Showing posts with label The Kegel Project. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Kegel Project. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

The Kegel Project: The Final Report

The Kegel Project is officially over!  What you want to know is whether the participants improved and by how much.  The following is an individualized explanation of the improvements from each volunteer.  At the end of this post is a quick list of all the improvements reported.

K (That's me)
On the first day of this project, I could barely squeeze and hold for 5 seconds. I really struggled to get there, but by the end of the first week, I was able to squeeze and hold for 30 seconds comfortably. By the end of the second week, I was able to get to 40 seconds. In the third week I started my period and discovered my MoonCupUK stayed in place so much better than before and I no longer had any urinary leakage during hard sneezes. At the end of fourth week, I was able to squeeze and hold for 2 min 20 seconds before I, quite frankly, got bored and stopped timing. That's quite a far cry from the short 5 seconds that I was able to do in the beginning.

Stronger muscles has led to changes in the bedroom. Husband can feel my muscles tensing so much more now and I can achieve vaginal orgasms easier than before (although there was no change in clitoral orgasms). And—get this—I now have mini-orgasms (minigasms?) from just squeezing my PC muscles. Talk about a bonus!

Princess Consuela Banana-Hammock
By Day 3 of the first week, Princess CBH was having less accidental urinary leakage during workouts. That's only three days in. By the end of the second week, she was having even less accidental leakage with less effort and felt that she could squeeze her muscles “closer.”

Since starting the project, she has much less urine leakage when sneezing, coughing, and exercising. Although she still has to remember to squeeze her muscles when she has to do any of those things, she doesn't have to work as hard at it.

Princess CBH would like to add that during the project, she started a diet and exercise regimen and lost 10lbs by the time the experiment was over.  It's unclear whether the exercise and weight loss affected her Kegel strength, but for thoroughness let's include it.

Sassy
At the beginning of the first week, Sassy could only squeeze and hold her PC muscles for 3-5 seconds, sometimes even just 1-2 seconds. During the second week, she'd try to squeeze and hold for 5 seconds, but when she relaxed her muscles, she found that her muscles had already released. By the end of the third week, she was able to hold for 10 seconds, but the hold weakened over the seconds. The third week was also when she discovered that working the PC muscles during intercourse gave pleasant sensations, where there was no difference in sensations before the project. By the end of the fourth week, she was able to hold fully for 10 seconds.

Ivana Meisterkegel
When Ivana started, she was only able to squeeze and hold for 3 seconds, but by the end of the first week, she had jumped up to 5 seconds. Halfway through the second week, her muscles were feeling tighter and her hold time jumped to 7, which then jumped to 15 by the end of the fourth week. She reports that her muscles feel much firmer during intercourse and she feels like it's easier to pull the muscles up “higher.”

Vixenish Kitty
Vixenish had what the other volunteers called “PC muscles of steel.” In the first week, she was already able to squeeze and hold for over a minute, when the other volunteers could only make it to a few seconds. Even though she was starting from a place where other volunteers were hoping to eventually be, she still showed fantastic improvements from that first week.

During the second week, Vixenish and her husband experimented with her muscles by seeing if she could use her muscles to keep him from pulling out during sex. Her husband reports that he could definitely feel the muscles. In the third week she tried to do her Kegel exercises during sex which in turn gave her husband pleasurable sensations. The third week is also when she found that she could use her exercise trampoline with no leakage for the first time. She did another muscle test and found she could now squeeze and hold for 2.5 minutes. That's more than double the time from the first week!

Vixenish reports that she was surprised at how fast improvements came with what felt to her to be little effort. She had thought that doing your PC exercises was like working out 5 times a week. We're all supposed to do it, but...[insert the excuses we all have here.] Kegel exercises, though, were quick, easy, and simple to work into a schedule.

Pepper
Pepper was another volunteer that was starting from a place of strength in comparison to some of the other participants. She started out being able to squeeze and hold for a full minute, and in the second week she tried to squeeze during sex and discovered it produced strong orgasms. By the end of the fourth week, she no longer experienced urine leakage when sneezing and her DivaCup stayed in place better during her period.

