How to Tighten Your Vagina to Make Your Sex Life sweeter

When it comes to truly captivating sex, an emotional connection with your mate is vital — but sexual fitness counts too. It's not about getting the perfect body though — it's about discovering and toning the little-known muscles that contribute to more intense, enjoyable, even transcendent sex ... for both of you. Here are five key pleasure moves to try.

1. Work your pubococcygeal (PC) muscles.

These three sets of muscles run like a hammock from the back to the front of your pubic bone, encircling the openings to the vagina and the rectum. "During orgasm these muscles contract rhythmically. The stronger they are, the more intense the sensation," says urogynecologist Hilary Cholhan, MD, director of the Rochester Regional Continence Center in Rochester, New York. Toned muscles also mean a slight  increased muscle mass, resulting in greater blood flow into the area, which may also enhance sensation.

Toning tips: The classic exercise for the PC muscles is the kegel (familiar to many women who have been pregnant), which basically involves contracting and relaxing the muscles, as if you were trying to stop the flow of urine. In fact, says Cholhan, it's a good idea to try stopping your urine stream the next time you're in the bathroom so you become familiar with the PC muscles. (Many women mistakenly squeeze their buttocks or anal muscles instead.)

To do a Kegel, slowly contract your muscles, drawing inward and upward. Hold for a count of three; then slowly relax for three seconds. Repeat as many times as you can, working up to 25 or 30 three-second squeezes. One variation on the Kegel is the flutter: Squeeze and relax the PC muscle rapidly, in a pulsing motion. In the beginning aim for consistency of pulses, rather than speed;

Another Kegel variation is the "bear down," says Elena Oumano, PhD, author of Natural Sex. Just add a gentle bearing-down motion to your Kegel contractions and relaxations, as if you were having a bowel movement. To really work the PC muscles, do Kegels in various positions — while sitting, standing, lying down, or kneeling — two or three times a day.

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2. Focus on your uterine muscles.

The uterus is a hollow pear-shaped muscular organ, and uterine contractions can enhance your climax, says sex therapist Barbara Keesling, PhD, author of Discover Your Sensual Potential. If you can control your uterine muscles, you may be able to pull the uterus up during sex, thus exposing the cul de sac, the very end of the vagina, to penile thrusting. "The cul de sac is a very sexually sensitive area for women, many of whom report almost instant orgasm when this area is stimulated during intercourse," says Keesling.

Toning tips: To locate and identify your uterine muscles, get into the classic bicycling-with-your-legs-in-the-air position. This bottoms-up pose causes your uterus to settle on top of the vagina. When you return to a lying-down position, you may feel air moving out of your vagina. That is the sensation you want to re-create by tightening your lower abdominal muscles, which are right above the uterus. As you tighten these muscles, imagine that you are inhaling and exhaling through the vagina. This flexing and relaxing allows you to open up your cul de sac during intercourse. Contract and relax the muscle 10 times, once a day. (Any position will do, but lying down is probably the easiest.)

3. Flex your diaphragm.

"proper breathing is very important  for sexual arousal," says Los Angeles sex therapist Jaime Corvalan, MD. "In fact, it is impossible to become fully sexually excited if you are holding your breath," which is what many of us do unconsciously during sex or as we approach orgasm. Try consciously to change your breathing pattern as you get aroused. Altering your breathing can also increase an orgasm's impact.

Toning tips: The diaphragm is a muscular sheet that arches over your abdominal cavity. You expand it when you take a deep breath, and that's an excellent way to strengthen it. Lie on your back, with one hand on your abdomen. Slowly breathe in, filling your belly with air (which will expand the diaphragm), then slowly exhale. The hand on your stomach should rise and fall with your breathing. Belly-breathe a few times, then breathe normally for a few minutes. Repeat the belly-breathing.