic floor globally (it’s the diaphragm).

If you’re feeling this, kegels most likely won’t help

pelvic floor tension/tightness
pain with peeing or pooping
urinary frequency - feeling you’re running to the bathroom 100x a day
pain with intercourse
chronic constipation

Why kegels don’t get the job done