Elasta O'Kegel
In the first week, Elasta could only hold for 3-4 seconds. By the third week she was able to squeeze for 5-6 seconds.  During that week, she tried to Kegel during intercourse, but didn't notice a difference. By week four, she was up to 7-8 seconds. Like Vixenish, she was also surprised at how fast improvements came.

Honey Ryder
Honey's results were a little different than the other volunteers. She was able to squeeze 2-5 seconds at a time during the first week and stayed at that level all four weeks. She was never able to squeeze any longer and got even weaker during her period week.

Sounds pretty bleak, right? Well, it's not. Honey did show improvements, they just didn't manifest as longer squeeze times. She reports that she's had a weak pelvic floor all her life, and working her muscles produced a really strange sensation. If you remember what it felt like when you started doing your Kegels (or if you haven't started, try it now), you know what sensation she's talking about. She felt this sensation for almost all of the project, but by the end, that strange, uncomfortable sensation vanished because she is, in fact, getting stronger. In addition, she feels she can lift her pelvic floor “higher.”

Final thoughts:
I'm amazed at the improvements everyone has shown.  Every single person showed improvements from that first week.  In addition, I've compiled a list of every improvement reported at least once:
  • Being able to squeeze muscles longer and harder
  • Being able to squeeze "higher"
  • Being able to squeeze "closer"
  • New, pleasurable sensations for the female participant during intercourse
  • New, pleasurable sensations for the male partner during intercourse
  • Easier orgasms
  • Better orgasms
  • Reduced or eliminated urinary incontinence during exercise
  • Reduced or eliminated urinary incontinence when sneezing or coughing
  • Reduced feeling of weakness in the PC muscles
  • Menstrual cups fitting better
If you haven't started a Kegel regimen, this list and the above explanations should give you a reason to start.  Better sensations and orgasms?  Reduced, eliminated, or prevented urinary incontinence issues?  Better fitting menstrual cups?  Ridiculously easy to fit into your schedule???  You have no reason not to start.  Put an alert on your phone.  Add it to your calender.  Leave a note on your bathroom mirror.  Whatever it takes to remember to do your Kegels!

The Kegel Project Week 4 Update

Here is the final update of the Kegel Project!  4 weeks of Kegeling, and every person showed some sort of improvement.  Some volunteers are leaps and bounds from where they started, and some only showed slight improvement.

The following is the routines followed this week.  Tonight or tomorrow, I'll be posting a solid look at the improvements each person made.  Why not now, you ask?  Because it would be a really long post.  And now, the Week 4 routines!

K (That's me)
Day 21-24: Squeezing on and off throughout the day.
Day 25: Wore Ami 2 for 3 hours while running errands.
Day 26-27: Squeeze on and off throughout the day.
Day 28: Squeeze and hold for as long as I can; 2min 20sec.

Princess Banana-Hammock
Day 22-28: Busy schedule; intermittent Kegels.

Sassy
Day 22: 100 pulses.
Day 23: 20 squeeze and holds.
Day 24: 100 pulses.
Day 25: 50 pulses and 10 squeeze and holds for 5 seconds.
Day 26: Skip.
Day 27: 100 pulses and 5 squeeze and holds.
Day 28:100 pulses, 20 squeeze and holds for 5 seconds. Notes: can now hold for 10 seconds.

Ivana Meisterkegel
Day 22: 5 sets of 10, holding for 10 seconds each.
Day 23: 4 sets of 10 squeeze and holds, holding for 12 seconds. Notes: She's very excited about the vast improvement from the beginning!
Day 24: 4 sets of 10 holding for 12 seconds.
Day 25: 4 sets of 10 holding for 10 seconds. Notes: Period showed up and felt weak.
Day 26: 4 sets of 10 holding for 12 seconds.
Day 27: 5 sets of 10 holding for 12 seconds.
Day 28: 5 sets of 10 holding for 15 seconds. Notes: not as much urine leakage; feels like muscles are firmer during intercourse and feels like it is easier to pull the muscles up higher.

