Should you practise kegels by stopping your urine flow?

Use it once to identify the muscles if you cannot find them otherwise, then stop. Repeatedly interrupting flow can disrupt normal bladder emptying and increase infection risk. It is a one-off diagnostic, not an exercise, and health services generally advise against making a habit of it.

How do you know if you are doing them right?

The clearest confirmation is an internal assessment by a pelvic health physiotherapist, who can feel whether the lift is happening. Without that, use the abdomen and buttock checks, and look for a gradual reduction in symptoms over weeks. No change after three months of consistent practice suggests a technique problem.

Can you do kegels while driving or at your desk?

Yes, once technique is reliable, and the discretion is part of the appeal. Early on it is better to train lying down where you can check for abdominal bracing. Once the contraction is automatic, seated sets during routine moments make daily consistency far easier to sustain.

Do kegels help with anything besides leaking?

Pelvic floor training is used for urinary urgency, mild prolapse symptoms and postpartum recovery, and some studies report improvements in sexual function. It is not a treatment for every pelvic symptom, and pain or heaviness that worsens with training should be assessed rather than trained through.

Bloom Blog

How Do You Do Kegel Exercises Correctly?

Updated July 29, 2026 · 7 min read · The Bloom Pelvic Health Team

TL;DR. Squeeze the muscles you would use to stop passing wind, lift them inward and upward, hold, then fully release. Your abdomen, thighs and buttocks should stay still. The release matters as much as the squeeze, and most people who feel no benefit are contracting the wrong muscles.

Kegels have a reputation for not working, and the usual reason is technique rather than effort. Research on pelvic floor muscle training repeatedly finds that a substantial proportion of women cannot perform a correct contraction from verbal or written instruction alone. Doing the wrong movement diligently for six months produces nothing, which is how the exercise earned its scepticism.

Which muscles should you actually squeeze?

The pelvic floor is a sling of muscle running from the pubic bone to the tailbone. The contraction you want is an inward and upward lift, the sensation of stopping wind and drawing the vagina up at the same time. Nothing outside the pelvis should tighten.

Two checks catch most errors. Rest a hand on your abdomen: if it hardens or pushes outward you are bearing down instead of lifting. Watch in a mirror or place a hand under your buttocks: if they clench, you are substituting the glutes. A correct contraction is subtle enough to be invisible to anyone else.

Bloom app guiding a timed pelvic floor contraction and release cycle with visual cues — Bloom paces the hold and the release so both halves get equal attention.

How long should you hold each contraction?

Start with a hold you can sustain cleanly, often three to five seconds, then rest for at least as long as you held. Build towards ten-second holds over several weeks. The rest interval is not optional; a muscle contracted without full release fatigues rather than strengthens.

Programmes usually combine long holds with a set of quick flicks, one-second contractions repeated in sequence. The two train different fibres. Long holds build the endurance that supports the bladder through the day; quick flicks build the fast response that stops leakage at the moment of a cough or sneeze.

Why does the release matter as much as the squeeze?

A pelvic floor that cannot fully relax is not a strong one. Muscles generate force through a full range, so incomplete release progressively shortens the resting length and can produce pain, urgency and difficulty emptying. Letting go completely between repetitions is part of the exercise, not a pause in it.

This is where the standard advice to squeeze constantly does harm. Some women arrive at pelvic health physiotherapy with symptoms caused by an overactive floor rather than a weak one, having been told for years that more squeezing is always better. If holds feel easy but symptoms worsen, that is worth investigating.

Not sure whether you are contracting correctly? Bloom walks through the cues, paces the holds and rests, and tracks progress across a programme.

What position should you start in?

Begin lying down with knees bent, because gravity is doing least there and the contraction is easiest to isolate. Progress to sitting once it feels reliable, then to standing, then to movement. Training only in one position leaves the muscle unprepared for the moments when leakage actually happens.

The progression matters because continence is challenged under load: standing up, lifting, running, laughing. A floor trained only on the bedroom carpet may still fail at the gym. Build up through positions rather than staying where the exercise feels comfortable.

Key takeaways

The correct contraction lifts inward and upward; abdomen, thighs and buttocks stay still.
A large share of women cannot perform a correct contraction from written instruction alone.
Rest at least as long as you hold, and release completely between repetitions.
Combine long holds for endurance with quick flicks for fast response.
Progress from lying to sitting to standing so the muscle trains under load.

Frequently asked questions

Should you practise kegels by stopping your urine flow?: Use it once to identify the muscles if you cannot find them otherwise, then stop. Repeatedly interrupting flow can disrupt normal bladder emptying and increase infection risk. It is a one-off diagnostic, not an exercise, and health services generally advise against making a habit of it.
How do you know if you are doing them right?: The clearest confirmation is an internal assessment by a pelvic health physiotherapist, who can feel whether the lift is happening. Without that, use the abdomen and buttock checks, and look for a gradual reduction in symptoms over weeks. No change after three months of consistent practice suggests a technique problem.
Can you do kegels while driving or at your desk?: Yes, once technique is reliable, and the discretion is part of the appeal. Early on it is better to train lying down where you can check for abdominal bracing. Once the contraction is automatic, seated sets during routine moments make daily consistency far easier to sustain.
Do kegels help with anything besides leaking?: Pelvic floor training is used for urinary urgency, mild prolapse symptoms and postpartum recovery, and some studies report improvements in sexual function. It is not a treatment for every pelvic symptom, and pain or heaviness that worsens with training should be assessed rather than trained through.

The Bloom Pelvic Health Team
Women’s Pelvic Health, BigBalli. We translate pelvic floor research and clinical guidance into daily practice, cross-checked against NHS and NIDDK material. Educational content, not medical advice.