There is nothing worse than feeling like you need to wee and cannot control it from basic everyday movements, sneezing or exercise . If you are suffering from this issue then it will likely be a result of weak pelvic floor muscles.

The pelvic floor is a sling of muscle supporting the entire trunk. It is an area that will be affected by childbirth, injury, too much heavy lifting, high impact exercise over prolonged periods, or simply a lack of core strength.

The good news is there are different stages and layers of exercises you can do to rebuild this area. 

After my first child I experienced very weak pelvic floor and have currently felt it return during pregnancy with my second child, so am onto these exercises and will be after the birth too. And this was despite being a trainer and Pilates instructor! You see, the trauma and intensity of the birth and so much pushing left me with a prolapse, so I really needed to rehab myself back, and I did over the course of a year or so using these exercises and building on them slowly.

You should always get a physiotherapist or health professional who specialises in this area to check your pelvic floor internally if you are concerned.

These exercises will certainly help you rebuild the muscle and have greater awareness and control over it. The trick to know if you are doing it correctly is to feel your Transverse Abdominis (TA) activating and slightly contracting just inside your hip bones.

Exercise 1 : Beginner Pelvic Floor Activation

• Lay on your side. One arm under head, knees bent
• Keep hips on top of each other
• Place other hand just inside top hip bone towards middle of your lower abs
• Take a breath in, as you exhale, have the sensation of lifting your pelvic floor as if you are stopping your wee halfway through
• As you do this, you should feel a slight pulling in or contraction from your TA (where your hand is located)
• Hold for 2 to 3 seconds. Repeat 10 times
• You can build up the duration to holding for 5 to 10 seconds
• Do each day
• **Ensure you are not squeezing your butt or thighs

Exercise 2 : Seated Pelvic Floor Activation

• Sit on a small towel rolled up, where the towel is laid long ways under you. You can sit on a fitball or chair, as long as you feel the towel right underneath you for feedback
• Sit tall and take a breath in
• As you exhale, feel your pelvic floor lifting upwards, aswell as lifting up through your anus area. You are trying to lift from all openings here to bring awareness to the whole area without squeezing your butt muscles
• Hold for 2 to 3 seconds then relax
• You can also place your finger tips inside your hip bones and feel that same TA muscle contracting as in the previous exercise
• Build up to holding for 5 to 10 seconds (without holding your breath)
• Do every day or two

Exercise 3 : Intermediate Pelvic Floor Activation – Bridge

• Once you feel you have connected to the first two exercises and doing them successfully, progress to activating your pelvic floor with movement
• Lay on your back, feet hip distance apart
• Take a breath in, as you exhale, draw up through your pelvic floor as if you are holding your wee mid flow
• Make sure you have activated TA inside the hip bones as in previous exercises
• Now take another breath in, as you exhale keep that pelvic floor connection and lift your hips off the floor into a bridge position, now squeezing the butt (glutes) aswell
• Inhale at the top, hold for a moment, then exhale bring the hips back down keeping the spine in a neutral position
• Repeat 10 times, do every second day

This is a great foundation to start building your pelvic floor. It is important that you master these basics before doing anything else or complicated movements where you cannot connect to the muscle.

Exercises to avoid if you have weak pelvic floor: (These exercises will trigger a downward force onto the pelvic floor, making the pressure worse for you.)

• Sit ups
• Incline sit ups
• Reverse crunches lifting knees to chest
• Reverse leg lifts with a ball
• Full planks – you can do them on the knees without adding to the problem
• The 100 (Pilates) – do a single left lift instead
• Split stance movements like lunges or large side step squats
• Running or high impact exercise
• Laying on tummy and lifting arms and legs up

*TIPS:

*It is important to note that you need to maintain somewhat relaxed abdominals which can be tricky if you are used to squeezing in strongly through your abs when you have been doing core work and regular ab exercises. Remember, it is about ‘activating’ your pelvic floor and having the sensation of drawing ‘upwards’ through this hammock of muscle, without clenching into other muscles.

*You must also maintain correct spinal curves. Do not tuck your hips under or have poor upper back posture. Just sit, stand or lay with the natural curves of your back (neutral.)

*It can be often overlooked about the element of lifting up through your back passage. Ensure you do this aswell as your front openings. This will ensure a strong pelvic floor within the whole sling.

Let me know how you go with these exercises and follow on social below for more videos and tips! Take care that you do not exercise with high impact moves if you have experienced weakness in this area and be patient as you do these exercises. Love to hear your progress or questions, post below  :-)

*For an easy to follow at -home  10 Week Pilates Body Fit Core & Strength Program, visit : https://vanessabhealth.com/10-week-pilates-body-fit-online/