This is a great article from fitafterthirty.com on an important subject!

We women talk a lot about training our bodies and keeping our muscles toned, and for the most part, these conversations are limited to which butt exercises are working to give us a booty we’re proud of, or how we’re keeping our abs toned, or our triceps from going grandma on us. But we almost never talk about the muscles we can’t see - our Gynecological Goddesses. 

Ironically, the muscles that are not on display often get ignored in our fitness routines, yet they play such a vital role in the functions that affect our overall sense of well being as women! Hello! Sex. Controlling your bladder. Important things, right?

Any muscles that can keep you from peeing your pants and also give you more and better orgasms are not muscles you want to ignore, ladies! In fact, they deserve to be high on your fitness priority list every week, if not every day!  I’m talking about your pelvic floor muscles. These are the muscles that take a beating through childbirth, and the ones you use to stop the flow of urine mid-stream. They must be trained with the same dedication you have toward your pecs and glutes! 

Just as with any other muscle, the “use it or lose it” philosophy applies. If you want to prevent incontinence as you age, and if you want to enhance your sexual experiences (with yourself and with your man) by becoming more orgasmic, and having stronger orgasms, then you need to get to flexing your Mighty Mavens Of Pleasure, as I like to call them. You can do this by doing kegel exercises, which is the flexing of the urinary sphincter to strengthen your pubococcygeal muscle. (In men, it is the anal sphincter which strengthens it). 

All you have to do is tighten and release as you would if you were stopping the flow of pee, but don’t use your toilet time for this exercise, as it might cause a bladder infection. It is best to do a mix of kegel types which include:

1. Contracting and holding for a count of five or ten, and then releasing - Slow Sallys

2. Quickly contracting and releasing repeatedly, doing sets of five or ten, and working up to higher numbers of reps just as you would with your dumbbell routine - Rapid Rhondas

3. Flexing with sets of up and down movement, and side to side movement. (YES, it is possible). These are more advanced so you may need to start with very few reps. - Wild Wandas

Benefits of Kegels

1) Anywhere. Anytime. A conversation with someone gets boring, smile and nod while you tighten your ticklers. Your long commute to work is taking too long, squeeze away. The line at the coffee shop is five deep, you can go “five deep” too, while you wait! Play a game. One kegel flex for every person ahead of you. They’ll never know they are part of your new exercise program; it’ll be your own little secret.

2) By doing them during marathon sex (or sprint versions, for that matter) it can help you cross the finish line. 

3) Doing them regularly as well as during sex can make an upper case vowel out of a lower case. Think “BIG O” (intensity). Think caps lock on the keyboard (multiples). Think Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally, except for real. Think……well, don’t think. Just do!

4) Doing them outside of sex and/or during sex can increase pleasure for your man. (It’s not all about us, after all.) 

5) Performing kegels consistently can give your sex life longevity, and aid you and your partner in having an enduring, passionate love life into old age.

6) Kegels will prevent you from soiling yourself at inopportune times. (Not that there’s ever really a good time for that).

7)  BONUS - On any given day you can substitute your kegel sets with sex, because sex strengthens pelvic floor muscles too!

Suzy’s Pelvic Floor Muscle Training Schedule For Beginners

1. Alarm clock rings - Laying in bed, do one set of 10 Slow Sallys and one set of 10 Rapid Rhondas.

2. Drive the kids to school or yourself to work - Seated in car, do three sets of 10 Rapid Rhondas spaced out over your drive.

3. At work listening to workmate gossip about Brad and Angelina as if she knows them - Pretend to listen while attempting one set of Wild Wanda combos - 3 reps of up and down, 3 reps of side to side. (Do more if you can)

4. Drive home from work - Seated in car, do 5 sets of 5 reps each, of Slow Sallys spaced out over your drive

5. Cooking dinner - Standing at stove - 1 set of 20 Rapid Rhondas

6. Have sex - with your mate if you have one, with yourself if you don’t - Any position you want - 1 amazing orgasm - or more if you can.

Repeat for a month, then produce and star in your own exercise video, Pelvic Floor Muscles Of Steel.

Everything you know about sex is only a first step. Most advice for couples doesn't go far enough—as a result, basic truths about long-term passion are surprising.

 

That is one of the basic health rules I have learned as a sex educator. Remember it is all about blood flow and the things men do in life that are bad for the heart that constricts blood flow constricts blood flow to the ENTIRE body-genitals included!  Check out this great article on the subject:

'For men, the penis is the window to the heart'

  OK, so you’ve got this great sex toy and you can’t wait to use it. But let’s keep it clean! Cleaning your sex toys properly is important for several reasons. First, you do not want to spread disease. Sexually transmitted infections can be spread by sharing sex toys or using them with more than one person without cleaning them. Also, if not cleaned after use by a couple or an individual, bacteria that is not sexually related can grow on your toy and cause a nasty infection. And don’t forget about hepatitis from anal sex play! 

Second, if you clean your sex toys properly, they will stay in good condition and last longer!  If you are not going to use a toy that runs on batteries for a week or more, you should take the batteries out because they can get corroded and ruin the toy. Also keep your toys stored in a cool, dry place.  One thing you can do to practice safe sex while using a toy that is going to be inserted anywhere is to put a condom on it. However, even if you use a condom, you still need to clean the toy when you are finished with it.

So those are the whys now for the how to’s!

Since sex toys are made from a lot of different materials, glass, latex, plastic, rubber etc., cleaning them properly depends on what they are made of.  The good news is most sex toys are very easy to clean! Usually just using a wet towel with soap and water and then drying it with a dry towel will do the trick. However, if you have used any sex toy anally you must be sure to clean it with alcohol, antibacterial soap and water and dry it completely when done. All cleaning should be done as soon as possible after you finish using them. This does not mean you have to jump out of bed right after your orgasm and run to the bathroom to clean your toy. But do not wait until the next day either. This provides just the opportunity bacteria are waiting for.  Be sure not to get the control or battery area wet either! This will damage your sex toy and you don’t want it going kaput in the middle of your next use!

These are the cleaning methods I recommend for the most popular sex toy materials:

Plastic – antibacterial soap and water, rubbing alcohol, sex toy cleaner
Latex – antibacterial soap and water, sex toy cleaner
Jelly – antibacterial soap and water, sex toy cleaner
Cyberskin – antibacterial soap and water, Cyberskin cleaner, sex toy cleaner, talcum powder
Silicon – antibacterial soap and water, sex toy cleaner
Glass – antibacterial soap and water, sex toy cleaner, rubbing alcohol, boiling water

The sex toy cleaner can be purchased wherever you get your toys. Just be sure to read the label to make sure you are purchasing the right type of cleaner for your toy. If you have more than one type of toy, made out of different materials, you may have to purchase more than one type of cleaner.