Boost your pelvic floor fitness

2 mins to read

Weak pelvic floor muscles can have a negative impact on a woman's health and quality of life. Weight loss coach Andrew Cate outlines how best to strengthen your pelvic floor.

Womens health

The pelvic floor is a deep group of muscles connected to the base of your spine and pelvis.

Pelvic floor muscles support the organs in your pelvis, and help to maintain urinary continence.

When they are stretched or weakened- which can happen during pregnancy or vaginal child birth, due to being overweight or chronic straining from constipation and through hormonal changes after menopause - you’re more likely to experience problems with a leaky bladder.

Leakage commonly occurs during activities with impact such as running, jumping, or skipping. It can be embarrassing for women, resulting in a withdrawal from fitness activities, having a negative impact on general wellbeing and quality of life.

Fortunately, pelvic floor exercises can make a significant difference in the treatment and prevention of urinary incontinence.

The benefits of pelvic floor rel="noopener noreferrer" exercises

A study published in the British Medical Journal compared pelvic floor exercises with other treatments for incontinence, including electric stimulation and vaginal cones.

After 6 months, the exercise group showed significantly greater improvement in the strength of their pelvic floor muscles and less leakage compared with the women using electrical stimulation or vaginal cones,

What's more, significantly more women in the pelvic floor exercise group stated that after the completion of the study, the condition was no longer a problem.

The exercise group also reported no adverse effects, unlike women who undertook the other treatment methods.

The researchers concluded that pelvic floor exercises are safe and effective, and should be considered as the first choice of treatment for incontinence.

How to strengthen your pelvic floor

Just like other muscles in your body, the pelvic floor can be strengthened with training.

A strong pelvic floor allows women to participate in a wide variety of activities and sports without fear of embarrassment.

Here’s how:

Vary your contractions - To activate and strengthen your pelvic floor muscles, try to lift your tailbone up without squeezing your gluteal (buttock) muscles. Hold rel="noopener noreferrer" this contraction for varying lengths of time. Pelvic floor first has great exercises and tips on pelvic floor safe exercises.
Train 3 times daily - The women in the above mentioned study achieved fantastic results by performing 8-12 high intensity contractions (close to maximum) 3 times a day at home. This was also combined with a weekly 45 minute group class with a physical therapist.
Vary your position - It's important for the pelvic floor to be strong in all positions, so vary the position you practice contractions in, such as sitting, standing, kneeling and lying.
Activities to avoid - Hold back on high impact activities involving running, jumping or heavy lifting until your pelvic floor muscles get stronger.