When we think about sexual intimacy with another person; that physical motion and sensation of intercourse in all of its delightful forms, most of us don’t give a lot of thought to how our bodies are actually working. We understand arousal; women get wet, men get hard, and then desire and intuition take over. But your sexual anatomy, like every other part of your body, are made up of muscles, and like any other muscle such as your biceps or pectorals, your sexual muscles can be toned and conditioned thru exercises too. These special sexual exercises are called Kegels, and doing them on a regular basis can have a dramatic impact on the quality of your sexual experiences.

Sexual exercises such as Kegels have a lot of world history. The ancient Chinese practiced a form of sexual arts or sexual Taoism which was intended to not only enhance sexual pleasure, but were also seen as a gateway to long life and virility. Another example can be found in India where yogis taught (and still teach today) a variant of Hatha Yoga which like most forms of yoga is based upon a philosophy of mental and physical purification thru specific poses, which have tremendous sexual benefits for its practitioners. But in a modern context, Kegel exercises are a simple yet very effective way to enhance your sexual enjoyment, and an additional benefit to doing them can often be a marked strengthening of your orgasms.

Kegels are designed to strengthen the pubococcygeus muscles (or PC muscles in shorthand), sometimes referred to as the pelvic floor. Doing theses exercises involves a rhythmic and regular clenching and unclenching of these muscles, and the beauty of Kegels is that you can do them anywhere, at any time, without anyone being aware that you’re doing them!

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Like any muscle group in the body, your pubococcygeus muscles can lose tone and begin to loosen up over time. Things like pregnancy, childbirth and being overweight can contribute to this condition, but doing Kegels can restore much of that lost muscle tone. This muscle group can be felt when we urinate, or when we flex or tighten the vagina or penis (yes, both men and women can do Kegels). While the muscle group is present in both sexes, the benefits for women can be profound both physically and psychologically because better conditioning of these muscle groups can lead to greater sexual fulfillment, and many women report that they can achieve orgasm quicker, including those ever elusive gspot orgasms.

Like any strength training or exercise program, sometimes adding some resistance or weights can help things along. A number of Kegel Exercisers are available, some in the shape of barbells, wands or balls like Ben-Wa Balls or Smart Balls, and an added benefit to those of you who own the njoy Pure Wand is that it’s a perfect tool to practice your Kegels with!

Try this experiment the next time you’re engaged in some hot and heavy lovemaking. Try squeezing your vaginal/PC muscles around your partner’s hard penis while he’s deep inside you, these are your pubococcygeus muscles hard at work, and I guarantee your partner will immediately notice! Squeezing yourself around him can bring you both heightened enjoyment from the experience, and you both may find that by doing this together that you both can reach amazing orgasmic plateaus!

Here’s the lazy geisha’s Kegel regimen.

While at work or while driving in your car, or even while grocery shopping, clench and unclench your PC muscles in two sets of fifteen to start. Hold each contraction for three second and then release. Wait three seconds and repeat. Do this fifteen times and then rest for five minutes then repeat. Do this twice a day, once in the morning and once at night. The idea is to contract and release the muscles repeatedly until you build up strength and tension, and the brilliance of these exercises is that you can do them while you’re laying in bed or sitting on the sofa watching television, but the next time you’re being intimate with your lover, the difference will be amazing!

Kegels are named for the gynecologist Dr. Arnold Kegel who publicized these exercises. Give them a try and watch your sex life go from ordinary to out of this world!

Read my review of the LELO GIGI here!

Image courtesy Gray’s Anatomy