Vixenish Kitty
Day 22: Miss.
Day 23: 50 pulses.
Day 24: 50 pulses.
Day 25: 50 pulses.
Day 26: Miss.
Day 27: 50 pulses.
Day 28: 100 pulses.

Pepper
Day 22: 50 pulses.
Day 23: 50 pulses.
Day 24: 10 sets of pulses throughout the day.
Day 25: 10 sets of pulses throughout the day.
Day 26: Miss
Day 27: Miss. Notes: DivaCup stayed in better during period.
Day 28: 10 pulses.

Elasta O'Kegel
Day 22: 10 squeeze and holds for 7 seven seconds each, rest, then 4 squeeze and holds for 10 seconds each.
Day 23: Tried to Kegel with a partially full bladder; unsuccessful.
Day 24: 8 squeezes for 7 seconds, 2 squeezes for 6 seconds.
Day 25: 10 squeezes for 10 seconds each.
Day 26: Miss.
Day 27: Miss.
Day 28: 10 squeezes for 7-8 seconds each.

Honey Ryder
Day 22: Miss
Day 23: Miss
Day 24: 20 slow squeezes, 5 two second squeezes. Notes: still feel weak.
Day 25: 10 slow squeezes, 10 squeeze and holds for 2 seconds. Notes: Period ended and felt stronger.
Day 26: Miss
Day 27: Long squeezes, pulses, and elevators for about 5 minutes. Notes: After period ended, felt stronger. Couldn't hold it for longer, but felt like she could lift it higher.
Day 28: Repeated Day 27.

Stay tuned for later when I'll take an in depth look at the improvements!



Wednesday, August 7, 2013

The Kegel Project Week 3 Update

On Monday, we ended Week 3 and began Week 4, which will be our final week.  This is an update after Week 3.

Good news so far!  Everyone at this point is showing some sort of improvement, whether it be less urinary leakage, better sex, or just being able to squeeze their muscles for longer periods of time.  The bad news is there were a lot of missed Kegel sessions this week from many participants (myself included) due to health concerns, stress, and really just life getting in the way.  Shall we see how this week went?

K (that's me)

Day 15: Miss
Day 16: Squeeze on and off throughout the day.
Day 17-21: Period; squeezing intermittently on and off.
Notes: I use a MoonCupUK during my periods, but I also have menorrhagia (in short, really heavy periods that are kind of nightmarish), and always end up leaking around and past the cup, although the cup catches most of it. Without the cup, during certain times in my cycle I would not be able to leave the house. Since I started working my PC muscles more often, there is much less leakage around the cup and it seems to fit better.

Princess Banana-Hammock
On vacation all week; intermittent Kegel exercises during nursing sessions (Princess BH is a nursing mother).

Sassy
Day 15: Miss
Day 16: Miss
Day 17: Miss
Day 18: 50 pulses and 10 squeeze and holds.
Day 19: 50 pulses and 10 squeeze and holds.
Day 20: 100 pulses
Day 21: 50 pulses, 10 squeeze and holds.
Notes: Improvements! Can now hold for 10 seconds, although hold weakens as it goes. Tried to Kegel during intercourse and found it gave pleasant sensations, where before it didn't feel any different.

Ivanna Meisterkegel
Intermittent Kegels all week.

Vixenish Kitty
Day 15:10 squeezes. Notes: Kegaled while having intercourse; husband approves.
Day 16: Kegel exercises during intercourse.
Day 17: 5 to 10 slow pulses. Notes: Was able to use exercise trampoline with no leakage for the first time!
Day 18: Wore Je Joue Ami 3 for 3 hours.
Day 19: Miss
Day 20: 50 Squeeze and holds
Day 21: Muscle check- can now hold it for over 2.5 minutes!
Pepper
Miss all week.

Elasta O'Kegel
Day 15:10 squeezes of 5-6 seconds each.
Day 16: Miss
Day 17: 10 squeezes for 10 seconds, 2 “elevator” attempts (went so-so).
Day 18: Miss
Day 19: Tried to Kegel during intercourse; no differences noticed.
Day 20: Miss
Day 21: Miss

Honey Ryder
Day 15: 20 slow (2 second) squeezes.
Misses for the rest of the week due to trouble with muscles during period.

