The answer is yes! The enormous strain of having a baby can weaken the pelvic floor muscles. But by doing regular Kegels after delivery, you can easily strengthen these small but important muscles again. Other added benefits include enhanced sexual pleasure both for you and your husband so read on!

Named after Dr. Arnold Kegel, this exercise is designed to strengthen the pubococcygeus muscles, or PC muscles. To find these muscles, try stopping and starting the flow of urine. Bingo! Now simply tighten and relax these muscles over and over again, as if you’re trying to stop the flow of urine. There are many variations of the exercise:

1. Tighten and relax the PC muscles throughout the day (shoot for 200 times)

2. Tighten slowly in increments going in and out, like an elevator stopping on several floors

3. Hold the muscle tightened for five seconds and then release. Gradually work up to holding each Kegel for a count of ten

Make sure you don’t do these when you’re actually going to the bathroom or with a full bladder. This could increase your risk of a urinary tract infection. Otherwise, you can do Kegels sitting at the computer, standing in line, even when you’re lying in bed. It’s a little invisible exercise that can be done anywhere, whether you’re alone, talking to a friend, or in a crowd of people.

By having a strong pelvic floor, you will be better prepared for your next pregnancy, experience more sexual pleasure with your husband, and reduce the risk of incontinence in the future. Now granted, if you have a little one in diapers, you may not be thinking of having another now or incontinence in the future, but wouldn’t you welcome a boost to your sex life? Kegel exercises are great for strengthening a healthy body and a healthy marriage, so don’t forget about them since baby has arrived. Kegels are always in vogue for moms of any age.

Today’s Action Step: What variation of Kegel exercises will you do today?

Arlene Pellicane, mother of a toddler and infant, helps women lose their baby weight and thrive as wives and mothers. Her weekly podcast “Losing Weight After Baby” is full of practical ideas that work for busy moms. Visit Arlene’s website for free articles and exercises at http://www.losingweightafterbaby.com and blog at http://losingweightafterbaby.wordpress.com

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Women going through menopause can experience urinary incontinence due to a lack of estrogen. Once a woman stops menstruating, her body ceases to make estrogen. Estrogen is, in part, responsible for keeping the lining of the bladder and urethra plump and healthy. A lack of estrogen can be responsible for a weakening of the bladder control muscles.

Pressure from coughing, sneezing, or lifting can push urine past the grips of a weakened muscle. Leakage of this type is known as stress incontinence. It is one of the most common types of bladder control problems experienced by older women.If you are experiencing urinary incontinence, you should not self-diagnose your problem. It is important to see a doctor first.

Your obstetrician-gynecologist or medical doctor should first perform a physical exam. Your doctor should be certain that your bladder empties properly, that you don’t have a urinary tract infection (UTI) and that you know how to properly contract your pelvic floor or Kegel muscles.

After your doctor has determined that there is no physical deformity, complication or infection, you must next determine which course of action to take. There are three common ways to treat urinary incontinence:

– learning behavioral techniques — how to control the muscles of the bladder and the sphincter to prevent leakage.

– taking medication to replace hormones, stop abnormal bladder muscle contractions or tighten sphincter muscles.

– performing Kegel exercises to work the pelvic muscles.

In most cases, the most effective and beneficial course of action is to work the Kegel muscles back in to shape. But how is one to do that?

Over 50 years ago, Dr. Arnold Kegel discovered that by clenching and relaxing the muscles used to stop the flow of urine, the pelvic floor (or Kegel) muscles could be strengthened and rehabilitated. Because of this discovery, most people have heard of “Kegel exercises,” but what most people do not know is that Dr. Kegel incorporated a device known as the “Kegel Perineometer” that was inserted into the vaginal cavity to measure the contractions and provide feedback to the patient. In this way, the patient was able to monitor the quality of the exercises and be certain that they were being done correctly.

Most women who just “do” kegels have minimal results due to the lack of feedback. There is nothing to tell them if they are doing the exercise properly. The most common problem associated with doing Kegel exercises without feedback is the accidental contraction of the abdominal muscles at the same time as the pelvic floor muscles. When this occurs the abdominal muscles (which are bigger and stronger) push down on the pelvic floor and can actually make the problem worse.

Since it’s not likely that the typical family has a Kegel Perineometer lying around, what’s a woman to do? Fortunately there is a safe, affordable solution that has been used successfully by over 100,000 women to strengthen their Kegel muscles in the privacy of their own homes.

This device is known as The Kegelmaster. The Kegelmaster is a small, hinged device that is gently slipped three inches into the vagina. Once done, a safety knob is loosened allowing the small spring (or springs) inside to open the hinged device a few degrees. The woman will then squeeze her kegel muscles causing the device to close. The Kegelmaster’s two, flat internal surfaces close tightly against one another providing feedback to the user that the exercise has been done correctly and completely.

The Kegelmaster has four positions in which springs can be installed or moved. This allows the user to slowly increase the amount of resistance experienced during each exercise. Exercises can be completed in only a few minutes and results can be seen within a few days and improvement can continue over a few short months. No one should suffer needlessly from this embarrassing problem when a simple, affordable solution is so readily available.

Michael Callen is the author of the Weekly Weightloss Tips Newsletter (ccwebgroup.com/tips) and the Chief Technology Officer for WellnessPartners.com, an online retailer of dozens of health and wellness products such as conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), r+ alpha lipoic acid (R+ ALA), and Green Tea Extract.

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