If you’re pregnant or have had a baby, you will hopefully have been asked at some stage whether you are doing your pelvic floor exercises. Often in a sleep deprived haze we say yes (!), but how confident have you been in your pelvic floor exercises? And why is your pelvic floor so important even if you HAVEN’T been pregnant or had a baby?
Let’s start by delving into what your pelvic floor is…
Your pelvic floor is a name for a group of muscles that form the base of your pelvis and support your pelvic organs. These are the bladder and bowel in men, and the bladder, uterus and bowel in women. These muscles span like a hammock, from your tail bone (coccyx) to pubic bone and are highly important for bladder and bowel control, sexual function, supporting the baby during pregnancy and being able to relax during the birthing process.
Now there are several things which can impact on the function of the pelvic floor:
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Straining on the toilet / chronic constipation
- Chronic coughing
- Repetitive heavy lifting
- High impact activity – running, trampolining, crossfit etc
- Age
- Being overweight
You may notice problems with your pelvic floor if you are experiencing ANY leaking, feelings of heaviness, pelvic pain, of difficulty passing urine or faeces. This could be because the pelvic floor muscles are weak OR because the pelvic floor muscles are overactive.
You may be aware of some of these problems and are naturally just avoiding activities which may bring symptoms on – like skipping or going on the trampoline, or not laughing for too long! The great news is that the efficiency of our pelvic floor can be changed. Even though our pelvic floor muscles are hidden from view, we can still consciously control and therefore train our pelvic floor muscles, just like we would do our arms and legs.
So whether you’re pregnant, postnatal, had a baby 5+ years ago, or are simply noticing a few issues through the day or when running, you’re pelvic floor muscles are worth considering.
How do I do pelvic floor exercises?
Pelvic floor muscles can be performed anywhere at any time – you don’t have to just lie down to do them!!
There are two types of exercises – slow twitch and fast twitch. It is important that you do the slow twitch first and then the fast twitch each time you exercise your pelvic floor muscles.
To perform the slow twitch exercises:
- Close and draw up the muscles around back passage, as if you are trying to stop passing wind. Make sure that you do not contract (tighten) your buttock muscles while you do this.
- Now close and draw up the muscles around your urethra, as though you are trying to stop the flow of urine. I call this the ‘wink and zip!’ (wink with your back passage, and then zip from back to front)
- Try not to hold your breath, breathe normally. Pull upwards and count how long you can hold the squeeze. If you can hold for a count of 10, then relax for a count of 10.
- Repeat this until you feel tired.
Over time you should be able to increase the length of time you can hold for.
To perform the fast twitch exercises:
- Pull up the pelvic floor muscles as before.
- Hold for one second and then relax.
- Repeat until your muscles feel tired.
Pelvic floor muscles tire easily and you may notice that it takes a lot of concentration to begin with to do these exercises correctly. If you find that the muscles ‘let go’ too quickly and that you cannot hold for long, just hold them for as long as you can. If you can only hold the contraction for a count of three, then every time you do your exercises, contract the muscles for a count of three. Gradually try to work up to four, then five and so on.
Breathing is absolutely key here, due to the fascial connections between the pelvic floor muscles, core muscles and diaphragm. So make sure you’re focussing on the breath throughout the exercises.
Once you feel confident in doing the exercises try doing them in other positions, such as standing or squatting. Remember to tighten your pelvic floor muscle during and after any activity that makes you leak – like rising from a chair or coughing – so that tightening becomes an automatic reaction.
Whilst pelvic floor problems are a common and frequent issue, I know it can feel like an embarrassing problem and you may feel reluctant to ask for help. This is totally understandable considering the very personal nature of the problem but it’s important to know that we will always be sensitive to your needs and can do a lot help.
If you have any questions about your pelvic floor or would like to discuss anything further, then please do not hesitate to get in touch.
