Arnold Henry Kegel worked and carried out research in the medical field of gynecology in the US during the twentieth century. Through his work, Kegel was one of the first to describe what researchers call Kegel exercises, which strengthen the pelvic floor muscles, or the muscles that extend from the pelvis to the tailbone and support the internal reproductive organs, bladder, and bowel. Kegel observed that weakened pelvic floor muscles could cause disorders like urinary incontinence, when a person loses partial or complete bladder control, and organ prolapse, which is when the pelvic floor cannot adequately support organs in the pelvic region, causing them to fall out of place. Kegel was also one of the first to find that females could strengthen their pelvic floors through exercises, which provided an alternative to invasive surgeries to repair those muscles. Kegel helped discern the role that the pelvic floor plays in reproductive health, and he developed simple methods to strengthen the pelvic floor that could, in turn, improve sexual and reproductive health in females and males of all ages.

In 2010, Lior Lowenstein and colleagues published “Can Stronger Pelvic Muscle Floor Improve Sexual Function?” hereafter, “Stronger Pelvic Muscle Floor,” in the International Urogynecological Journal. They explain that they examined 176 women to assess whether their pelvic floor muscles, or PFMs, contribute to their sexual function, including their ability to feel sexual desire, become sexually aroused, and experience orgasm and pleasure. The PFMs are a group of muscles that stretch from the tailbone in the spine to the pelvic bone in the pelvis. They support the pelvic organs, which include the bladder, intestines, and the uterus in females. Prior to “Stronger Pelvic Muscle Floor,” researchers suspected a connection between the strength of PFMs and sexual function, but there was little scientific evidence to support it. Lowenstein and colleagues found that women with stronger PFMs had enhanced sexual function and concluded that the strength of women’s PFMs affects their sexual function. “Stronger Pelvic Muscle Floor” provided evidence for a direct relationship between PFM strength and sexual function, a finding that could help improve the quality of life and sexual health of females.

In 1952, Arnold Henry Kegel published “Stress Incontinence and Genital Relaxation; A Nonsurgical Method of Increasing the Tone of Sphincters and their Supporting Structures” hereafter, “Nonsurgical Method,” in the journal Ciba Clinical Symposia. In the article, Kegel argues that the pubococcygeus muscle, a pelvic floor muscle that stretches from the pubic bone to the tailbone, is a crucial structure that provides control over specific sphincters and support for pelvic organs. When pelvic floor muscles, including the pubococcygeus, weaken or relax, prolapse of the uterus and urinary incontinence can result. Kagel argues that women can strengthen their pubococcygeus, and therefore avoid those conditions, through muscle education and resistive exercises, which as of 2025, some researchers call Kegel exercises. “Nonsurgical Method” was one of the first papers to provide an alternative to surgery for treating bladder and reproductive problems that are especially common in women who have given birth.