How To Avoid The Most Common Kegel Mistakes

It's time for more Kegel talk. A simple movement that can turn complicated quickly. 

In Part 2 of this series, we’ll be troubleshooting some of the more common Kegel mistakes to help you have a strong, healthy pelvic floor for better core workouts, posture, and performance.

Quick review:

One of the most neglected areas of the body and least talked about until you’ve got an issue down there, is how to have a healthy pelvic floor (PF). 

The pelvic floor muscles are important for all ages but can need more attention as you age. They form the base of your core and support all your organs.

The Kegel exercise is the basic way to strengthen them.  We reviewed how to do a proper Kegel in this blog post.

Here’s the challenge of the Kegel...

A proper Kegel is done when you can contract the PF without the rest of your body tensing up.

Easier said than done, especially when you start moving your body while you Kegel.

Let’s do some troubleshooting on how to avoid the more common mistakes when you Kegel.

Do a check in while you Kegel.  Are you? 

• Holding your breath
• Tightening your upper traps and neck muscles (tensing your shoulders up near your ears)
• Bearing down (pushing out)
• Tightening your gluts (butt muscles)

These are all signs you're not staying relaxed or maximizing your Kegel.

Here are some tips to prep for the Kegel and take the tension out of your body:

• CHANGE THE POSITION- instead of sitting, try the Kegel laying on your back with knees bent and feet on floor in line with your hips. Support your head with a pillow. If that doesn’t help, try lying on your side with your knees and hips bent and slightly in front of you. These positions help decrease how much your pelvic floor has to fight gravity. You would exercise in these positions and move into sitting then standing as you get stronger over time.
• STRETCH YOUR HIPS FIRST- tight hips can make it harder to contract the pelvic floor muscles. In fact, tight hips can pretty much turn off your pelvic floor. Prep for your Kegels by doing stretches that open up the hips like the Half Pigeon Pose (see photo below) before you Kegel.
• MASSAGE YOUR TENDER SPOTS- Learn how to do trigger point self- massage to release your tight and tender spots (or scars) around your hips and low back before you Kegel- we teach you how in our online camps.

 OTHER AREAS TO ADDRESS FOR A HEALTHY PELVIC FLOOR

A few other issues you’ll want to pay attention to as you improve the overall health of your Pelvic Floor Muscles:

Pelvic Floor & Constipation

Constipation and doing the Valsalva maneuver (holding breath and bearing down when lifting or pooping) can over stretch the PF muscles.  Improving the health of your gut can take pressure off your PF muscles that have the job of holding up your organs.

Do you have any GI issues?  1 in 4 Americans do.  You could have up to 15 # of mucus from inflammation in your gut.  Signs are painful joints, bulging belly, bloating.  All that puts load on your PF muscles.

You can decrease inflammation through clean eating with lots of green veggies, eliminating foods that irritate (dairy, refined sugar, gluten), staying well hydrated, doing a quarterly detox/cleanse, taking probiotics and exercising regularly.

You might also want to check out The Squatty Potty™, a toilet stool that puts your body in the best posture for pooping to take pressure off your PF.

Pelvic Floor & Hormones

If you identify as female and still bleed monthly, you might notice that it’s easier to do Kegels during the middle of your cycle and more difficult at the beginning of it due to hormone changes.  Just keep at it but be mindful of your cycle and plan your more intense workouts toward the middle of it when your pelvic floor muscles might be at their best.

Pelvic Floor & Fatigue

The pelvic floor muscles can fluctuate in endurance just like any muscle.  Sometimes you can turn them on but not keep them on because of fatigue.  Or you may notice you can turn them on with bladder empty but not with weight of full bladder (or when constipated).  The weight of your organs may challenge the PF when tired.  That’s OK – you just need to build your strength and endurance like you would any other muscle. 

For strengthening, use the weight of gravity to challenge your PF.  Example: going from laying down to sitting to standing to moving your body as you Kegel.  Each position has to deal with more and more gravity.

For endurance, add reps throughout the day to challenge your PF.  Once you can do a proper Kegel in sitting, you can practice anytime throughout the day to build endurance- while driving, watching TV, standing in line.  The more complicated the activity you are doing, the more challenging it will be to hold the Kegel and breathe. 

The more mindful you can be of your form while holding your Kegel, will help guide you on when to challenge yourself with more gravity or moving your body. 

When you can’t hold the Kegel without tensing up in a position, you may have pushed too fast or done too many reps in that position. Listen to your body.  It’ll guide you.  You'll know when you need a rest break or it's time to slow down.

Next up, Part 3 of the Pelvic Floor Series: Get Rid of Pelvic Floor Pain

P.S. Want to get stronger with less effort? Download this 3-minute Active Recovery Yoga Routine to help you train smarter, it's FREE!