How To Do Pelvic Floor Exercises Properly

WHAT IS YOUR PELVIC FLOOR?

Your pelvic floor muscle group are the muscles that work with your deep abdominal muscles and diaphragm to support your spine.

They assist with controlling the pressure inside your abdomen. These muscles act like a sling or a hammock for the bladder, bowel and uterus. It runs between the pubic bone and the tailbone at the back.

The pelvic floor not only helps to maintain bladder and bowel function it also plays a role in sexual sensation and function.

In women your pelvic floor layer allows three passages (The urethra, Vagina and Anus) to pass through. The pelvic floor muscles wrap around these passages to help keep them shut.

HOW DO YOU DO A PELVIC FLOOR STRENGTHENING EXERCISE?

• You can do pelvic floor exercises either standing, sitting, or lying down in a comfortable position.

• Imaging inside your pelvis is a muscular sling and relaxing your shoulders focus on your back passage and squeeze in an upward motion towards your belly button, squeezing in as if you were avoiding trying not to pass wind.

• Lift and squeeze your pelvic floor and notice how long you can maintain that hold for.

• Aim to maintain that squeeze for three seconds to start, building up to 10 seconds.

• You should aim to maintain a relaxed composure with your hands, feet, buttocks and shoulders and should focus on this being an internal squeeze.

• Rest your pelvic floor muscles for the same period of time you maintained the activation for

• Aim to do 3-5 holds in each set building up to over 10 at a time and repeat three times a day

WHEN TO SEEK ADVICE FROM A WOMEN’S HEALTH PHYSIOTHERAPIST.

• If you cannot feel the muscles hold and relax

• When you squeeze you cannot feel a definite lift and squeeze

• You feel any downward pressure on your pelvic floor during or after the exercises

• You feel that even though you are doing the exercises you are not progressing, or making any progress with the amount of holds you can do.

• See no improvement with your bladder or bowel control after a three week period of doing regular pelvic floor exercises (three times a day)

• You experience any pelvic or back pain as this may interfere with your pelvic floor function

• Notice that your symptoms are getting worse.

WHAT NOT TO DO DURING YOUR PELVIC FLOOR EXERCISES.

As women, most of us have heard time and time again how important it is to exercise your pelvic floor. Friends might advise friends to start them before having babies or after. There is also a lot of misinformed advice on how to do a pelvic floor exercise.

These are some of the ways you DO NOT do your pelvic floor exercises.

• Stopping and starting the flow of urine regularly when you go to the bathroom is not a safe way to exercise your pelvic floor muscles. You may want to stop the flow to check before your baby is born and after to check the muscles are working effectively but this is not a way to routinely “exercise” the pelvic floor muscles.

• Excessive amounts of pelvic floor exercises, doing hundreds or excessive amounts of pelvic floor lifts can cause your pelvic floor to become painful.

• Doing the exercises in a rapid fire series can also cause pain as the muscles are not able to fully relax in between

• Laying on the floor and doing a pelvic tilt exercise where you are lifting and lowering your pelvis and hips while flattening your back against the floor. Pelvic tilting is good for mobility however has no effect unless you are doing the tightening exercises with the pelvic tilt. This exercise is not recommended after week 16 of pregnancy. At this stage you can do your pelvic tilt exercises on a ball in the sitting position.

• Tightening your buttock muscles does not effectively activate the pelvic floor muscles.

• Squeezing your legs together is also an inactive way to activate your pelvic floor, this may help if you urgently need to use the bathroom however has no strengthening properties with improving pelvic floor function.

• Holding your breath during your pelvic floor exercises, you should always try to squeeze or activate the pelvic floor with your exhale not inhale.

• Tightening of the stomach muscles, you can activate lower levels of the abdomen, however you should not feel your entire abdomen tighten and pull in.

This information was collated in align with the best practice standards of the continence foundation of Australia and the pregnancy centre Australia. 

If you need further help the continence foundation and The Pregnancy Centre are valuable places for resources and help. 

www.continence.org.au or call the National Continence Foundation on 1800 330 066 

The Pregnancy Centre is a website that helps women choose safe exercises during pregnancy. www.thepregnancycentre.com.au