NAFC’s Review Of 3 Popular Kegel Exercise Apps

You’ve probably heard that kegel exercises are important for your pelvic floor health. This is true – strong pelvic floor muscles can help you keep control of your bladder so you’re not leaking when you sneeze or laugh, and a toned pelvic floor can even improve your sex life!  But when it comes to doing them, well, they’re easy to dismiss or forget.

That’s where an app comes in handy. There’s an app for everything these days, it seems, and kegel exercises are no exception. And while we always advocate getting a proper examination of your pelvic floor prior to beginning any work out program (especially if you are experiencing problems in that area), these apps can do wonders in teaching you how to do the moves that strengthen and relax your pelvic floor, in addition to just reminding you to do the exercises in the first place.

We reviewed three popular apps for increasing pelvic floor health. Read our takeaways below!

Kegel Trainer – Exercises

This is the most basic trainer of the three we tested, with all of the exercises focused on kegels exclusively. The sessions are between 30 to 3:00 minutes each, and are appropriate for men and women. The app is free to download, but to get past the second level or gain access to additional features, you’ll need to pay up to $5.49, depending on what you want to access.  If you’re looking for a very simple app that gives you daily reminders to do your kegels, this works well. But we wish it had a bit more in the way of education on how to do a kegel, and a greater variety of pelvic floor exercises.

Download the app: Google Play, iTunes

Squeezy

NHS Pelvic Floor App: At $3.99, this app is a bit pricy, but the simple interface, and the fact that it was designed by physiotherapists specializing in Women’s Health make it well worth it.  The app comes with customizable exercise plans, reminders to do your exercises, and a “professional mode” which allows your physical therapist to help create a detailed plan for you. Visual and audio guides help ensure that you’re doing the exercises correctly, and you’re able to track and monitor your progress over time. This is a great app for anyone looking to improve problems related to bladder, bowel, or pelvic floor muscles and is an excellent compliment to physical therapy programs.

Download the app: Google Play, iTunes

Pelvic Floor First

Developed by the Continence Foundation of Australia, this app is all encompassing and provides you with a complete workout regimen for getting your pelvic floor and core in shape. It’s great for women experiencing leaks, overactive bladder, women with prolapse, or women experiencing painful sex or pelvic pain. We love that this app gives a good overview of how the muscles work, and a visual of your anatomy so that you can actual see how the pelvic muscles are connected and what they support.  The video & audio guides for each move are very helpful, and we love that the focus is not just on kegels, but building strength throughout the core, which is critical to having a strong pelvic floor.  Workout moves are separated into three categories from beginner to advanced, and in total last from 30-50 minutes. But, you can also choose to view individual exercise moves and save them to form your own custom workouts if you choose. The app also has a share option, which is nice if you’d like to work with your physical therapist on monitoring your workouts. This is a great overall app for working your pelvic floor.  And best of all, it’s FREE!

Download the app: Google Play, iTunes

As always, we recommend that you consult with a physical therapist prior to starting a pelvic floor exercise program, especially if you are experiencing any types of bladder, bowel or pelvic floor issues.  Sometimes these issues may be caused by a pelvic floor that is too tight, and doing certain exercises, such as kegels, may exacerbate those issues.  A physical therapist can give you a thorough evaluation and recommend a plan that works best for you.