Kegels.

Arnold Kegel, born 1894, was an American Gynecologist and just one of the MANY CIS White Male Gynecologists experimenting and learning on many female bodies, especially Black, enslaved female bodies.

The term, “kegel,” is one of many terms and names used on the vulvovaginal and uterine/ovarian bodies that are named after White Men. To reclaim our bodies in name and with language, I prefer to no longer use the term, “kegel.”

When people refer to a kegel exercise they are describing the concentric contraction of the pelvic floor diaphragm muscles (it is not a floor.) The problem with this is that the vast network of muscles moves both concentrically (shortens) and eccentrically (lengthens) and both movements are important for pelvic health.

We often find these muscles activated concentrically (shortened) when in a state of stress. If your body is guarding or bracing, it may contract certain muscles around VITAL organs to keep us alive. You can imagine what your neck muscles would do if you saw a car heading towards the back of your car at full speed. They tense up in an effort to protect your brain and neck! That is a reflexive reaction that is developed over thousands of years of evolution towards our survival.

So now, if we bring that same intelligence to the pelvis— it is easy to imagine what those muscles are tensing up for! If we ignore this, and then send a repeated message to contract and shorten with the KEGEL exercise in order to treat ANY pelvic condition then we are MISDIAGNOSING and MISTREATING the pelvis.

It wil important to attune to the pelvis and to our bodies as a whole. To ourselves as whole. Do the pelvis muscles have mobility? Do they move up (in) and down (out)? Do you know where they are right now in the moment? Can you concentrically contract them? Eccentrically contract them? Can you hold that contraction while you breathe deeply? Can you contract them quickly? Can you release them quickly?

>> After all that, do you still feel comfortable talking about them as kegels? I would think not!

Kegels don’t solve pelvic issues. Pelvic Awareness, Movement, breath, coordination, endurance, power, speed, mobility, and strength will feel most supportive… and that is why I call them Pelvic Exercises. <3