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There are exercises that you can try anytime, at your own pace. If you prefer a guided practice, Pilates is an excellent way to get an awesome workout, while strengthening your pelvic floor. At Pilates CORE elation and all Pilates studios, the pelvic floor muscles are used and are pulled in and up. This supports natural muscular support for the body positions in Pilates. If you prefer exercising in the comfort of your home try the following exercises, and educate yourself on what you can do to improve your pelvic muscles.
Your pelvic floor is a very important part of your body. It’s the body part that holds a lot of your organs, such as your bladder, small intestine, womb and rectum, so it’s essential that it’s kept strong and healthy.
The pelvic floor can tend to weaken for a variety of reasons, causing urine leakage and even fecal leakage. Read on to find out the causes of pelvic floor weakening, the problems that can occur, and the solution.
What Exactly Is The Pelvic Floor?
The pelvic floor is layer after layer of muscles and ligaments that helps support organs such as the bladder, womb, rectum and small intestine. The muscles of the pelvic floor should be kept strong and firm, as they help to stop urine leakage from the bladder and wind and fecal matter from the bowel. When you go to the toilet these muscles naturally relax and afterwards they should tighten up again and go back to stopping anything leaking out of the bladder or bowel.
The pelvic floor can also be thought of as a sexual body part as it can help to increase the chances of reaching orgasm if kept strong.
Why Does The Pelvic Floor Weaken?
The pelvic floor can weaken due to pregnancy, giving birth, obesity, and getting older.
What Problems Can You Experience With A Weak Pelvic Floor?
With a weak pelvic floor you can accidently let out a small amount of urine when you laugh sneeze or cough. In more severe cases this can happen with fecal matter too. You may also get a strong sudden urge to urinate before having to let out a large amount of urine. If you ever experience any of these problems you may have a weak pelvic floor!
What Can You Do To Strengthen The Pelvic Floor Muscles?
To strengthen the pelvic floor muscles and stop any of the above-mentioned problems, there are a series of products you can get from the likes of Neen and there are a series of exercises you can practice every day. The more you exercise your pelvic floor, the stronger it’ll be, as with any other muscle in the body!
First of all you need to identify your pelvic floor muscles, be aware that this might not be easy. One way to do it is to stop the flow of urine halfway through going to the toilet. Once you know how to keep it in control and can feel the muscles that are used to do the job, you’ve identified your pelvic floor muscles! Once you have used this exercise to locate your pelvic floor muscles, move on to other exercises. If you stop the flow of urine frequently, this will weaken your pelvic floor, not strengthen it.
Exercises To Try
Sit, stand or lie down, whichever way you feel comfortable with your legs slightly apart. Very slowly tighten and pull up the pelvic floor muscles as hard as you can. Be careful not to hold your breath as you should breathe normally throughout the exercises, and don’t tighten any other muscles such as your stomach or bum. Just concentrate on your pelvic floor. Squeeze for as long as you can and then rest for about 4 seconds and repeat again. Try this so you can eventually do 10 contractions slowly at once, holding for 10 seconds and resting for 4 seconds.
Practice quicker contractions to help when sneezing, laughing, or coughing. Hold a contraction for just a second and then relax. See if you can do 10 quick contractions one after the other!
It will take a few months before you see a noticeable difference, but stick at it. Exercising your muscles every day will keep them strong and working well. Try the above exercises 3-4 times every day.