Pelvic Muscle Magic: Unlocking the Secrets of Pelvic Muscle Fitness
Understand how to get pelvic muscle strength and relaxation. Empower yourself to take control of your pelvic health and unlock the ability to sneeze and cough without changing or pads.
You get old, or you have babies, and then you start peeing whenever you cough, laugh, or sneeze. But never fear. There is one magic solution. Kegels. That is it. Or at least that is all we have heard about, so that MUST be all there is to prevent our lady parts from falling apart.
In a previous post, I discussed why Kegels are not the only thing you need. Kegels can be the wrong exercise to start with, depending on your symptoms.
If you find yourself experiencing unexpected urine leakage during your day-to-day activities, it is likely that your pelvic floor needs some attention and care. If you do not have this issue, you can still continue reading. At some point, the pee pad companies will come for your money and dignity, so the goal of this post is to give out several pointers on how to get a killer pelvic floor.
Pelvic floor weakness can result from pregnancy, childbirth, hormonal changes during menopause, or just a lack of strengthening for years. If you have a uterus or had one in the past, pelvic floor weakness is in your future unless you have the tools to prevent it and use them.
Breathing and Pelvic Floor Muscle Training
Breathing is the foundation of what helps get that pelvic floor on board when you are strengthening it. If you are reading this, then you are breathing. I don’t think that pelvic floor problems are an issue for zombies. None of the films or books discuss the bodily functions of zombies, and probably for good reason. Gross.
Now that we have established that you are breathing and not a zombie, we need to discuss how you are breathing. Breathing patterns can make it hard or easier for you to contract your pelvic floor muscles.
I have been working in fitness since I was barely out of high school (over 20 years ago🤫) and in physical therapy for the past 12 years. If there’s one thing everyone could be doing a little better when they are exercising, it’s breathing.
Here is the reason why I care about your breathing—breathing in a specific pattern during a pelvic floor workout allows you to contract and strengthen when there is less resistance from intra-abdominal pressure. What does that mean? Well, check out this 👇video clip by another Women’s Health Physical Therapist as she explains it with a lovely cartoon illustration I don’t have the skills to re-create.
Video clip is taken from YouTube a short interview with Julie Weibe, Pelvic Floor Physical Therapist by Kinetic Labs. To see the full interview click here
The video is trying to show that when you exhale (breathe out), your diaphragm goes up into your ribs and helps to push out the air from your lungs. Likewise, when you inhale (breathe in), your diaphragm expands down towards your pelvis and puts increased pressure on your abdomen and your pelvic floor. When you are trying to understand how to get a good contraction from the pelvic floor, you need to exhale. When you inhale, it is hard for your pelvic floor to stay contracted unless you have built some strength and endurance.
When inhaling, your pelvic floor muscles are probably strong enough to remain contracted. However, if you haven't done any exercises to strengthen them before, or it has been quite a bit of time since you have done strengthening, getting the pelvic floor to contract when you exhale is the best place to start. Check out this video on the breathing technique, and then we can move on to a couple of exercises that can be done with this breathing technique.
What Exercises Should I Start with?
I will give you options, but ultimately, you should start with the ones that you know you can do in the time you have during your day. It's difficult to make time for yourself when you are a working woman, a working mom, or a stay-at-home mom. You all have a lot on your plate.
I don’t want you to devote 30 minutes to exercise, especially if you haven’t done any exercise for months or years. I worry when my patients commit to large and lofty goals because they typically require absolute diligence and possibly perfection—i.e., they are not attainable for mortals.
Instead, commit to devoting five minutes of your day to pelvic floor exercises. If it doesn’t feel like enough, that means it is exactly right. You are forgetting that 5 minutes is much more than 0 minutes, and when you are just starting out, 5 minutes is something you can succeed at.
I would suggest that you steal these 5 minutes from the in-between times I wrote about in my last post. In-between times are while you are waiting for something and have a couple of minutes here or there. Don’t scroll Facebook the whole time while waiting for the kids. Do some seated pelvic floor exercises and then scroll away if you want. Do pelvic floor exercises while washing your hands. Don’t stand in line at the grocery store reading about how Prince Harry and Megan are now writing a book about parenting. Do standing pelvic floor exercises, AND read about how Shakira just insured her hips for 5 million dollars.
The truth is that Twitter and Facebook don’t want you to take time to do your pelvic floor exercises. Netflix doesn’t care if you have to buy pads or have issues with prolapse. Don’t give them all your in-between time—take some back for yourself.
Now that you have found the time to do the exercises let’s ACTUALLY show you some! I know. Took me long enough. Pick out one or two of these exercises and write them down. Set a reminder on your phone for a specific time or write a reminder on a sticky note and put it where you will see it during your in-between time.
D.I.G. Deep
Get Deliberate
If you haven’t already written down what in-between time you will use for your two exercises, DO IT. Write down when or during what (maybe waiting for a Zoom call to start or while your Zoom meeting is ongoing). Set a timer on your phone or set your phone to lock you out of social media after 5 minutes to help you remember to get those pelvic muscles strong during your in-between time.
Get Inspired
What will you be able to do when your pelvic floor muscles are stronger? Go to the trampoline park with your kids? Get a cough and not worry about changing your underwear after a coughing fit. This is the reason why you are taking those 5 minutes back a day. It is important to picture that future you and write down what you will be able to do in 2 months compared to now. Don’t just think about it. Write it.
Get Going
Do your exercises now. Close Substack or this email and get them done.