Sex Matters®: Louanne Cole Weston, PhD Meet Louanne | More Q&A From Louanne Cole Weston "What is a "kegel" and can it really help my sex life?"

The opinions expressed herein are the author's alone and have not been influenced by WebMD.

Kegel exercises were named after Arnold Kegel, MD, an ob-gyn who realized that women were having problems with leaking urine, particularly after they'd had a baby. Surgery was generally performed to try and tighten up the urinary sphincter, but often these women would be back with the same problem in a few years.

Kegel tried to figure out another approach, so he suggested that the women try exercises to help with this problem. He found out that it did work for some women quite well. He also accidentally found out that it increased sexual pleasure for some of them. He had no idea that there would be a sexual benefit, but some of his patients mentioned that their sex lives had improved, so he inquired about it with others. It was later learned that men could experience the same improvement from the exercises, too.

How to do these exercises? It's the same for men and women. Imagine yourself urinating and then that you want to stop the flow of urine. To do so, you would squeeze the muscles that run like a hammock from the front of the crotch area to the back. This muscle group contracts during orgasm, so strengthening it by exercise will make it stronger.

• Contract the muscle and count to 10. Then relax and repeat, for about a minute.
• Quickly contract the muscle for about one second and then relax it. Do about 20 of those.
• Pretend there is a little elevator in your crotch. Gradually raise the elevator up to the second floor, then the third. Hold it there for a few seconds. Then gradually lower the elevator to the second floor, then the first. For good measure, go down to the "basement" to be sure that the muscles are relaxed after each "trip." Do about 10 of these.

Each day, do all three styles of Kegel exercises and gradually increase the time you spend. Work your way up to a two-minute "set" three times each day. Many people feel results after about two weeks of doing these.

The result for both men and women is a stronger set of muscles that can contract with greater strength during orgasm and by doing so, create greater sexual pleasure.

How does this work? When you exercise the PC muscle, you bring blood to it, just like other muscles. When more blood than usual collects in the pelvic area, it creates the early physical sensation of sexual arousal. It's a way to jump-start your sexual motor.

Many studies have shown that increasing the strength of the PC muscle and increasing a woman's awareness of it aid her ability to become orgasmic. This also intensifies the sensation of orgasm for women who want to experience more sexual pleasure.

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