That's right, these pelvic exercises, which appear to be very simple and sometimes we perform them unconsciously, were discovered by Arnold Kegel in 1948, or better say, Arnold found the benefit to improve symptoms in patients with urine leakage.

What are these exercises kegel ?

Pelvic floor muscles:
The pelvis is the part of the body located between the hip bones. The pelvic muscle extends from the pubis to the coccyx.

Pelvic floor muscles are two muscles, one that stretches like a hammock, and the other has a triangular shape. Both avoid the involuntary flow of urine and feces.

There is a simple way to understand the functioning of a Kegel exercise, and indeed, sometimes unconsciously we perform pelvic movements in our daily lives.

The most practical example I can mention is when you really want to go to the bathroom to urinate, and tries to hold urine. In some way you are working the pelvic muscle to retain or prevent dropping urine. That’s when you are exercising the pelvic floor. Therefore the pelvic floor muscles behave like any other muscle. Fortunately, when these muscles get weak, they can be strengthened by Kegel exercises.

Why is so important to practice Kegel during pregnancy?

Although sounds like a joke, if you practice a Kegel exercise, you can laugh and cough more naturally.

The pelvic floor is with no doubt, a muscle that is highly involved in the process of pregnancy. During pregnancy and even just before labor and delivery, the pelvic floor is affected by the growing uterus. The pelvic floor pressure causes in many women a sense of urinary incontinence "inability to stop the outflow of urine".

During pregnancy, the need to urinate usually increases. This is due to the growth of the uterus, which compresses the bladder, decreasing its capacity and consequently triggers the need to urinate with smaller volumes of urine. Towards the end of pregnancy, the uterine pressure is greater and therefore produces involuntary urine output.

During labor and delivery is clearly the work of these pelvic muscles. If you do not exercise these muscles, you could have a kind of post-partum trauma, which causes an inability to hold urine output. On the other hand, if you practice a Kegel exercise during pregnancy, you will have an easier delivery with fewer tendencies to undergo a pelvic tear.

How and when I can do these Kegel exercises?

You can practice Kegel exercises anytime of the day, while you are standing, sitting, watching TV, chatting with someone, or in any other position. I suggest practice these exercises at least 3 times a day, with 20 to 25 contractions. Try also practice while you are urinating, stop the stream and then re-released, and so on.

I give you some other tips you might consider when practicing these exercises during pregnancy:

• Maintain a healthy weight during your pregnancy and preferably controlled by your doctor. Being overweight causes pressure on the bladder, and consequently there can be urinary incontinence. Weight gain during pregnancy is not good for your baby.
• Maintain a balanced diet with plenty of fluids and fiber. This will prevent constipation, and weaken the bladder muscles.
• If you already have urinary incontinence, do not worry, you can start at anytime with a Kegel exercise, it is never too late. Definitely you will minimize this problem. But, watch out for the last month of pregnancy because you can confuse the flow of urine with amniotic fluid leakage.

Remember, exercise and pregnancy are two things that get along each other.

Read about other pregnancy exercises:

Running and Pregnancy | Walking During Pregnancy | Swimming During Pregnancy | Yoga During Pregnancy | Pilates During Pregnancy