Stay tuned for next week when there will be the final update and in depth notes on improvements from day 1!



Tuesday, July 30, 2013

The Kegel Project: Week 2 Update

And so we've come to the end of week 2 of The Kegel Project.  So far, everything is going well and many of the participants are continuing to show improvements!  Here's the routines and updates for the second week.

K (that would be me)

Day 8: Ten 5 second squeezes.
Day 9: Ten 5 second squeezes.
Day 10: Wore Ami 2 for 2 hours.
Day 11: Violet Blue set.
Day 12: Pules throughout the day.
Day 13: Miss.
Day 14: Squeezed to see how long I could hold it. 40 seconds comfortably.
Notes: Wow, what a difference between the first day and day 14!  I went from barely being able to squeeze for 5 seconds to being able to go for 40 seconds.  At that point, to be honest, I get bored and release.

Princess Consuela
Day 8: Step up and downs, like Day 7
Day 9 Pulsed through 2 nursing sessions. (Consuela is a nursing mother)
Day 10: Miss
Day 11: Squeeze and holds for 10 seconds and pulses.
Day 12: Squeeze and holds for 10 seconds plus pulses.
Day 13: Squeeze and holds for 10 seconds plus pulses.
Day 14: Squeeze for 10 seconds for 10 reps.
Notes: She feels like her muscles are able to squeeze closer together and less leakage when sneezing. Less effort to keep leakage from happening.  During intercourse, tried squeezing during intercourse (relaxing as he goes deep, squeezing as he comes out).  Husband noticed the difference and gives a hardy approval.  Doesn't feel as much if she squeezes as he goes in and relaxes as he pulls out.

Sassy:
Day 8: 10 squeeze and holds (working on getting up to 5 seconds) and 100 pulses.
Day 9: 50 pulses and 20 squeeze and holds. Notes: In the future will do pulses first, then squeezes. Seems to build awareness in the muscles and are easier to control.
Day 10: 100 pulses and 15 squeeze and holds for 5 seconds.
Day 11: 50 pulses and 10 squeeze and holds.
Day 12: 50 pulses and 10 squeeze and holds.
Day 13: 50 pulses and 10 squeeze and holds.
Day 14: 50 pulses and 15 squeeze and holds.
Notes: Feels like her muscles can squeeze tighter, but when she goes to relax after 5 seconds finds her muscles are already relaxed.

Ivana Meisterkegel
Day 8: 5 sets squeeze and hold for 5 seconds.
Day 9: 5 sets of squeeze and hold for 5 seconds.
Day 10: 10 reps of squeeze and hold for 6 seconds, 4 sets. Notes: Really happy to get to 6 seconds!
Day 11: Same as Thursday.
Day 12: 4 sets of 10 squeeze and holds. Notes: Able to make it to 7 seconds!
Day 13: Same as day 12.
Day 14: Miss
Notes: Seems to be tightening up and Kegels are getting easier.

Vixenish Kitty
Day 8: Pulses for a minute, twice during the day.
Day 9: Squeeze, hold, release for 30+ reps. Notes: Tried to use PC muscles to keep husband from being able to pull out. He could definitely feel the muscles.
Day 10: Notes:Able to stop urine stream for the first time.
Day 11: 5 sets of what she calls “The Elevator”: count up to five, squeezing muscles a little tighter on each count, like floors in an elevator, then release.
Day 12: Miss
Day 13: 50 Pulses and 5 elevators.
Day 14: 5 Elevators.

Notes: Nothing new to report beyond last week.

