How Many Kegels a Day? What Public Sources Say

How many Kegels a day? There isn't one number. The public health sources we checked each give their own: how long to hold, how many squeezes in a set, and how many sets a day. Below are their numbers side by side, with links, so you can read each one in full. Steady doesn't add a number of its own.

What four sources say

All four describe a set of held squeezes, each followed by a relax, done more than once a day. The details differ.

Source	Hold	Relax	Squeezes per set	Sets a day
North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust	5 s	5 s	8 slow, then 8 fast	at least 3
Pelvic Floor First	up to 10 s	relax after each	up to 10	3
Cleveland Clinic	about 5 s, later 10 s	5 s, later 10 s	10	3
MedlinePlus	3 to 5 s	3 to 5 s	10	3 (morning, afternoon, night)

A few details behind the table:

North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust describes slow squeezes first, a 2-minute rest, then fast squeezes: tighten and let go straight away, 8 times or until the muscles feel tired.
Pelvic Floor First says "up to": up to 10 seconds, up to 10 times. It asks you to relax after each squeeze.
Cleveland Clinic starts at about five seconds and later describes 10-second squeezes with 10-second relaxes.
MedlinePlus gives 3 to 5 seconds each way, 10 times, three times a day.

Each source is written for its own readers and context, so read the page itself rather than the table alone. The links are at the top of this page and on Sources.

Why the numbers differ

Sources are written by different health organizations, in different countries, for different readers. Some use "up to", which is a ceiling rather than a goal. Some describe where to start and where to go later. None of them is describing Steady.

If you want a number that fits you, that's a question for a doctor or pelvic health physiotherapist, who can look at your situation. A website or an app can't.

What Steady does

Steady doesn't tell you how many Kegels to do a day. Its plans are exercise timings, and it records the sessions you finish. These are the lengths of its built-in sessions, as product facts:

Session	Each round	Rounds	Length	Access
Beginner	Squeeze 3 s, Hold 3 s, Relax 5 s	8	about 1 min 28 s	free
Intermediate	Squeeze 3 s, Hold 6 s, Relax 6 s	10	about 2 min 30 s	Pro
Advanced	Squeeze 4 s, Hold 10 s, Relax 8 s	12	about 4 min 24 s	Pro
Quick squeezes	Squeeze 1 s, Relax 2 s	15	45 s	free
Long holds	Squeeze 3 s, Hold 12 s, Relax 15 s	7	about 3 min 30 s	Pro

Steady 28 is a fixed 28-day plan of one session a day, from 60 s to about 4 min 5 s. In week 2, Longer holds, the hold grows from 5 s to 10 s.

A streak in Steady counts days with at least one finished session. Extra sessions on the same day still count as one day. History shows counts only. It doesn't rate a day or say whether it was enough.

Quality before count

Cleveland Clinic says it's better to do fewer squeezes correctly than many incorrectly. The basics are the same in every source above: keep breathing, keep your stomach, buttocks and thighs relaxed, and let go fully before the next squeeze. The steps are in How to do Kegels for men and in How to do it.

If you're worried about doing too many, read Can you do too many Kegels?. And if you'd like to try a set before deciding anything, the free Kegel timer lets you choose your own seconds and rounds. It stores nothing.

A note on health

This page summarizes public sources. It isn't medical advice. If anything hurts, stop, and speak with a doctor or pelvic health physiotherapist about what's right for you.

For the whole picture in one place, see Pelvic floor exercises for men.

In the app

Steady times each squeeze, hold and relax with cues you can feel and hear, and keeps a simple record of the sessions you finish on your phone. The numbers you train with are the plan's or your own. Steady doesn't recommend them.