What Are Kegel Balls and How to Use Them?

Kegel Balls
Written by Emma Hewitt

Not your usual orgasm-inducing sex toys, Kegel balls will help you have the best sex of your life for the rest of your life. These balls assist in strengthening your pelvic floor, an area that is so often overlooked when it comes to exercise.

With 15 minutes a day, you can have longer, stronger orgasms and avoid some serious health issues too. Sound good? Yeah, it does!

Forget the Balls… What Are Kegels?

kegel balls exercises woman doing pilates

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This is actually a very common question as many women go through life without giving them much thought. Or, not until they need to at least. Kegels is actually the term given to the exercises that we complete to strengthen our pelvic floor or PC muscles.

Our pelvic floor consists of a group of interweaving muscles that support our bladder, uterus, rectum and small intestine. These muscles work like a sling to keep everything in place inside our bodies. Both women and men have PC muscles but Kegel balls are designed for female use so don’t go sticking them up your butt’s boys.

There are other toys for that! The term Kegels is named after the American gynaecologist Arnold Kegel who created the Kegel perineometer. This tool measures voluntary contractions of the pelvic floor, so both the exercise and the balls are named after him.

So Where Are They Exactly?

This group of muscles sits low in your pelvis and they are the same muscles that you clench to stop urination midstream. The “pee stoppers” as I lovingly call them.

The easiest way to find them is to practice while you are going pee and use your muscles to stop the flow. That’s them! Start by trying while you pee once or twice then, trying to locate and clench those same muscles when you are sitting or standing.

And keep in mind that you need to clench the PC muscles only. It’s easy to clench your booty or thigh muscles instead. Yes, they are important too. But this is all about the Kegels.

Why Are These Muscles so Important?

Oh, you mean other than holding our vital organs in place? Our pelvic floor health is extremely important as weakened PC muscles can cause all sorts of issues in female bodies.

As we age these muscles tend to loosen but things like pregnancy, childbirth and being overweight can all weaken these muscles too. A weakened pelvic floor can result in prolapse of these muscles or incontinence.

From a little dribble when you sneeze to the organs literally falling into your vagina in more serious cases. Have I got your attention now?

Lucky for Us, Strengthening Them Is Easy!

kegel balls exercises woman doing pilates yoga

And I mean, seriously easy. In fact, you don’t even need Kegel balls to start with. You can literally exercise these muscles anytime and anywhere without anyone knowing about it. You clench the muscles yourself and hold.

Here are a few simple exercises to get you started.

1. Hold & Relax Exercise

This exercise is literally as simple as the name suggests. You clench and squeeze the muscles for 2 seconds, then release for 2 seconds and keep repeating this for five minutes. Easy-peasy right?

The important thing here is to make sure you are only clenching the PC muscles and nothing else.

If you feel like you are starting to clench your booty or thighs, relax, loosen your body and re-start. It takes a few tries to get it right. And don’t forget to breathe! It sounds easy but after a little while, you will start to feel it!

2. Holding Sequence

Another exercise is to clench the PC muscles and hold the squeeze for as long as you can. If you feel it loosening, then tighten up and continue until your muscles are completely worn out. Trust me, you will definitely feel this one so don’t forget to breathe!

Want Balls with That?

kegel balls exercises woman doing pilates yoga sunset

While exercising with these two exercises will help to strengthen these muscles, if you want to fast-track the process, you can introduce a set of Kegel balls. This will make your progress a whole lot faster and make your muscles even stronger. Its all about upping the ante!

Kegel Balls Are Weights for Your Vagina.

So what exactly are Kegel balls you ask? They are just weights for your vagina. They can come as one single ball or two balls and can be attached with silicone or string, or they can be inserted separately like benwa balls.

No matter which style you go for, they will all be slightly weighted and are designed to be held in place inside your vagina.

Now, this may sound a little scary, but Kegel balls have actually been around for centuries in one form or another. They were first introduced in Ancient China in the form of jade eggs and they have been used by women ever since, so they must be doing something right!

They Work Wonders for Your Sex Life Too!

How could I forget?! As well as all the other benefits, one of the best things about strengthening your Kegels is that it directly impacts the strength of your orgasm.

Yup, the stronger your PC muscles are the more blood flow that is sent to your pelvic region resulting in stronger contractions when you orgasm.

Hello, amazing orgasms! And, increased blood flow to the PC muscles also means increased blood flow to your vagina. This makes your body more sensitive and responsive and increases your libido. Um, yes, please.

Every Woman Can Use Them.

The best thing is that Kegel balls can be used by literally any woman and they work wonders as both a preventative measure to avoid issues in the future. They also work to heal those whose muscles have already loosened.

They are especially recommended for women that have already had children.

Or of course, anyone that suffers from incontinence. There are different sizes and weights dependent on your age and whether you have had children or not too so you don’t need to worry about the falls feeling out or struggling too much to hold them in place. Just make sure you find a set that will work best for your body.

