The pubococcygeal, or PC, muscle might not one you think about strengthening until you have problem. When this muscle — which stretches from the pubic bone to the tailbone in both men and women — is weak or loses elasticity due to childbirth, medical conditions, injury or aging, you could experience urinary or fecal incontinence, the University of Maryland Medical Center reports. What's more, a stronger PC muscle can increase sexual pleasure, adds the University of California-Santa Barbara's Sex Info Online. But before you can exercise the PC muscle, you must find it.
Step 1
Tighten the muscle you would use if you needed to stop urinating. This is the most common way to isolate your PC muscle, and is the key move in a strengthening exercise called kegels.
Step 2
Tighten the muscles you would use if you needed to stop yourself from defecating. Isolate the muscles you tightened in your groin, on top of the perineum. Pay attention to how these muscles pull and contract. Practice moving them.
Step 3
If you're a man, stand before the mirror and use your groin muscles to gently lift your testicles, or to draw them back toward your body. You should be able to see movement in the mirror. The muscle you used to create this movement is your PC muscle.
Step 4
If you're a woman, lie in a comfortable position on the bed and insert a finger into your vagina. Clench down, and try to squeeze and tighten around your finger. The muscle you used to create this tightening is your PC muscle.
Step 5
Visit a doctor for a biofeedback session if you are unable to locate your PC muscle by other means. A trained medical professional can let you know if and when you've tightened the muscle, and can also determine if you have any muscle or nerve damage that may prevent you from isolating this muscle.
Things You'll Need
- Mirror
