The PC or pubococcygeal muscles, also known as the pelvic floor muscles, surround the urethra and support the bladder and bowel in both men and women. In women, the PC muscles also support the uterus. The type of exercise typically done to tone the PC muscle is known as a Kegel exercise or Kegel exercises, named after Dr. Arnold Kegel, who developed them in 1948. One of the beauties of Kegel exercises is that, since the PC muscle shows no outward sign of its contraction, you can do Kegels anywhere--driving, in a business meeting, at the pool--and nobody will ever know.
Step 1
Locate your PC muscle by practicing stopping the flow of urine in mid-stream. Once you successfully pause the flow of urine, you'll know you've located the PC muscle. Make sure to resume urination and void your bladder completely to avoid having urine trapped in your urethra.
Step 2
Relax the other muscles in your core area--abdomen, legs and buttocks--as you practice squeezing and releasing the PC muscle. Just as with any other muscles, your PC muscle may become fatigued, so be patient with yourself as it strengthens. You may need several days to work up to doing a single set of 10 contractions.
Step 3
Squeeze your PC muscle, then release, quickly and rhythmically for 10 seconds. Practice this, increasing the length of each session by a few seconds every day or two, until you can continue these rhythmic contractions for 30 seconds or more. Do at least three sets each day.
Step 4
Squeeze your PC muscle and hold for as long as you can, working up to at least 10 repetitions of 10 seconds each for every contraction. Mix sets of these holds in with the other types of squeezes.
Step 5
Count from one to five, tightening the PC muscle a little more with each number until, at 5, it's completely contracted. Release in stages to another count of 5. It may help to visualize an elevator as you do this; as the elevator moves slowly up from floor 1 to floor 5, your PC muscle contracts. Then, as the elevator moves back down to floor 1, one floor at a time, the PC muscle relaxes in stages. Mix sets of this exercise in with the exercises from Steps 4 and 5 to do three sets of Kegels, total, each day.
Tips and Warnings
- Increase the intensity of your Kegels as your muscles strengthen. Vary your exercise patterns; the principle of sport specificity--in other words, the idea that you improve at what you actually practice--applies just as much to Kegel exercises and the PC muscle as it does to other muscles. So if you practice squeezing the PC muscle for an extended period (in this context, up to 30 seconds or more), you'll get better at holding a sustained Kegel contraction. If you practice squeezing your PC muscles and releasing repeatedly, you'll get better at that type of action.