Pepper
Day 8: Pulses throughout the day.
Day 9: Pulses throughout the day. Notes: squeezed during intercourse, which produced strong orgasms.
Day 10: Pulsed throughout the day, no counting.
Day 11: Same as day 10.
Day 12: Miss
Day 13: Miss
Day 14: 50 pulses

Elasta O'Kegel
Day 8: 10 squeeze and holds for 4 seconds and 10 quick squeezes. Notes: getting easier to get to 4 seconds until around the 6th rep.
Day 9: 10 squeeze and holds for 4 seconds twice in the day, and 10 quick squeezes. Notes: Now easy to get to 4 seconds for all 10 reps.
Day 10: Miss
Day 11: 10 squeeze and holds for 4-5 seconds, then rest, then 10 quick squeezes, rest, 10 squeeze and holds for 4 seconds.
Day 12: 10 squeeze and holds for 4 seconds, rest, 10 quick squeezes.
Day 13:Miss
Day 14: 10 squeezes for 5 seconds each.
Notes: Can hold for longer periods of time.

Honey Ryder
Day 8: 10 squeezes for 2 seconds. Tried to stop urine stream with no luck.
Day 9: Did the Violet Blue routine twice, couldn't hold the muscles for full inhale and exhale.
Day 10: Pulses throughout the day.
Day 11: 10 slow squeezes, 10 pulses (twice), squeeze and hold for 3 seconds for 10 reps. Notes: All done with a pillow under the butt due to low cervix.
Day 12: Miss
Day 13: 10 pulses, 10 slow squeezes, 10 more pulses.
Day 14: Miss
Notes: Hasn't seen much improvement yet.






Tuesday, July 23, 2013

The Kegel Project: End of Week One Update

Monday was the final day in Week One of the Kegel Project.  What a great week!  Each participant did their own workout however they wanted to do it.  Some saw improvements after just a few days, some haven't seen improvements yet.  As far as I know, all participants will continue with Week 2 except one, who bowed out after a few days due to unrelated health issues (her info will not be included in this post).  So, we dropped from 9 total participants to 8.

Need a reminder of what we're doing here?  See the introductory post and the brief update from a few days ago.

Now, some of the participants tell me they are doing something else this week.  Some are going to try Kegels during intercourse, some are going to try Violet Blue's suggestions, some are going to see if their squeezing can get longer and longer!

So, here we go!

Week one: 7/16-7/22
K (That would be me.)
Day 1:  Morning: Wore the Je Joue Ami size 2 (weighing roughly 78g) for 2 hours while doing housework.  Afternoon: Did a few squeezes occasionally to see how long I could hold it.  I was hoping for ten seconds; barely made it to 5.  Squeezed for five seconds, release for five seconds for 10 reps.
Notes: I thought I'd be able to hold for 10 seconds at a time with no problem. I can barely squeeze and hold it for 5 seconds, and really struggle to get to 7.
Day 2: Afternoon: Wore Ami 3 (weighing roughly 106g) for just over an hour. Most of it was sitting. Fell out twice and really struggled to keep it in. Evening: squeeze and hold for 5 seconds, 25 times through the course of the evening.
Day 3: Early afternoon: Squeeze and hold for 5 seconds, 10 times. Notes: can now squeeze for 10 seconds. Evening: Squeeze and hold for 10 seconds, 10 times. Was difficult to get to 10 seconds tonight.
Day 4: Dropped down to Ami 2 to give my muscles a little break. Wore for two hours.
Day 5: Wore Ami 3 for an hour before I couldn't keep it in anymore. Notes: G-spot orgasms are stronger and easier to achieve.
Day 6: Squeeze and hold for 10 seconds ten times. Decided to see how long I could hold for.  Made it to 30 seconds comfortably.
Day 7: Wore Ami 2 for two hours.
Notes: It was very encouraging to be able to jump from 5 seconds on Day 1 to 10 seconds on Day 3 to 30 seconds on Day 6.  G-spot orgasms now come fairly easily and I feel like my resting position (when I'm not Kegeling) is not as relaxed as before, as if I'm now tensing without realizing it.

Princess Consuela Banana-Hammock:
Day 1: Squeeze for 5 seconds, rest for 5.  Repeat for 5 minutes, 5 times throughout the day.
Day 2: Squeeze as hard as possible 25 times, 3 times throughout the day.
Day 3: A few squeeze and holds 3 times throughout the day. Evening: a few squeeze and holds; made it up to 10 seconds. Notes: She is pleasantly surprised she made it up to 10 seconds today.
Day 4: Miss due to accidental back injury.
Day 5: 5 second squeezes, 15 times.
Day 6: Squeeze for count of 12 five times.
Day 7: Squeeze moderately (let's call it Stage 1) for two seconds, harder (Stage 2) for 2 seconds, relax to Stage 1, then relax completely. Stage 1-Stage2-Stage1-relax for 10 reps, twice throughout the day.
Notes: Having less accidental leakage during workouts by day three.  And you see how she made her own workout for Day 7?  Love it.

