Pelvic Floor Exercises
Your pelvic floor is a hidden powerhouse in your lower body.
What exactly is it?
The pelvic floor muscles form the base of your ‘core’ that includes your torso muscles and hips and glutes. Think about your torso as a box -- diaphragm on top, abdominals in the front back muscles in the back and your pelvic floor at the bottom. It is like a hammock stretched from the pubic bone at the front to the coccyx (tailbone) at the back. In women and men, pelvic floor muscles support the bladder and bowel and in women the uterus.
These muscles work with the deep abdominal and back muscles and the diaphragm (controls breathing) to support the spine and control the pressure inside the abdomen. Pelvic floor muscles are responsible for all of the important activities of these body parts. They allow us to hold on and release our bladder and bowels when we need to and play an important role in sexual function.
The pelvic floor can be weakened by different things in our lives including pregnancy, menopause, or gynecological or prostate surgery.
Weak pelvic floor muscles can result in incontinence, resulting in leaking when lifting, coughing, sneezing, laughing or exercising. To avoid this, it’s important to strengthen your pelvic floor muscles in addition to your core overall. It’s never too late to strengthen these muscles.
Pelvic floor exercises are also known as Kegels, named after the American gynecologist, Arnold Henry Kegel who was the first person to define pelvic floor exercises.
How do you find your pelvic floor?
One way to identify your pelvic floor muscles is to imagine stopping the flow of urine and holding in “wind” at the same time. This can be done lying down, sitting or standing with legs about shoulder width apart.
Four Pelvic Floor Exercises
Three of the four exercises are on the floor. If you have challenges getting to the floor, check out our “Getting Down to and Up from the Floor” video, do them in bed, or just do the Kegel exercise that can be done seated or lying down.
Kegels
Mimic the activity of holding in your urine or wind and feel the pelvic floor muscles lifting and squeezing in. If you cannot feel your muscles contracting, change your position and try again. For example, if you cannot feel your muscles contracting in a seated position, try lying down or standing up instead.
After a contraction it is important to relax the muscles. This will allow your muscles to recover from the previous contraction and prepare for the next contraction.
Hold for a count of 3 and then rest for a count of 3.
Aim for 3 sets of 10 repetitions.
Kegels can be done seated, standing or lying with your back on the floor or bed. If your pelvic muscles are weak, you may want to do them lying down at first. A few minutes in the morning and again before bedtime are good times to start the exercise program.
When starting out, only do the number of Kegel exercises that are fairly easy for you to do (e.g., five Kegels for three seconds each twice a day). Slowly increase these numbers as you gain strength and endurance).
Do not hold your breath while doing the exercises – breathe out. Also, be careful not to bear down or squeeze the muscles of your inner thighs, back, buttocks, or stomach.
Glute Bridge
Lie on the floor. Your spine should be against the ground, with knees bent at a 90-degree angle, feet flat, and arms straight at your sides with palms facing down.
Inhale and push through your heels, raising your hips off the ground by squeezing your glutes, hamstrings, and pelvic floor. Your body — resting on your upper back and shoulders — should form a straight line down from the knees.
Pause 1–2 seconds at the top and return to the starting position.
Complete 10–15 reps and 2–3 sets, resting 30–60 seconds between sets.
Tabletop
Start with your back on the floor and knees bent so your thighs are perpendicular to the floor and your shins are parallel to the floor.
Your abs should be braced and your inner thighs should be activated, legs touching.
In a controlled movement, begin to slowly split your legs so each knee falls outward, reaching a comfortable position.
Slowly raise back to the start.
Complete 10–15 reps and 3 sets.
Bird dog
Start on all fours with wrists under shoulders and knees under hips. Your back should be straight and your neck should be neutral.
Brace your core and draw your shoulder blades down your back toward your hips.
To start the move, simultaneously straighten and raise your left leg and right arm, keeping your pelvis and shoulders in a neutral position. Don’t raise or lower your head. Hold for 2 seconds.
Bend and lower your leg and arm down back to the starting position while maintaining stability. Then switch, raising your right leg and left arm. This is 1 rep.
Complete 10 total reps and 3 sets.
Bird dog modification
From the all fours position, lift one arm at a time – 4 reps each side. Then extend one leg back, hips square, and then lower. Repeat with the other leg - 4 reps each side.
Your core and pelvic floor muscles work together to stabilize your body. Check out our core-focused videos here.
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