March 23, 2022

INNOVO urinary incontinence treatment “shorts” suddenly seem to be everywhere. Kegel Queen members are asking me about them, they’ve been on TV, and women are even receiving promotions in the mail.

But there’s one big mistake to avoid with INNOVO.

What’s the mistake? Using INNOVO.

What is INNOVO? INNOVO is a device that delivers low-voltage electric current, like an itty bitty shock, to stimulate your muscles to contract, including your pelvic floor muscles.

Your pelvic floor muscles are the muscles that control when it’s time to pee and when it’s NOT time to pee. So when they’re working well, you have better control of your pee.

Your pelvic floor has other jobs in the body, too. It stabilizes the base of your spine, and it’s part of your sexual anatomy and sexual response.

Optimizing your pelvic floor muscles, as with correct kegel technique, can reduce urinary incontinence partially or completely. INNOVO is a machine that stimulates your muscles to contract — like a fake kegel — in an attempt to achieve the same result as real kegels. INNOVO is marketed as an easy, quick fix that you can do instead of kegels.

(Note: If you want results with kegels, correct kegel technique is essential. But virtually everyone is doing kegels wrong. In my 13 years as the Kegel Queen, sharing information with thousands of women, I can count on one hand the number of women who have told me they were already doing everything right. Real kegels are simple and fast, but they do need to be correct.)

INNOVO versus real kegels? Real kegels are better. Here’s why.

Real kegels are better than INNOVO because…
With INNOVO, you’re using a machine to do something your body can do on its own. 

After Christopher Reeve was paralyzed in his horse riding accident, he used electrical stimulation on his leg muscles. Electrical stim allowed him to maintain Superman-size thighs and preserved those muscles’ ability to contract. 

But before Chris’s accident, he maintained his leg muscles by going to the gym.

If Chris Reeve had been able to exercise, he would not have used a machine; he would have just kept on exercising.

I know, it sounds crazy… but stay with me: imagine exercising to improve your muscles. What a nutty idea!

Natural exercise is what our bodies are made to do. Using electrical stim as a replacement for exercise is like choosing to get your nutrition intravenously instead of eating.

And natural pelvic floor exercise is better than pelvic floor electrical stimulation in other ways too.

Real kegels are better than INNOVO because…
With real kegels, you gain muscle control.

With electrical stimulation, a machine is engaging your muscles. You are not engaging your muscles.

With natural exercise, your brain is involved.

When you learn to ride a bicycle, both your muscles and your brain are learning what to do.

It’s the same with real kegels.

With real kegels, you are training your muscles and your brain, so you can consciously control your pelvic floor. That way, when you’re in the grocery store and you need to contract your pelvic floor to prevent a leak, you’re confident in the muscle movement because you’ve been training for it.

Olympic divers train by diving, not by using electrical stim on their abdominal muscles. Real kegels are training you for real-life situations when you’ll need muscle control.

Real kegels are better than INNOVO because…
Muscle control leads to better sex.

This website is PG-13, so I won’t go into great detail here.

But hear this, my friends: your vaginal muscles are part of your pelvic floor. 

And being in full control of your vaginal muscles in bed is a Very. Big. Deal.

One set of pelvic floor muscles, called the bulbocavernosus muscles, is actually attached to your clitoris, making it possible for you to experience the magic of something I call The Amazing Clitoris Trick. But this is possible only with your conscious, practiced muscle control.

Real kegels are better than INNOVO because…
Muscle control lets you stop leaking faster.

Research has shown that real kegels can decrease urinary incontinence in as little as one week of training, and it’s because of increased muscle control. One week of pelvic floor muscle training is not enough time to significantly change the strength or mass (size) of the pelvic floor muscles — but it is enough time to start gaining muscle control.

INNOVO takes four times as long. From the INNOVO website: “Clinical research shows that INNOVO users may start to notice an improvement after just four weeks.”

Real kegels are better than INNOVO because…
Real kegels target exactly the right muscles. INNOVO does not.

With urinary incontinence, the muscles that matter are the muscles of your pelvic floor.

An important part of doing real kegels correctly is isolating the pelvic floor: contracting just the right muscles, and leaving your other muscles relaxed. In particular, you’re contracting the pelvic floor and leaving your gluteal muscles — your butt muscles — relaxed.

Here’s what happens with INNOVO. From the INNOVO website:

“The sensation changes as you increase the pulse level:

  1. Low intensity — gentle tingling
  2. Moderate intensity — contraction of the buttocks
  3. Therapeutic intensity — contraction of the pelvic floor”

That means that every time you use INNOVO to contract your pelvic floor, you are also contracting your glutes. You’re training your muscles to do the exact opposite of good kegel technique.

Real kegels are better than INNOVO because…
INNOVO is not convenient.

The INNOVO “Quick” Start Guide includes 20 numbered steps, some of which have multiple sub-steps. Charge the battery, turn the shorts inside out and hang them up, spray the shorts with special spray that touches your skin, undress (and optionally put on a thong), put on the shorts, connect the wires… and on it goes. Afterwards, do you need to wash the special spray off your skin? Yuck.

