The Best Kegel Exercisers, According to Sex Experts and Physical Therapists

If you’re unsure how to properly perform a Kegel, opting for a device that has biofeedback technology — or sensors in the device that tell you how well you’re doing your Kegels — may be a good place to start. Many women may accidentally “push out, instead of contracting upwards,” explains physical therapist Jandra Mueller, the clinic director of the Pelvic Health and Rehabilitation Center. She and three of our other experts recommend the Elvie Trainer, which utilizes biofeedback technology to measure the force and motion of a contraction in order to detect when a user is exercising incorrectly. It has a “comfortable fit, is compact and sleek looking, and has an app that connects to your phone,” according to Mueller, who told us that the physical therapists at her practice routinely recommend the Elvie to patients for at-home use. The well-designed app makes it easier to visualize what’s going on internally, adds sex therapist Jamye Waxman. “The app helps monitor your progress and can really motivate you to see results,” she explains. The Elvie is made with medical-grade silicone and, as sex and relationship therapist Megan Fleming notes, is also waterproof, so you can use it in the bath or shower. It also comes with a guide to six unique workouts that challenge and strengthen different muscles at four different intensity levels (training, beginner, intermediate, and advanced).

“The kGoal is a squeezable, silicone ‘pillow,’ that is inserted into the vagina,” explains New York City–based pelvic floor therapist Lindsey Vestal, who has run workshops teaching men and women about Kegels for the past six years. Like the Elvie, the kGoal delivers real-time biofeedback to your smartphone, ensuring that your Kegels are being done correctly. It also tracks your performance and progress over time and allows you to calculate your regimen. The biggest difference between this and the Elvie is that the kGoal’s “pillow design enables it to fit better inside the user’s individual vagina,” according to Vestal. Simply insert it when it’s deflated and then inflate it to fit your unique shape and size, which “enables it to stay inside better, which of course, yields more accurate metrics,” she says.

Unlike more traditional Kegel exercisers, some devices use electrostimulation to make your muscles to contract on their own, so you don’t need to worry about manually squeezing and releasing. While a bit pricey, Fleming loves the electrostimulating Yarlap because its training program helps people see results quickly and easily. It comes with six different workouts, and you can set the intensity and duration of the contraction to suit your comfort level.

“I love this device as it’s so much more than a vibrator,” explains Jeffcoat. “Its electrical stimulation helps contract your pelvic floor muscles, making orgasms more intense.” While the internal part of the Intensity uses electrostimulation, it also has an external clitoral attachment that vibrates to add an additional level of stimulation. Like the kGoal, the Intensity can also be inflated or deflated after insertion to provide the perfect fit — which is key, because having a device that is easy to insert and keep in place makes it easier to commit to doing the exercises. As Fleming says, “a big part of this is comfort.”

If you find electrostimulation to be too intense, a device that simply vibrates may be a better choice. The Aneros Vivi marries utility and pleasure so that you can tone your pelvic floor while experiencing pleasant vibration. After insertion, the Vivi is gripped and held in place by the pelvic-floor muscles to strengthen and tone, while also providing both clitoral and internal stimulation. The Vivi also has an active and a manual mode, so you can use it with or without the connected app. “The Vivi is designed to train the PC muscle while also adding clitoral stimulation during day-to-day activities,” says Darnell, which is “a fun way to get your tone on.”

Fleming recommends the KegelSmart as a vibration device that is super user-friendly. It does not come with an app: You simply insert it, and the device sets an exercise regimen and uses vibration to guide you along. The KegelSmart uses simple, gentle vibrations to let you know when to squeeze and release: You contract while it’s vibrating and rest when it stops. Each time you use the device, it registers your strength and endurance, and it will adjust the intensity level as you progress with your Kegel regimen.

For people who know they need to increase their pelvic floor’s muscle tone (and are sure the muscles are not too tight), “Kegel weights can be a great way to increase the coordination and function of their muscles,” says Vestal. Weighted Kegel exercisers are designed to complement traditional, manual Kegel exercises. By adding extra resistance, the balls make for a more effective workout in less time. It’s analogous to other kinds of workouts: Like increasing tone with dumbbells, you can add the weighted balls to tone your pelvic floor. But just as those new to dumbbells wouldn’t start with a 100-pound one, those new to Kegel weights should also begin at a lower intensity, according to Stein. “I recommend the weights, but only for short periods of time,” she says, because it is easy to overwork the muscles and end up with other issues. Stein suggests starting out by using the weights for one-minute intervals, two or three times a day at the maximum.

Vestal loves Intimate Rose’s “soft and feminine” weights — which were created by a pelvic-floor therapist — because they include six different options, which allow you to work through a protocol to increase your strength over time. Physical therapist Nazneen Vasi, the founder and director of Body Harmony Physical Therapy, also loves these weighted balls made from silicone, noting they are a good shape and width: “Not too thin that they would slip out and not too wide that it would pose a challenge to hold them.”

When buying Kegel weights, Stein notes “it is important to look for body-safe silicone” ones because they’re less likely to trap infection-causing bacteria and degrade over time. These silicone weights come recommended by Darnell, who says that the balls “offer a collection of different sizes and weights that allow for greater flexibility for the perfect fit for every body.”

While they’re not the best for beginners, more experienced users of Kegel weights might consider Laselle’s exerciser made from medical grade silicone, which Jeffcoat calls “comfortable and well-priced.” She told us that she “prescribes [this] to my patients as a progression from their basic Kegel home program, and they feel so empowered when they have graduated to this level.” You can buy the weighted balls individually (they’re available in weights from 28 to 48 grams), or as a set of three.

Sex therapist and sex-shop owner Marlene Wasserman recommends Nova’s silicone Kegel weights because “the three graded balls provide the opportunity for a great sexual-health training program that will bring tremendous benefits over time.” Stein adds that the most important thing she tells her patients is that in order to see results they must “stick to a good program, do it regularly, and be consistent with it.”

According to Vestal, for folks who want to release tight pelvic-floor muscles (which ultimately leads to stronger pelvic-floor muscles and better orgasms), a pelvic wand is a “great way to find those over-toned muscles and release them.” The curved-shape device makes it easy to reach and massage muscles on the pelvic floor because, she reminds us, it is shaped like a bowl — not flat “like a piece of paper.” The wand comes with detailed instructions and video guides to help you figure out how to identify those tender, over-toned muscles. Its thinner side is designed to reach shallow pelvic muscles, while the wider end is better for reaching muscles deeper inside the pelvis. Vestal suggests that users also practice performing Kegels with the wand already inserted, so they “can see the wand move to get feedback that they are actually doing them.”