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Using Them Is Surprisingly Easy.

Kegel balls are super easy to use but there are a few things you can do to make the process a whole lot more enjoyable too. Before you start, make sure you and your body are ready to put them in. Have a shower or massage your breasts to activate your natural lubrication. Don’t pop them in if you’re not feeling ready for it.

Prepare your body and your mind and make sure you have a “Yes” from your vagina.

Make sure they are clean first by washing them with warm water and a high-quality sex toy cleaner or mild soap so they are safe for your body, then lubricate them with a bit of water-based lubricant. But don’t over-do it or they will become too slippery to hold and will be difficult to insert.

Then, prepare your body as we talked about earlier, relax as much as you can and pop them in as you would a tampon.

If struggling, pop one leg up on the bed or a chair or you may need to lie down to get them in properly. It can be a bit tricky at first but just find the position that suits you best. Once they are in comfortably your muscles will naturally contract around them.

So They’re Up! Now What?

kegel balls exercises woman boxing

So how to use Kegel balls now that they are in? There are passive ways to use them and there are more active options too. To start out with, you can go about your business. You can walk about, watch TV, even do some light exercise and keep them in place.

Your body will do the work for you to hold them up.

If you are brave, you can head out for a walk down the street with them in and get a little naughty with it. No one will know but you. Or, if you want to try something that is more active and will work you a little harder, you can try one of these exercises.

1. Glute Bridge

The glute bridge is a great exercise to strengthen and lift your booty, and it can activate your pelvic floor muscles too, especially when you have Kegel balls in. To perform the glute bridge you need to start on your back with your spine pressed flat against the ground and your knees bent at a 90-degree angle.

Your feet need to be flat against the ground and your arms will be down at your side with palms facing down. As you inhale, push up through your heels to raise your hips off the ground. As you do this, squeeze your glutes, hamstrings and pelvic floor so that your body is in a straight line from your shoulders to your knees.

Pause for 1-2 seconds at the top, then return to the starting position. Ideally, you want to complete about 10-15 reps and 2-3 sets of the exercise with a little break of 30 seconds in between each set.

2. Table Top Splits

The table top is a classic Pilates move that takes things a set further to engage your pelvic floor muscles too. Oh, and you get a cheeky ab workout. You’re welcome!

Start with your back on the floor and your knees bent up in the air with your thighs perpendicular to the floor and your shins parallel to the floor. Keep your spine as flat to the floor as possible and your thighs touching.

With control, slowly split your legs open so each knee falls outward. Don’t push too hard and allow your knees to fall to a comfortable position. Then, move them back together to the starting position. Try 3 sets with 10-15 reps each.

3. Squats

If you are up for a challenge to keep those balls in place, then this is the exercise for you.

Start standing in an upright position with your feet just wider than shoulder width apart and your toes pointed outward. Then bend your knees and push your booty and hips back as though you are about to sit down in a chair.

Drop your body down until your thighs are parallel with the ground. Make sure your weight is in your heels and your knees are bowed outward slightly in line with your toes.

Then straighten your legs and return to an upright position squeezing your booty together at the top. This one requires 1 set of 15 reps as it is a bit more challenging than the last two.

When you want to remove the balls, ensure your hands are clean and slowly pull them out by the cord if they have one, or with your fingers. And don’t worry, they can’t get lost because there is nowhere they can go. If you are struggling, you can also use the PC muscles to try and lightly push them out.

Relax and breathe and you will get them!

Use It or Lose It!

kegel balls exercises woman doing pilates yoga fitness

Ideally, you want to use the balls for 15 minutes every day. And if you can’t manage that, then at least as often as possible. And make sure you don’t overdo it and leave them in for too long. Think of your PC muscles as you would any other muscle of your body.

If you work them too hard, you can do more damage than good.

15 minutes is the perfect amount of time to work those bad boys without wearing them out too much.  Remember that strengthening your PC muscles and pelvic floor with Kegel balls is a marathon, not a sprint and it will take about 3 weeks before you start to notice a difference.

If you struggle to keep them in for the full amount of time at first, then you likely have a set that is too heavy or too small for your body. You could try going with a shorter time to start with or you could start with a larger set and work your way towards the smaller ones when you feel stronger.

A strong healthy body and the best sex of your life takes work after all!

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About the author

Emma Hewitt

Emma, a pleasure activist and writer from Wellington, New Zealand, specializes in sexual education and various aspects of pleasure. With a Bachelor of Communications degree, majoring in Journalism and Expressive Arts, she gained extensive experience during her tenure as a Marketing & Content Executive at Adulttoymegastore, New Zealand's largest online retailer of adult toys. Now based in Barcelona, Emma shares her comprehensive knowledge as a freelance writer, covering topics such as sex, relationships, and sex toys for numerous publications in the field of sexual education and well-being. Learn more about us and our editorial guidelines.