Kegel exercise videos to follow along with: how they compare with an app

Follow-along Kegel exercises are pelvic floor workouts you copy in real time: someone on screen shows when to squeeze and when to let go, and you match them. On Instagram and TikTok, that someone is usually a pelvic floor physiotherapist miming the muscle with one hand.

The Kegelia app runs the same follow-along idea in research-based sessions of 1, 3 or 5 minutes, without a person or a feed: a jellyfish's bell draws up and in for every squeeze and opens for every release, with a haptic tap on each lift.

The short version

A follow-along video is free, led by a practicing pelvic floor physiotherapist, and lands in your feed most days. The Kegelia app turns the same copy-the-movement idea into something you control: you pick the time and the length, the cue works with your phone on silent, and Secret Mode leaves only the jellyfish on screen. Plenty of people use both: a video when one shows up, the app when they choose.

The physios behind the trend

The format was made popular by pelvic floor physiotherapists who post short pelvic floor exercise videos almost every day. Two of the best known are Australian: Sarah Percy (@femalephysiosarah), a women's health physiotherapist on the Gold Coast, and Heidi Barlow (@womenshealthwithheidi), a pelvic floor physiotherapist in Sydney who won the Learn on TikTok award at the 2025 TikTok Awards. As of November 2026, each has more than a million followers on Instagram.

Sarah Percy and Heidi Barlow each have a signature script. Percy mimes the muscle with her hand and calls it out: "Hold. Off.", "On, off", and her opener, "Stop scrolling and squeeze". Barlow opens with "Time to squeeze", writes "Squeeze responsibly" in her captions, and calls her followers the "Kegel Club". The words differ, but the instruction is the same: squeeze as the hand lifts, let go as it drops.

Kegelia is not affiliated with Sarah Percy or Heidi Barlow. How their videos took off is told in Today's Parent and Netinfluencer.

Why copying a cue is easier than counting

A Kegel exercise has no visible movement, so on your own you count seconds in your head and hope the squeeze matches. A cue to copy replaces the counting: when the hand rises or the bell draws in, you lift; when it drops or opens, you let go. The rhythm comes from outside, so your attention can stay on the muscle and on your breathing.

The second job of a follow-along video is remembering. A clip that appears while you scroll is a reminder you didn't have to set, and Heidi Barlow makes the point herself: a physio's plan only works if people stick to it. How to stick with Kegel exercises.

Squeeze and let go: what the cues mean

Whatever the script, follow-along cues map to two movements. "Squeeze", "on" and "hold" all mean lifting the pelvic floor up and in, as if holding in wind and urine at the same time. "Let go", "off" and "release" mean relaxing it completely, until you feel the muscles drop back down. The release is half of the exercise, not a pause between reps.

The common mistakes are the same in every format: bearing down instead of lifting, holding your breath, and squeezing your buttocks, thighs or belly instead of the pelvic floor. Quick cues ("quick ones", "pulses") train fast contractions for a cough or a sneeze; long holds train endurance. Step by step: how to do Kegel exercises.

What follow-along videos do well

Follow-along videos are free, and they are led by clinicians who explain why each exercise matters, from bladder leakage to prolapse to pregnancy. A new workout lands most days, so there is variety and company.

The physiotherapists who make them also repeat a safety message in many posts: see a women's health physiotherapist before you start, and especially if you have pain, heaviness or other symptoms. For learning what the exercise is, that is hard to beat.

Where the Kegelia app is different

• You choose when. A video arrives when the algorithm serves it. The Kegelia app starts when you open it, in sessions of 1, 3 or 5 minutes, with reminders on the days and times you set.
• No person, no feed. The cue is a jellyfish: its bell draws up and in as you lift and opens as you release, the way the pelvic floor should move. When the session ends, there is no next clip and no comment section.
• Private in public. A physio calling out "squeeze" on your screen is hard to explain on a train. In Secret Mode, the labels, timers and counters disappear and only the jellyfish stays on an active screen; to anyone glancing over, it looks like meditation. Reminders never name the exercise.
• Sound on or off. Optional Voice Guidance calls the cues in a calm voice, in English for now, much like a video would. Switch it off and the cue is visual, with a gentle haptic tap on every lift, so you can follow it in a meeting or while waiting in line.
• For men too. Most follow-along videos are made by women's health physiotherapists for women. The Kegelia app works the same way for women and men, with no device.
• Same honest limit. Like a video, the Kegelia app shows the movement; it doesn't measure your muscle or check your technique. What the Kegelia app can and can't do.

Side by side

Try one rep now

One lift up and in and one complete release make a full Kegel exercise. Sessions in the Kegelia app chain these reps into Quick Flicks and Long Holds across Beginner, Medium and Advanced levels, nine programs in all.

When to start with a specialist instead

The Kegelia app is built for strengthening, and the follow-along cues on this page (squeeze, then let go) train the same thing. If you have pelvic pain, pain with sex, trouble relaxing the pelvic floor, or a diagnosed tight (hypertonic) pelvic floor, more squeezing isn't the first step: see a pelvic floor physical therapist.

If you notice a lump or bulge in or around your vagina, see a doctor. With heaviness or leakage that keeps getting worse, get assessed before you start or continue. Tight or weak pelvic floor?

Questions people ask