You’ve probably heard that working your pelvic floor (especially if you’ve given birth) is THE thing to do!
Let’s chat about WHY!
The pelvic floor is composed of muscles and connective tissue connecting the bones at the bottom of your pelvis. In addition to the bladder, intestines, rectum and urethra, they also consist of the uterus, cervix, and vagina.
These muscles help daily functions happen, like going to the bathroom, helping you walk and stand, ya know-the essentials! Plus they help with our sexual health functions and sensations, not to mention how crucial they are during pregnancy. Pregnancy and vaginal birth can drastically weaken these muscles which makes these exercises a top priority.
When you strengthen your pelvic floor, you strengthen the foundation. Combining this with strengthening the transverse abdominis, you are now tapping into the entire core of your body.
Your “ab” muscles are made up of 4 major sections:
- Rectus Abdomen (the 6 pack muscle on top)
- External and Internal Obliques (these muscles help with spinal flexion and rotation)
- Transverse Abdominis (the muscle that holds and protects the internal organs, and supports your torso)
By focusing on these groups together, not only will you get a solid core workout, but you will feel less pain with daily tasks like sitting too long, standing too long, getting in a car, picking up your baby and more!
While these exercises do not take much time, they do need to be performed consistently. Aim for least 4-5 times each week. You will begin to notice a difference in 6 weeks, and even more in 4 months, so keep at it!
Exercise #1: Kegel
This is the most common and can be performed anywhere. Start in a sitting position, sitting up as tall as possible. Place your hand on your belly button, and start to contract your abdomen muscles inward. As you do this, lift up through your pelvic floor as if you are “stopping the flow of urine”. Hold this contraction for 3-5 seconds, and release. Repeat 15-20 times for 1 set. As you get stronger, repeat another set, and another for a total of 3-5 sets.
Exercise #2. Squat
While this is commonly performed in life by getting up and down from a chair, or in and out of the car among many other things we do in life, a squat is an essential movement pattern that helps us in life. Start standing up tall, shoulders down, chest slightly lifted so you are standing nice and tall. When we perform squats, we want to think from the feet up with our form. It’s important that our feet stay flat on the floor as our weight shifts back a bit. Keep your heels down, and toes pointed forward. Feet should be hip width apart as you sit your hips back, bending your knees. Lower yourself down to a chair height at first as you perfect your form. Then you can focus on your range of motion, which is how low you are able to go. As you stand up, engage your core and pelvic muscles. Repeat 15-20 repetitions for one set, and increase the number of sets you do. The squat should be more about perfecting the form than getting these done as fast as possible, so think about 4 counts down and 4 counts up.
Exercise #3. Bridge
Start laying on your back, and place your feet on the floor, knees bent towards the ceiling. Feet should be as close to your hips as possible and keep your feet about 6 inches apart from each other. Engage the glutes by squeezing your muscles and lifting your pelvis off the floor, rising until your lower back is off the floor and your abs are in. Rise for 4 counts and lower for 4 counts. Repeat for 15-20 repetitions for one set and increase your sets until you can complete 3-5 sets.
Exercise #4 Bird Dog
Start on all fours, hands and knees. Extending the opposite arm and leg out, so the right arm and left leg, rising up so they are off the floor in alignment with your spine. As you exhale, bring your knee into your chest and elbow in to reach the knee, and inhale to extend. Repeat 15-20 repetitions and switch to the other side.
As you perform these exercises, you will notice that you start to gain strength in your pelvic floor and it becomes a habit to use your abdomen in a day to day activities such as lifting up your toddler, carrying in groceries, and other life activities. These are simple and quick movements you can easily add in between chores, work and while playing with the kids on the floor!
