Kegels aren’t the only way to exercise while using vaginal weights and Kegel balls. While simply wearing them, your muscles will be gradually getting stronger and stronger. If you’ve been wearing Kegel balls for a while though, you might feel ready for a more intense level of workout.

One of the simplest way to get started while you are wearing your balls, try standing up and moving around rather than just lying down. While you move around your house, gravity will be a stronger force on your Kegel balls, meaning you’ll have to spend more effort to keep them inside you. Combining Kegel balls with some general household chores can give you a much more intense workout and make your regular day a little more interesting.

If you feel comfortable enough to move around while holding in your Kegel balls, there are a few exercises you can do while wearing them for that extra bit of workout for your pelvic floor.

Squats

Squats are a relatively easy exercise which works a lot of the same muscle groups as Kegels, and helps you build up your core strength which is beneficial to almost all aspects of life. Many people will try to weigh up whether it’s better to do squats or Kegels, but doing both can ensure your pelvic floor is doing as well as it possibly can. It is important you are using the correct technique, as squats can cause some damage to your back if you perform them incorrectly.

To properly perform a squat, there are a few small things you should pay attention to. Firstly, your feet should be slightly wider than shoulder width. This puts more of the pressure on the outside of your feet and activates your groin muscles while you squat. Your hips need to hinge correctly while you descend into the squat, otherwise your knees will go beyond the tips of your toes. If your hips hinge backwards while you lower yourself into the squat position, most of the pressure will go onto your heels rather than your toes. You need to keep your spine naturally arched throughout the squat or you risk putting too much pressure on it during the exercise. The final part to pay attention to is your hips and your ankle. You need to avoid stiffening them up, as keeping them flexible allows the weight to distribute evenly throughout your body.

That’s a lot to take in, but with all that in mind, a squat is essentially lowering yourself into a sitting position (not on a chair) and then raising back out of the squat. You perform this multiple times, and should feel the benefits not only on your pelvic floor, but throughout all of your core muscles.

Other Exercises.

There are a few other exercises you can do to benefit your pelvic floor muscles. Basically, anything that works your core muscles will be at least slightly helpful, but if you are working with a weakened pelvic floor, it’s important to avoid putting too much stress on your pelvic floor while exercising. Some useful ones to know are planks, clamshells, and leg raises. To avoid putting too much stress on your pelvic floor you can slightly change these exercises.

Instead of doing a normal plank, start off on our hands and knees. Raise one arm forwards and the opposite leg backwards and hold the position, then bring your arm and leg back to the starting position. Then do the same with the other arm and other leg. Only holding the stretches with one arm and leg at a time reduces the strain put on your pelvic floor. You can perform these in sets of ten at a time.

Clamshells are a relatively simple and low impact core exercise. You simply lay on your side with your knees bent and your arm supporting your head. Raise your outer leg and hold it in the air for a few seconds (still bent), then slowly lower it back down. Repeat ten times and then flip over and do the same for the other leg.

Leg raises can be formed in mostly the same way as normal, but rather than raising both legs at the same time, simply do one at a time. This makes the stress on your pelvic floor much lower.

There’s probably lots of other exercises out there you can do to help your pelvic floor, so if you’re looking for something new then talk to people at your gym and see if they can recommend anything for you. Even if it seems silly to perform some of the lower impact exercises, anything can help and over time your pelvic floor will improve and you could move onto some more stressful exercises.