Short answer
A complete Kegel has an active phase and a release phase. First, the pelvic floor gently closes around the pelvic openings and draws inward. Then the effort fades and the muscles return toward a comfortable resting state. The release is not empty waiting time, and it is not a forceful push downward.
Pelvic-floor muscle training (PFMT) can target more than strength. The International Consultation on Incontinence includes relaxation among the qualities a PFMT program may address. That matters because adaptable muscle control requires both producing tension and letting tension go.
What happens during the contraction phase
The contraction begins with a deliberate closing action around the passages for urine, stool, and gas. The intended direction continues subtly inward rather than downward. You should be able to maintain ordinary breathing and avoid a large buttock, thigh, or abdominal brace.
The contraction does not need to be maximal to count. During technique learning, the priority is a clear direction and control. Strength, endurance, rapid response, and other training goals can later use different forms of loading.
What “fully relaxing” means
Full relaxation means allowing the voluntary effort to end. You may notice the internal lift disappear, the closing sensation soften, and the area return toward how it felt before the contraction. Continue breathing and give this change time to occur.
Relaxation is not necessarily a dramatic feeling. Some people notice a clear drop in tension; others notice only that the active sensation is no longer present. The goal is not to force the pelvic floor lower than its normal resting position.
The NIDDK’s Kegel instructions place full relaxation directly after the squeeze and hold. In clinical assessment, contraction and relaxation are evaluated as related but distinct abilities.
Relaxing is not bearing down
These actions can be confused because both involve reducing a squeeze:
- Release: stop adding voluntary tension and allow the area to settle while breathing.
- Bearing down: actively increase pressure toward the pelvic openings, as during straining.
You do not need to push to make a release “complete.” If you feel bulging, downward pressure, or a toilet-like straining action, return to neutral breathing rather than pushing farther.
A simple contract-and-return practice
This is a technique drill, not a dose prescription:
- Settle into a supported position and breathe normally.
- Create a light close around the pelvic openings with a subtle inward lift.
- Notice whether breathing and the rest of the body remain relatively easy.
- End the voluntary effort before the movement turns into bracing or pushing.
- Allow the area to return toward rest without bearing down.
- Wait until you can distinguish rest from contraction before deciding whether to try again.
If each attempt leaves you more tense, stop. Repetition is not useful when the return phase is disappearing.
Signs the release may be incomplete
An at-home observation cannot diagnose high resting tone, but these experiences are reasons to pause:
- the next contraction seems to begin before the previous one ended;
- the pelvic floor feels progressively more clenched;
- you cannot sense any contrast between active and resting phases;
- breathing remains guarded after the contraction;
- urinary urgency, pelvic discomfort, or pressure builds during the sequence;
- urinating or having a bowel movement feels more difficult afterward.
These signs do not all mean the same thing. They may relate to effort, technique, anxiety, pain, coordination, or another health issue. An app cannot determine the cause.
Why “just relax” may not solve symptoms
Relaxation awareness can be a useful skill, but persistent pelvic pain, overactivity, or emptying difficulty is often more complex than a voluntary squeeze-and-release exercise. The EAU chronic pelvic-pain guideline discusses learning relaxation within specialist management while also noting that other muscular and myofascial contributors may require treatment.
This is why PelvicEx should not diagnose a “tight pelvic floor” from a self-check or claim that a breathing cue is complete treatment. A clinician may need to assess muscle activity, tenderness, coordination, bladder or bowel factors, and other possible contributors.
Common misconceptions
- “The squeeze is the exercise; release is just the gap.” The ability to return from a contraction is part of controlled movement.
- “Relaxing means pushing down.” Release reduces voluntary effort; bearing down creates downward pressure.
- “A stronger squeeze will make relaxation easier.” Greater effort can make substitution and residual tension more noticeable. It does not identify the cause of release difficulty.
- “If I can contract, my pelvic floor is functioning normally.” Contraction is only one quality. Timing, coordination, endurance, sensation, relaxation, and symptoms also matter.
- “I should lightly hold the pelvic floor all day.” Continuous conscious gripping is not the goal of PFMT.
When to seek help
Stop repeated contractions and arrange clinical advice if you cannot release comfortably, or if practice causes pain, painful urgency, heaviness, persistent tension, or new difficulty emptying the bladder or bowel. A pelvic-health physiotherapist can assess both contraction and relaxation and help determine whether strengthening, coordination work, relaxation-focused care, or another pathway is appropriate.
Seek urgent care for a sudden inability to urinate, or for new saddle/genital numbness with sudden bladder or bowel change, leg weakness, or severe worsening back and leg symptoms.
What to do next
If both phases are comfortable and distinct, use how to do Kegel exercises correctly to integrate breathing and whole-body checks. If release remains unclear, do not add volume; review when to stop a Kegel workout and seek feedback when needed.
Sources
- Cardozo L, Rovner E, Wagg A, Wein A, Abrams P, editors. Incontinence. 7th edition. International Consultation on Incontinence and International Continence Society; 2023. Chapter 8, PFMT section. Official ICI page.
- Bø K, Berghmans B, Mørkved S, Van Kampen M, editors. Evidence-Based Physical Therapy for the Pelvic Floor. 3rd edition. Elsevier; 2023. Chapters 5 and 6. Official publisher record.
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. “Kegel Exercises.” National Institutes of Health. NIDDK guidance.
- European Association of Urology. Guidelines on Chronic Pelvic Pain: Management. Current online edition. EAU guidance.