How the plan is made

What it follows

Every session follows what pelvic floor training trials and guidelines describe: strong squeezes with a full release between them, a few quick squeezes, positions from lying to sitting to standing, then the Knack (a squeeze just before a cough) and using it in daily moments. The UK's NICE guideline suggests at least 8 squeezes, 3 times a day, for at least 3 months; the 6-week plan is a start, and the 12-week plan matches that length.

What a session is

Belly breaths, then two rounds of slow lifts (lift, hold, let go fully, rest) with quick squeezes, then the week's extras. Weeks 1–2 lying down with 3–5 second holds; 3–4 sitting with 5–8 second holds and the Knack; 5–6 standing with 6–8 second holds and daily moments. Weeks 7–12 (upgrade): 10-second holds, lifting, carrying and small jolts. A top-up round later in the day completes the 3 times.

Who does what

We are product designers and engineers. We wrote the plan from the published research listed below and built the app that times it. The spoken cues are a computer-generated voice (text-to-speech, made once when the plan was built). No AI runs while you use the plan, and no clinician reviewed it: it is exercise guidance and education, not medical care, and it doesn't replace a pelvic floor physical therapist.

When to see a doctor, and what it doesn't do

It doesn't diagnose, treat or promise any result. It doesn't check that you're squeezing the right muscles; only an examination can. See a doctor or pelvic floor physical therapist if you have blood in your urine, pain or burning when you pee, a fever or back pain with urinary symptoms, trouble passing urine, a bulge or heavy feeling in the vagina, leaks that started suddenly, pelvic pain, or if you're not sure you're squeezing the right muscles.

Sources

1. Bump et al. Assessment of Kegel pelvic muscle exercise performance after brief verbal instruction. Am J Obstet Gynecol, 1991.
2. Kandadai P, O'Dell K, Saini J. Correct performance of pelvic muscle exercises in women reporting prior knowledge. Female Pelvic Med Reconstr Surg, 2015 (250 women; 24% could not do a correct contraction at first). PubMed
3. Thompson and O'Sullivan. Levator plate movement during voluntary pelvic floor muscle contraction. Int Urogynecol J, 2003.
4. Miller et al. A pelvic muscle precontraction can reduce cough-related urine loss in selected women with mild stress incontinence. J Am Geriatr Soc, 1998; and Miller et al., Int Urogynecol J, 2008.
5. Dumoulin et al. Pelvic floor muscle training versus no treatment for urinary incontinence in women. Cochrane, 2018.
6. Hay-Smith et al. Comparisons of approaches to pelvic floor muscle training for urinary incontinence in women. Cochrane, 2024.
7. From pelvic floor muscle training to functional training (Bø model). International Continence Society workshop handout.
8. Postmenopausal women's adherence to pelvic floor muscle exercises over 2 years. Climacteric, 2022.
9. NICE guideline NG123. Urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse in women: management, 2019.
10. Asklund et al. Mobile app for treatment of stress urinary incontinence: a randomized controlled trial. Neurourol Urodyn, 2017.
11. NIDDK. Bladder control problems: definition and facts; treatment (urge suppression, bladder training).
12. Genitourinary syndrome of menopause, a review, 2022.

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