How To Strengthen Your Pelvic Floor Muscles: It Is Not Only limited To Women’s Health, But Men Also Need It
A brief review of exercises for a healthy core
Why are pelvic floor muscles so important?
Pelvic floor muscles are of prime importance as they hold the abdominal organs, including the uterus, cervix, vagina, ovaries, bowel, and rectum, etc. in females and bladder, urethra, bowel, rectum, etc. in males. It is not the only function of pelvic floor muscles. They allow us to control the sphincters (openings) of the urethra, vagina, and anus in females and urethra and anus in males.
Pelvic floor muscle weakness makes it difficult to control the opening and closing of sphincters (the openings).
What happens when the pelvic floor muscles become weak?
Weak pelvic floor muscles can cause:
Urinary incontinence
A condition in which the person loses bladder control, in other words, loses the control of urination. The person is not able to control the urine and ends up urinating while trying hard not to.
Fecal incontinence
The inability of a person to control the passage of gas or feces (poo) is called fecal incontinence.
Pelvic organ prolapse (POP)
The worst of all is the prolapse of pelvic organs through the sphincters (openings). Uterine prolapse is when the uterus slips into or protrudes out of the vagina. The person feels heaviness or bulge in the vagina.
Other types of prolapses may include anterior vaginal wall prolapse, posterior vaginal wall prolapse, and other types of prolapses.
In males, rectal prolapse is common, where the rectum comes out through the anal opening.
Mild prolapses can occur after vaginal delivery, whereas moderate to severe prolapses occur after menopause in women with weak pelvic floor muscles.
The above discussion sufficiently establishes the importance of pelvic floor muscles and why we should strengthen them.
Now, the question arises, “How can we strengthen it?”
Well, numerous exercises can strengthen the pelvic floor muscles. Here, I will go through the most effective ones.
Kegel exercises
It is a group of exercises that specifically target pelvic floor muscles. The advantage of these exercises is that you can perform them anywhere and anytime. I will go only through the most effective exercises in the group.
Slow hold
- Sit or lie down with your legs wide apart
- Try to hold the urine and gas and squeeze the muscles around the vagina and anus as tightly as you can.
- You will feel the pelvic floor muscles lift inside
- Hold the contraction for three to five seconds and then relax for at least five seconds.
- Repeat the sequence ten times
- Perform the exercise several times a day
Elevator exercises
- Imagine your midsection as a multi-apartment building.
- You first contract your pelvic floor muscles, and it is the first floor of the building. Hold it for five seconds. Without relaxing, again draw your pelvic floor muscles to reach the second floor. Hold it for five seconds.
- Now, release the contractions floor-wise, reaching from the second to first floor and then to the ground floor while relaxing the pelvic floor muscles.
- Perform it several times a day
Kegel exercise weights
Kegel exercise weights provide an excellent progression to Kegel exercises. You only need to put the weights into your vagina and hold the weights while doing other activities of daily living.
At first, you might consciously hold these weights, but with time, as the muscle tone increases, you need not pay special attention to holding the weights.
Pelvic floor muscle strengthening during pregnancy and after childbirth
Pelvic floor muscle strengthening is essential to tone the muscles up so that after childbirth, the chances of organ prolapse are reduced to a minimum.
That’s all for today.
If you have any kind of questions related to the topic, feel free to ask.
Thanks for reading!