Sassy:
Day 1: 50 Short pulses, 10 squeeze and holds for 5 seconds each, plus Violet Blue routine.
Day 2: 10 Squeeze and hold for roughly 5 seconds, 50 short pulses.
Day 3: 50 pulses and 10 squeeze and holds for 3-5 seconds.
Day 4: Miss. Notes: haven't noticed any improvements. Can only hold for up to 5 seconds, sometimes only 1-2.
Day 5: Violet Blue set.
Day 6: Violet Blue set plus 50 pulses.
Day 7: Violet Blue set plus 50 pulses.
Notes: No major improvements to report yet.

Ivana Meisterkegel
Day 1: Squeeze and hold for 3 seconds, 10 times. 5 times during the day.
Day 2: Squeeze and hold for 3 seconds, 10 times. 4 times during the day.
Day 3: 4 sets of 10, five seconds each. 5 times during the day. Note: Up two seconds.
Day 4: 5 sets of 10, holding for 4 seconds each.
Day 5: 5 sets of 10, holding for 4 seconds each.
Day 6: Squeeze and hold for 4 seconds, 10 times. Four sets.
Day 7: 4 sets of ten, holding for five seconds. 
Notes: She's excited that she can now hold for 2 seconds more than last week!

Vixenish Kitty
Day 1: Short pulses of a few minutes each 3-4 times during the day.
Day 2: Pulses 2-3 minutes, twice a day.
Day 3: Squeeze and release for a few minutes, a few times during the day. Notes: tried to see how long she could squeeze for and made it to 1 min and 5 sec. Evening: made it to 1:28.
Day 4: Pulses for 1-2 minutes, 2 times.
Day 5: Pulses for 1-2 minutes, 2 times.
Day 6: Pulses for 1-2 minutes, twice.
Day 7: A few pulses.
Notes: Vixenish is not seeing any noticeable improvement yet, but she also points out she wasn't having particular trouble in the first place. Update: Vixenish noticed that it was noticeably easier to squeeze her husband with her PC muscles during intercourse.

Pepper
Day 1: Squeeze and hold for 1 minute plus one minute of pulses.
Day 2: Squeeze and hold for 50 seconds. Short pulses for 30 seconds. (suspects tired muscles)
Day 3: Miss
Day 4: Squeeze and hold for 30 seconds, 4 times. Rapid Pulses for 30 seconds. 
Day 5: Miss
Day 6: Miss
Day 7: 30 squeeze pulses, 30 push pulses, 10 twenty second squeezes.

Notes: Urine stream seems stronger than before by Day 4.

Elasta O'Kegel
Day 1: 10 squeezes of 3-4 seconds each.
Day 2: Miss.
Day 3: 10 squeezes for 3-4 seconds each.
Day 4: Miss
Day 5: 10 squeezes for 3-4 seconds each, 10 pulses.
Day 6: Squeezed during intercourse. Nothing further to note.

Honey Ryder
Day 1: 3 sets of 10 pulses.
Day 2: 3 squeezes of 5 seconds; 3 sets of 10 pulses.
Day 3: Miss
Day 4: 5 squeezes for 5 seconds. Max for right now.
Day 5: Miss
Day 6: 10 slow squeezes and 10 pulses. Will try a different routine next week.
Day 7: 10 slow squeezes, 10 pulses.
Notes: Felt weaker on Day 7.  Tired muscles?

So, there we have it.  Week one update.  Out of the 8 participants, 4 are already seeing positive improvements.  On to Week 2!

