We've cut out the cringe, this is the basics of how to do pelvic floor exercises correctly. To find out why these little muscles are so important in our previous blog post click here.
To engage your pelvic floor muscles correctly it helps to visualise what you're actually contracting. Your pelvic floor attaches from your coccyx to your pubic bone (at the front of your pelvis), like a sling. To engage your pelvic floor try to pull these two points gently together, draw up from your back passage to the front.
Another helpful way to engage these muscle is to draw in from underneath and lift upwards, close the vaginal and anal passage. Imagine you're preventing emptying your bladder or trying to stop passing wind.
The contraction you are trying to achieve doesn't need to be significantly strong. If you can contract those muscles as hard as you can (i.e 100%), the correct amount of activation is only about 30%. Gentle contractions.
Always check with your midwife or GP if it is ok for you to practice pelvic floor exercises. Correct pelvic floor exercises should be checked by a specialist women health physiotherapist. If you get any pain or unexpected symptoms from pelvic floor exercises you should seek advice from your GP or midwife.
Your pelvic floor muscles can be exercised in different ways, try these ones at home:
1: Slow contractions - engage pelvic floor for 10 second holds, 10 repetitions.
2: Fast contractions - 10 quick repetitions, contract and release quickly.
3: "The Knack" - tighten your pelvic floor muscles before a cough / sneeze / lifting something heavy.
Like training any muscle, your pelvic floor exercises need to be practiced regularly. Try doing the above exercises 3-4 times a day. We know it can be tough to remember to do exercises regularly, try doing your pelvic floor exercises at certain times, e.g during the adverts while you're watching TV, or at the traffic lights in your car.
Its also important that your body relaxes your pelvic floor muscles after you have exercised them, make a point of consciously relaxing them after doing your exercises.
If you're having a tough time contracting your pelvic floor muscles, start off lying on your back with your knees bent. This position takes away the effect of gravity which can make it slightly easier to get a contraction. If you've mastered this position then try contractions in sitting then progress to standing.
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