A womens pelvic floor is a complex group of muscles and tissues that helps to to control bowel and bladder functions, sexual health, support your organs, stabilize your spine and manage pressure. Your pelvic floor is quite literally the center of our bodies and deserves a focused care for optimal function. To learn more about what exactly your pelvic floor is and how it works check out our blog “Your Pelvic Floor: What it is and Why it matters”

Why should I do pelvic floor strengthening?

• Pelvic floor strength is incredibly important to help ensure proper function. While it is important to stay on top throughout all phases of life, it is especially important during

  • pregnancy

  • postpartum

  • perimenopause

  • menopause

• Your body undergoes drastic changes during this time that can put excessive strain and pressure on your pelvic floor. Engaging in appropriate pelvic floor strength can help to minimize or prevent symptoms such as involuntary loss of urine with coughing, sneezing or jumping, feeling of pressure or heaviness, pain with intimacy and more.

Are kegels the best way to strengthen your pelvic?

Pelvic floor strengthening is often overlooked and over simplified. Your pelvic floor's main function is non volitional and involuntary. Meaning it is designed to fire without us having to think about it!

Ideally, your pelvic floor will react and respond appropriately to a cough, sneeze or jump. BUT. If you have weakness, tightness or limited range of motion of your pelvic floor, it may not be able to respond. 

If you rely on kegels alone to try and regain all the aspects of pelvic floor strength that you need to see symptom relief, meaning:

• Strength

• coordination

• Pressure management  

• Reactivity/responsiveness 

• Range of motion

 You will  be disappointed to find out that kegels simply are not enough, To learn more about if kegels are for you, check out our blog, “Should I Do Kegels?”

Benefits of Pelvic Floor Strength

The true benefits to pelvic floor strength are endless. As we mentioned above, your pelvic floor is responsible for a lot of really important functions and if we want to keep those working well it requires appropriate strength. 

Depending on how you move, or how you body compensates as you age we could lose:

• Range of motion to your pelvic floor

• Strength 

• Reactivity 

• It can become tight and painful

And thats just to name a few! By appropriately working to keep full range of motion and strength to your pelvic floor through exercise it is possible to live symptom free throughout any stage of life!

Daily Pelvic Floor Exercise routine for a weak pelvic floor

• Exercises will vary depending on if the root cause of your pelvic floor symptoms are associated with weakness or tightness. Pelvic floor exercises for women who have a weak pelvic floor could like this:

Supine Lower Ta Activation with Balloon

Bridge with Bilateral Shoulder Extension and March

Single Leg Clocks

Single Leg Hip Hinge with Internal Rotation

Daily Pelvic Floor Exercise routine for a tight pelvic floor

Child's Pose 360 Breathing 

Supported Adductor Stretch 

Quadruped Rock Back on Block

Hip Flexor Stretch

Recommended exercises to help reduce pain

Inversions

Modified Inversions

• a good option if a full inversion does not feel comfortable for you

Adductor Rock Back Stretch

Happy Baby Stretch With Breath Work

These are very basic exercises to help women start to connect to their pelvic floor. Depending on your specific issue the exact exercises you need will vary but this is a great starting point! 

If you experience pelvic floor issues such as:

• Uncontrolled loss of urine or gas

• Pelvic pressure or pain

• Pubic Symphysis pain 

• Chronic Hip pain 

• Low back pain 

• Urgency 

• Painful Sex

You will benefit from an evaluation from a pelvic floor physical therapist. At Empower Physical Therapy and Wellness, we specialize in women and we would love to help you overcome any issues you may be experiencing. 

Call 678-413-5587 now to learn more about how we can help you!

Dig Deeper: Uncover More Secrets to Pelvic Floor Health

• Learn more about Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy

• Check out our blog Your Pelvic Floor: What is it and why it matters 

• To learn more about painful intimacy check out our blog Understanding Pain During Sex

Hi! We are Dr.Aimee and Dr. Lauren

We are the owners of Empower Physical Therapy and Wellness. We are pelvic floor physical therapists who specialize in helping women from pregnancy, into postpartum and through perimenopause, menopause and then beyond! We believe all women deserve to do all of the things they love without symptoms!

You can contact us via our website, email at hello@weempowerpt.com or social media!

The information provided in this blog is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or symptoms. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this blog.

If you think you may have a medical emergency, call your doctor, go to the emergency department, or call 911 immediately. The opinions expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of any medical or healthcare institutions.