Friday, July 19, 2013

A Mini Kegel Project Update: Violet Blue, Muscle Improvements, and Much Excitement

So, I did say I'd be updating the Kegel Project once a week, and we certainly haven't reached the one week mark yet.  In fact, we are currently on day 4.  I'll still be doing a longer, official update on Monday or Tuesday, which is the end of week one and the start of week two.  But there are a few things I want to say now.

First, a few of the participants are already showing improvements after only 3 days!  Personally, I noticed that the length of time I can squeeze my PC muscles jumped from barely 5 seconds to 10, but I thought it was just an anomaly.  My muscles must have just been tired on day 1 or something.  Surely, I could not see a measurable improvement in such a short amount of time?  Everything I've read indicated that Kegel improvement takes weeks, or even months, not days, but as the participants checked in with their routines, they were also adding notes.  Less leakage.  Can squeeze muscles for longer.  Measurable improvements.  If some are already seeing improvements after only a few days, imagine what it will look like in a few months!

So, what exactly are the participants doing so far?  Some are using Fun Factory's Smartballs and/or Je Joue Ami, while others are exercising freestyle (doing whatever whenever) without any sort of devices.  Still others are following a basic routine like this one from the Mayo Clinic.  The routine I've been recommending, though, and one that's easily adaptable, is from Violet Blue's The Smart Girl's Guide to the G-Spot, published by Cleis Press.  Ms. Blue lists several ways to work the PC muscles.  You can run through them all, or select which ones you like à la carte style.  The following is a direct excerpt from the book, used with permission from Cleis Press.

  • Squeeze, hold, release.  Repeat ten times.
  • Squeeze in rapid pulses, ten to fifteen times in a row.
  • Tense your PC muscles; hold for a deep inhale and exhale.
  •  Repeat the above techniques, but with a distinct sense of bearing down, or pushing outward.
  • Repeat the same exercises, pulling inward, as if holding something in or trying to pull something inside you.
  • See how many repetitions you can do in a row.  100?  200? 
From The Smart Girl's Guide to the G-spot, 2nd Edition, by Violet Blue. Published by Cleis Press 2012. Used with permission.

Stay tuned for late Monday or Tuesday, when I'll be writing a full update of week one!  In the meantime, if you'd like mini-mini updates, check out Twitter under the hashtag #TheKegelProject!


Monday, July 15, 2013

The Kegel Project: Pelvic Floor Fortitude!

I'm starting a new project here on the blog and it's all about Kegels!  I got the idea to have several volunteers, all doing some sort of Kegel routine, and reporting the results.  I did not want the cold, scientific way of saying, "Kegels can improve the muscles.  Kegels can improve orgasm.  Kegels can prevent prolapse," found on medical websites and in sexual health books.  Instead, I wanted to get personal experiences from real people telling me not what could happen if a person practices their Kegel exercises, but what did happen for them.  A personal account of how Kegels helped them and in what way.

Here's how it will work.  Each participant will work their Kegel (PC) muscles, but the routine, duration, frequency, and whether or not they use an exerciser or Kegel balls will be their choice.  Most likely, no two women's routines will look the same.  Each week, they'll report to me with what routines and devices (if any) they used and any changes they are seeing, and I'll post it.

The project will last somewhere between 4 and 8 weeks, depending on how it goes and how long the participants are willing to continue.  There are eight women participating, nine if you count me.  All of them have had children, some vaginally, some via c/s, some a combination of the two.  And of course, because sexuality and sexual health is still such a touchy subject in many circles and to protect privacy, they each picked an alias.  I have to say, some of them really got into picking a name.  It was delightful to watch.

And now, let's meet our participants!

Honey Ryder: 34-year-old mom of 4
Vixenish Kitty: 35-year-old mom of 4
Princess Consuela Banana-Hammock: 38-year-old mom of 5
Lollie: 31-year-old mom of 6
Pepper: 30-year-old mom of 2 (both via c/s)
Ivana Meisterkegel: 32-year-old mom of 6 (5 vaginal births)
Elasta O'Kegel: 42-year-old mom of 5 (1 miscarriage, 1 c/s, 3 vaginal births)
Sassy: 31-year-old mom of 2
And of course, me! K: 31-year-old mom of 2

So, hang around and see how our first week goes!