There once was a green Ford Explorer driving the streets of Gainesville Florida with a bumper sticker that read “HONK IF YOU KEGEL”.  You’d see it around town and every now and then you’d hear someone lay on their horn in response to the question.  Other times people would roll down their windows and ask questions like “Is that a dance?” or “Is that the muscle that only women have?”

You might wonder what kind of loon would drive around with a bumper sticker like this.  Well, I must admit the driver happened to be one of my nearest and dearest friends in the world, Vicki Lukert. I say “was” not because Vicki is no longer with us, it’s simply because she finally sold that car on the last day of the Cash for Clunkers program.  When she traded it in for brand new Honda Accord, she cried—that car (and its message on the bumper) had become a part of her.

Vicki is a dynamic Physical Therapist from New Zealand who has specialized in Pelvic Health for the past 13 years.  And since there’s not a shy bone in her body, she’s always ready to share the benefits of pelvic floor strengthening.  She’s been known to meet complete strangers (including men) in parking lots and start teaching (or better said—preaching) the importance of Kegels.  For those of you not familiar with this term, “Kegels” are short for pelvic floor strenghening exercises.  They were named after Dr. Arnold Kegel–the gynecologist who invented the exercises.

Lucky for us, Vicki about to tell us EVERYTHING we ever wanted to know about our pelvic floors (but were afraid to ask).

Vicki:  “Would you strengthen your pelvic floor muscles if you knew that it would not only stop you from peeing your pants when your friend said something incredibly funny, but it would also help ease back pain issues, stop your organs from falling down around your knees (oh, now that would be a bad day), AND it would enhance you sexually?  Yes that’s right.  For women, kegels help increase your level of orgasm and also make it easier to reach an orgasm.  For men, strengthening their pelvic floor muscles will help improve the ability to prolong their erections and prevent premature ejaculation.   AND if they get these muscles really strong, it will improve their ability to have multiple orgasms.”

“So how do we strengthen these fascinating muscles?  First of all, you have to find it.  These muscles make up the sling (or hammock) of muscles that sit in the base of your pelvis.  These muscles will stop you from urinating or from passing gas when you are about to meet the queen.  One of my colleagues instructs her patients to imagine they are picking up a marble with their vagina or rectum and pulling it up and inside (now that’s a visual for you!).   Once you have found the muscle, you’ll need to strengthen both the fast twitch and slow twitch fibers.  Most people can do a quick flick (contraction) but find it difficult to hold the contraction for 10 seconds.   An important benefit from any exercise program is to build endurance so it’s important to learn how to hold the contraction for 10 seconds.”

To get started, Vicki recommends performing the following exercises 3 times per day:

  • Perform 10 contractions—holding for 10 seconds each time (slow twitch)
  • Perform 10 contractions—hold for 2 seconds each time (fast twitch)

“Once you are strong (and continent if that is an issue for you) the maintenance program requires only 10 contractions of each exercise per day.

Even better, there are vaginal and rectal weights which can be used to build super duper strong pelvic floor muscles.”

“Some doctors, bless their cotton picking hearts,recommend women stop their urine flow 7 times every time they go to the toilet.   I am adamant that you should NEVER do that as an exercise.  It is a great way to find the muscles but if you perform it as an exercise it will interrupt the normal voiding mechanism.”

Thanks to Vicki for this great information—it is helpful for BOTH men and women!  So the next time you see a brand new silver Honda Accord Coupe with a crazy Kiwi driving it, HONK IF YOU KEGEL!

Smile and Kegel (no one will know),

Molly (and Vicki)