In the 30 minutes you’re wearing the shorts, stay away from water, and your WiFi router, and your cordless phone or its base, and don’t drive — not that you would leave the house looking like that in the first place.

You’re also supposed to stay at least 8 feet from your cell phone while you’re using INNOVO. So if you might get bored just sitting, standing, or lying in one position for 30 minutes, you won’t be able to call a friend, or play Wordle, or check the news and weather, or text your kids, or scroll your favorite social media feed.

And if you’re traveling, the TSA agents are definitely going to want to check out your electronic shorts, and maybe even fire them up. Everyone loves to show off their incontinence-related personal equipment to strangers in a public airport, right?

Real kegels are different.

In the Kegel Queen Program, we use no devices whatsoever. We keep our pants on. We do slow, relaxing, deep breathing with our kegels, we focus on the movement and sensations in our body, and after only a few minutes of natural exercise, we go on with our day.

Real kegels are better than INNOVO because…
If you’re going to use electrical stimulation treatments to the pelvic floor, it’s best done with hands-on help from a professional physical therapist.

In the world of pelvic floor muscle therapy, electrical stimulation does have an important place.

Sometimes, when women first start out with kegels, they really don’t have the brain-muscle connection, or the foundational muscle strength, to start contracting and releasing the pelvic floor muscles effectively.

For these women, electrical stim can be wonderful as a bridge to doing real kegels on their own. Electrical stim can provide a boost, to condition the muscles enough that these women can start doing natural exercise.

But if the condition of the pelvic floor is so weak that electrical stim is needed, it’s best to do it with a real live human physical therapist. For women who really can’t exercise the pelvic floor on their own at first, a PT can provide the higher level of support and teaching they need.

The other huge difference between INNOVO and electrical stim with a trained women’s health PT in her office? You’re targeting the right muscles. In PT treatment, electrodes are applied to contract only the pelvic floor. The buttocks stay relaxed. (See above about why that’s so important.)

In fact, any good PT will teach and support you to make sure your glutes are relaxed when you’re contracting your pelvic floor.

And finally…

Real kegels are better than INNOVO because…
Real kegels feel good. INNOVO feels… “tolerable”?

Once again, I’ll let the INNOVO website tell the story: “…you should aim to use INNOVO at the strongest level you can comfortably tolerate.” That means the sensation is something you “tolerate”? Yuck!

Here’s what Kegel Queen member Lisa said about what it’s like to do the Kegel Queen Program.

“Instead of tossing and turning trying to find a comfortable position to fall asleep at night I have been breathing and doing my Kegels and having to keep myself awake to finish. The breathing helps me relax and I fall asleep with the farewell breaths. Kegels have become my giant bowl of ice cream at the end of the day.” — Lisa, Kentucky

No one ever “tolerated” a giant bowl of ice cream. Just sayin.

If you’re ready to try Real Kegels That Really Work,™ your first easy step is my free webinar. It’s called  How to Beat Prolapse Surgery and Stay Out of Adult Diapers: These 11 Tricks May Surprise You (and Amaze Your Doctor!).

You’ll find out how to do one perfect kegel, the first step to doing kegels right. And the webinar is the best way to find out more about the Kegel Queen Program, and whether the Kegel Queen Program is right for you.

A note about the INNOVO links in this article: Yes, these are “promotional” links, and my company, Peak Health Transformations, LLC, will earn a commission if you use these links to purchase INNOVO. If you’ve read this, you know I’m not promoting INNOVO and you know the exact reasons I’m not promoting it. But some readers will ignore my advice and opt for INNOVO, because it might seem on the surface like a quick fix. Dear reader, when you’re tired of hassling with INNOVO and you’re ready to exercise your pelvic floor naturally, with your pants on and no devices at all, come on back to the Kegel Queen — I will welcome you graciously, and I’m here to help!

Please note: Kegel Queen member Lisa’s name is a pseudonym to protect her privacy.

Alyce Adams, RN, is the Kegel Queen®

Alyce is known as the most sought-after kegel exercise expert around the world, helping women avoid dangerous surgery and regain health and control of their body down there. She is famous for creating the Kegel Success in Minutes a Day Program, the only complete, no-devices, safe-at-home kegel exercise program created and tested by a Registered Nurse.

The Kegel Queen busts the kegel myths that hold women back — even if they've learned from a doctor, physical therapist, or childbirth teacher. With Real Kegels That Really Work™, women reverse pelvic prolapse, stop urinary incontinence, and have the most amazing sex of their lives — with no annoying and inconvenient kegel devices, no drugs, and no ineffective and dangerous surgery. The Kegel Queen Program has reached over 3,584 women in 31 countries around the world. Find out how to do one perfect kegel, and get started today!

Your Next Easy Step
Check out the Kegel Queen's new webinar: How to Lift Prolapse and Stop Incontinence Without Drugs and Without Surgery: The 3 Must-Have Keys for Success

You'll find out how to do one perfect kegel, the first step to doing kegels right. Get started today!