The pelvic floor consists of a group of muscles located between the tailbone and the pubic bone within the pelvis. Together they are like a hammock that support the bowel and bladder in both men and women as well as the uterus and vagina in women. These muscles are interconnected and can become weak, misaligned, and lose their tone when they are not used properly. They can also be damaged from injury or trauma such as during child birth.
It’s most common for women to experience weakening of the pelvic floor muscles after child birth but it can also occur in women who have not previously given birth. Some men can even experience pelvic floor weakening due to trauma or lack of muscle tone. Both men and women who sit too much and almost never squat often experience a weakening of these muscles.
In more extreme cases, it’s possible to develop into prolapse, a condition in which the organs that the pelvic floor muscles support begin to fall and drop through the pelvic diaphragm. Prolapses are often treated surgically but it’s best to go to a physical therapist that is trained in this area and knows how to rehabilitate the pelvic floor before surgery is needed. Often prolapse can be prevented and repaired without surgery if treated early enough.
For a FREE resource to help you get a full body workout plus tone the pelvic floor at the same time, click here >>> The 28 Day Total Body Workout or go to www.Simply28.com/workout to get started. In just 30 minutes or less per day, you can completely tone and strengthen your entire body without any special equipment needed. Continue reading to learn “How to Strengthen Your Pelvic Floor” to insure you are correctly engaging the pelvic muscles during exercise.
Symptoms – The most common symptom experienced is urinary incontinence – leaking urine when you sneeze, run, jump, laugh or get up to quickly from a seated position. Some people may also experience anal incontinence or leaking feces. Frequent need to use the restroom, having to get up several times each night to pee, difficulty stopping the flow in the middle of urination, feeling the need to strain when having a bowel movement, pain or pressure in the rectum, muscle spasms in the pelvic area, discomfort during intercourse for women, and sometimes lower back pain are all signs that your pelvic floor needs some attention.
Women will often say, “I have a small bladder” or “ever since I had my baby, I have to go all the time.” The need to pee frequently and urinary leakage has nothing to do with the size of one’s bladder but instead the tone of their pelvic floor muscles. While having to pee all the time or having leakage after childbirth is common, it is not something that women must be cursed with for the rest of our lives. In some cases, damage to the area may have occurred and surgery might be needed but, in most cases, the pelvic floor can be strengthened and returned to normal function following a few simple steps.
How to Strengthen Your Pelvic Floor
Kegels – The pelvic floor workout. Many women have learned to do Kegel muscle exercises to strengthen their pelvic floor. Kegels were invented by gynecologist, Arnold Kegel. His exercises focused on building up one of the pelvic floor muscles, the PC (pubococcygeus). Knowing that most women with a weakened pelvic floor suffered from urinary incontinence, it would make since that strengthening this one muscle, that controlled the flow of urine, would fix the problem. Dr. Kegel was on to something but his method was incomplete. Making one muscle strong without supporting the other connected muscles allowed the other muscles to remain weak. To strengthen and tone all of the muscles, you need to first get a feel for where the pelvic floor muscles are located, the front to back area from your pubic bone to your tailbone. Next, tighten the muscles around the urethra (the hole you pee out of), the vulva or vaginal opening and the anus (the hole you poop out of of). It’s important to tighten all 3 areas but if you have difficulty just focus on one and the others will come in time. Once you are tightening all 3 areas, lift the entire pelvic floor upward toward your chest. Hold for 10 seconds then release. Repeat this process 5 times while laying down, 5 times while sitting and 5 times while standing, 2 or 3 times daily. In addition, tighten and lift the muscles when you go from sitting to standing and when you rise from a squatted position.
Drinking plenty of water – It’s important for good health to stay well hydrated and maintaining a healthy pelvic floor is no exception. Many women begin to decrease their intake of fluids thinking it will help them not have to pee so often. In fact, the bladder can hold about 16 ounces or two cups of fluid and should be able to go 2 hours or more between trips to the bathroom. When the bladder is full, the pelvic floor muscles send a signal to the brain telling the bladder to contract, creating the urge to pee and widening the bladder so that pee can flow from it. However, if the pelvic floor muscles are weak, they will send the signal to the brain when it’s not needed signaling the bladder to widen prematurely making you feel like you have to get to the bathroom NOW! You then must consciously focus on tightening the muscles to prevent the flow and sometimes leakage still occurs.
Avoiding Too Much Sit Time – This one I find myself doing way too much of. Between writing content, editing, Zoom meetings, and managing a business it’s easy for me to spend several hours at a time sitting in front of my computer. Sitting for hours on end at our desks or computers weakens the pelvic floor muscles. If your job or your daily routine requires you to sit much of the day, be sure to get up at least every hour and walk around. Even the act of standing up from a seated position uses gravity to strengthen the pelvic floor and is another opportunity to Kegel when you get up.
Do Squats – Squatting strengthens your core muscles, your glutes and your hamstrings. Squatting helps you improve balance, flexibility and develops the muscles around your knees preventing knee pain and stiffness. Squatting also provides natural stretching and toning of the pelvic floor muscles. To give those muscles a little extra challenge, contract or squeeze all 3 openings and lift the pelvic floor as you stand up from your squat.
Slow the Flow – When urinating, contract your muscles to slow or better yet, stop the flow of urine mid-stream. Hold for 5 seconds and then release it. Practice this once or twice each time you go to the bathroom.
Relax When You Poop – When it’s time for a trip to the toilet, take the opportunity to relax a moment. Don’t rush causing a need to push or strain when you poop or defecate. The strain can weaken muscles and work against your efforts to strengthen the pelvic floor.
Lengthen Time Between Visits – It’s going to take a little training to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles and to re-train your brain so as not to prematurely signal the bladder to open before it’s actually full. If you feel the urge to pee but know that you haven’t drank enough to justify the urge, try to prolong the visit. Squeeze and lift your pelvic floor muscles and hold them for 10 seconds then release the tension. Breathe deep in to your abdomen as you release the tension. Repeat 5 times. This exercise will stimulate the muscles and help you go a little longer between bathroom visits. In the beginning try to wait an extra 10 to 15 minutes before going to the bathroom. Eventually, the premature urges should stop and you should be able to wait about 2 hours between visits.
For more help building a healthy pelvic floor and reducing incontinence, seek help from a physical therapist who is trained in pelvic floor strength & conditioning and don’t forget to download your
FREE copy of The 28 Day Total Body Workout
