How important are "Kegel" exercises?

Okay ladies . . . and guys . . . since we've been taking about our lower extremities the past few days . . . let's continue with one more issue.

Today, let's talk about our "pelvic floor muscles".

The pelvic floor consists of a group of muscles found in the base of the pelvis. And this base is the home to organs like the bladder, uterus and rectum. And in men . . . their pelvic floor consists of the same but add the prostate.

This floor is the foundation for these organs and is there to support them.

You know . . . so the bottom doesn't fall out so to speak . . .

So why are these muscles so important???

Well . . . pelvic floor muscles stop your stream of urine, stop you from leaking and peeing yourself, keep you from passing gas or pooping when you don't want to.

So how can you tell if you have strong pelvic floor muscles???

Well . . . next time you go pee . . . try to stop the flow of urine in the middle of emptying your bladder. If you can do it for a second or two . . . you're using the correct muscles and they are strong. (Obviously this isn't something you want to do all the time because it can cause problems emptying the bladder completely).

And if you "can't" accomplish that mission . . . then you may need to do a little work strengthening those muscles.

And how do we do that???

Well . . . there's an exercise called "Kegel" exercises that fits that bill.