Kegel Exercises for Beginners: Start Short and Simple

If you're new to Kegel exercises, start short and simple. A beginner session is a few rounds of squeeze, hold and relax, with your attention on doing each squeeze well rather than doing many. This guide walks through Kegel exercises for beginners: what to know before your first session, how the session goes, and the slips to watch for.

Before your first session

You need two things: to know which muscles to squeeze, and a quiet minute or two.

• The muscles. They're the ones you'd use to stop yourself passing wind. If you're unsure, read How to find your pelvic floor muscles first.
• The position. Sit or lie down, whichever is comfortable. The NHS leaflet from North Tees and Hartlepool starts seated, with your knees slightly apart.
• The steps. Squeeze and lift, hold, then let go fully. How to do Kegels for men has them in full.

Start short

Public sources start with short holds. MedlinePlus describes holding for 3 to 5 seconds, then relaxing for 3 to 5 seconds. Cleveland Clinic starts with about five seconds, and later describes moving to longer holds. Each source gives its own numbers; How many Kegels a day? puts them side by side.

Steady's starting sessions are short too. These are product facts, not targets:

• Beginner: 8 rounds of squeeze 3 s, hold 3 s, relax 5 s. About 1 min 28 s. Free.
• Steady 28, day 1: 6 rounds of squeeze 3 s, hold 2 s, relax 5 s. About 1 minute. Free.

Week 1 of Steady 28, Foundations, grows a little each day, from about 1 minute on day 1 to about 2 min 40 s on day 7. The days follow a fixed order. They don't change with what you've recorded, and you can repeat a day or skip ahead.

Your first session, step by step

Here's how a first session goes in Steady:

1. On the home screen, the STEADY 28 card shows Day 1 of 28. Tap Start day 1.
2. On the session screen, tap Start.
3. A soft shape grows while you squeeze, stays full while you hold and settles while you relax. The word on it shows the phase, Squeeze, Hold or Relax, and the number counts down the seconds.
4. Each phase starts with its own vibration, and a short tone if sound cues are on, so you can follow without watching the screen.
5. When the last round ends, you see Session complete. The session is added to your history.

You can try the same rhythm in your browser with the Kegel timer. It records nothing.

Slips to watch for

These come up in the sources we checked, and in Steady's own steps:

• Holding your breath. Keep breathing as usual. Cleveland Clinic suggests counting out loud.
• Squeezing other muscles. Your stomach, buttocks and thighs should stay relaxed. MedlinePlus adds the chest.
• Skipping the let-go. Relax fully before the next squeeze. In Steady, every round ends with Relax.
• Rushing. Cleveland Clinic says it's better to do fewer squeezes correctly than many incorrectly.

Keeping it going

A beginner's question is often less "how" and more "how do I remember?". Linking the session to something you already do each day helps; Daily Kegel reminder covers reminders, the widget and the streak.

After 10 Beginner sessions, Steady shows a Try the next level? card that suggests Intermediate. It counts sessions only, and it doesn't look at how a session went. Whether and when to move on is your choice.

A note on health

This guide describes an exercise. It isn't medical advice. If anything hurts, stop. If you have symptoms or health questions, speak with a doctor or pelvic health physiotherapist before you start. Every source on this page is listed, with the date we checked it, on Sources.

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 records the sessions you finish on your phone. The Beginner plan, Quick squeezes, the Relax set and days 1 to 7 of Steady 28 are free. How to do it has 3 practice squeezes that aren't added to your history.