Do the Kegel

The effects of kegel exercise on sexual pleasure

"you'll adore your pelvic floor
when you squeeze, squeeze, squeeze"

 

As the pelvic floor muscles are the muscles that that surround the vaginal opening and contract rhythmically during orgasm (in both males and females) it is not surprising that sex therapists have emphasized the importance of these muscles as playing a major role in the orgasmic response.

In 1952, Dr. Kegel published a report in which he claimed that the women doing his exercises were becoming more easily, more frequently and more intensely orgasmic. Thirty years after Dr. Kegel's article, sex therapist Bryce Britton wrote a book titled "The Love Muscle," calling her publication "Every Woman's Guide to Intensifying Sexual Pleasure." There is controversy over the precise effects of the PC muscle on orgasmic response but certain benefits of a strong pelvic floor are well accepted.

A fitter, well-toned pelvic floor will almost certainly increase sexual pleasure for you and your partner and it can dramatically improve your sexual confidence. The physiological reasons for the improvement go far beyond the increased tactile sensations resulting from a tighter vagina.
Kegel exercises create an increase in pelvic vascularity which means more blood flow and more veins in the pelvic region. This will increase your awareness of the clitoral and vaginal sensations that lead to orgasm. Any stronger muscle will contract more powerfully than would a flabby muscle, and hence the likelihood of stronger orgasms is much higher with stronger PC muscles.

In a study of the effects of Kegel's exercises on sexual arousal researchers measured both women's own assessment of how aroused they felt and the the physical changes in vasoconstriction of the vagina. The study showed that vaginal contractions enhanced both the women's subjective ratings and clinical measures of their arousal. 1

With regular kegel exercise many women report being able to experience vaginal orgasm for the first time. Women also report more intense and more frequent multiple and g-spot orgasms. We can also reveal with confidence that some women squeeze their pelvic muscles, forcing blood down into their genital tissue, and in so doing turn themselves on. As Germaine Greer writes, some women are even able to bring themselves to orgasm exclusively with voluntary pelvic floor contractions. “You can masturbate no hands. This ability is not so much skill in controlling as a liberation of muscles repressed since infancy.”2 Read more on kegels and clitoral stimulation.

As Germaine also points out, you can undoubtedly add novelty and pleasure to your love making by squeezing your well-toned vaginal sphincter around your partner's penis. This will be fun for both giver and receiver!

But probably the most important thing about doing Kegel exercises is that you will become more familiar with your pelvis and more likely to take ownership of your internal and external genitalia. You will strengthen the muscles that contract during orgasm, and you are making an important investment in lifelong urinary control. Is it a major component in a becoming orgasmic? The jury is still out on that one but it is certainly something non-orgasmic women should include in their quest for the "Big O."

References:
1 Voluntary vaginal musculature contractions as an enhancer of sexual arousal, Messe & Geere
2 The Madwoman's Underclothes: Essays and Occasional Writings, Germain Greer

Kegel exercise and clitoral stimulation

"now here's the really motivating bit
kegeling puts pressure on your clit" ...

The pelvic floor (or pubococcygeus) muscles form a broad sling between your legs from the pubic bone in front to the base of your spine at the back. Well ladies - guess what little haven of sensation happens to be located right at the front of the base of our pubic bone? Mmmm... that's right .. officially known as the clitoral glans, the clitoris has only one known purpose ... to give women sexual pleasure! The clitoris is made up entirely of soft erectile tissue called corpus spongiosum. This is exactly the same type of tissue that comprises the glans of the penis. But the really interesting news girls is that the glans of the clitoris has just as many nerve endings as does the glans of the penis, but concentrated in a much smaller area. Now that strikes me as an area worth stimulating!

This anatomical gem is what makes kegel exercise so much more attractive than abdominal exercises for instance! And as always - practice makes perfect. Women who have not experienced much or any clitoral sensation prior to starting a kegel exercise program, report dramatic increase in pleasurable feelings in this area after only a few weeks of regular pelvic squeezing. Some women are even able to bring themselves to orgasm solely through doing the kegel.
If that's not motivating then I don't know what is!

References
1 The Marriage Bed
2 Anatomy of the Vulva

Two types of Kegels

For optimal pelvic floor health you need to practice two types of kegel exercises. This is because there are actually two different types of muscle fibre in the pelvic floor.

Fast kegels(the ones we have been doing so far) improve how quickly your pelvic floor tightens when you cough or sneeze. They work on what's know as the Type II or fast twitch muscle fibers.

Slow kegel exercises will strengthen your muscles and improve the length of time you can consciously hold them. They build up and maintain the general level of muscle support in this area. Slow kegels help to avoid or reduce prolapse of any of the organs that the pelvic floor supports. Slow kegels are working on the Type I or slow twitch muscle fibers.
Slow Kegel exercises

To do a slow kegel, slowly and gently squeeze your pelvic floor. Hold it for a count of 5 seconds and then relax. When you can, increase the hold to 10 seconds. Don’t be tempted to squeeze too hard or you will be using the wrong muscle fibers. This exercise is about increasing endurance.