Exercises To Strengthen Your Pelvic Floor

Among the exercises that women should do to stay in shape, there is one that is often not considered and given as much attention as it deserves. It is the one that affects the pelvic floor. An exercise to strengthen the pelvic floor helps reduce the risk of urinary incontinence and improve sexual health.

Many women suffer from pelvic floor disorders, but most of them do not talk about it, out of shame, even with their doctor. However, re-educating the pelvic floor and strengthening it is not as impossible as it seems.

The weakening of the pelvic floor can cause various ailments, and it is essential to take care of it correctly with the help of different practices, exercises, and revolutionary treatments.

Kegels

The exercise is named after the doctor who devised them in the 1950s. These are contraction movements designed by the professor of Gynecology Arnold Kegel to strengthen the pubococcygeus muscle.

They help to understand which perineal muscles to act on. The first is done simply by trying to stop the flow of pee by ideally pushing upwards. This is how the perineal muscles work. Do the movements slowly and gently, without haste. This simple exercise helps us to increase the perception of our perineum.

Kegels also strengthen the perineal muscles. By sitting with the legs half apart and knees bent, or squatting or lying down with the legs bent, contract the muscles of the perineum for 3 or 5 seconds and then relax the part for another 7-10 seconds.

Repeat ten times for at least five times a day. Also, try to maintain proper breathing during these movements to facilitate the contraction.

Bird Dog

Keep your arms straight from the quadruped position, hands in line with your shoulders, and knees in line with your hips. Keep the spine straight and the neck neutral. Simultaneously stretch the right arm forward and the left leg back while maintaining body stability and thus activating the deep muscles of the abdomen and perineum.

Hold the position for 2 seconds and return to the starting position, and then switch sides. Perform three sets of 15 repetitions.

Bridge

From the supine position, with the knees bent at 90 degrees and the feet resting on the floor, inhale and when exhaling, lift the pelvis from the ground one vertebra at a time.

Stop at a half-bridge, inhale and, exhaling, rise to a full bridge, imagining bringing your knees together. Remain in this position for some seconds and, when exhaling, return to the starting position. Perform three sets of 15 repetitions.

The Butterfly

Sitting on the ground with the neck and chest well relaxed, bring the soles of the feet together and bring the hands to the ankles, then contract the lower part of the gluteus muscle. Take a break and then resume the movement.

The second phase foresees that, in the same position, we push the gluteus muscles towards the ground and stretch the head towards the abdomen. Breathe in and out and bring the perineum towards the inside of the body. Keep this tension for about 6 seconds. Repeat the exercise three times.