Pelvic floor exercises – for ladies of all ages and stages. Ladies in my fitness business I specialise in women’s health. Part of my work is running ante natal aqua classes with pregnant ladies and land based ‘return to gym’ classes once baby is born. I’m really interested in pelvic floor health and know that the current trend of bracing the ab’s can be harmful to pelvic floor health and natural abdominal muscle order recruitment. I won’t bore you with the details, but here is a check list to see how your pelvic floor and core is coping with a great big physical challenge. Do you:
- Leak urine
- Pass wind unexpectedly
- Feel the urge to ‘go’ when you’ve just been
- Feel a saggy sensation in the pelvic floor
- Have lower back pain
- Have pelvic instability issues
One way you can really protect the health and tone of your pelvic floor is to ‘prepare’ when you do any of the following things:
- Laugh
- Sneeze
- Cough
- Blow up a balloon
- Lift heavy weights
- Bracing the abs
- Lift anything unpredictable . . . . . .
By preparing the pelvic floor we are reducing the amount of movement or ‘flex’ in the muscles during these times. Its particularly important if you are unwell and are coughing and sneezing a lot. So to prepare the pelvic floor close off the 3 sphincter muscles (back passage, vagina, bladder). Now lift the pelvic floor forwards and up, laugh, sneeze, whatever. You won’t feel nearly as much movement in the muscles so this will help keep your pelvic floor in tip top shape. If in doubt about the health of your pelvic floor contact a women’s health physiotherapist. I have a free pelvic floor exercise mp3 for you – keep it on your smart phone and listen and practise any time you wish. Just email me and I’ll send you a copy. There are some great resources online too http://www.pelvicfloorfirst.org.au/.
By Jo Cordell-Cooper who runs award winning Active Solutions and Health Network – finding the RIGHT balance for women at all ages and stages. www.activesolutionsandhealthnetwork.com.au [email protected] Ph 0409 862206 for more information