Learn to keep your pelvic floor in shape to prevent urinary incontinence and other conditions

Having a flat belly is not synonymous with good pelvic floor health. Although strong abdominal muscles can be a shield for our bodies, the pelvic area supports all the weight of the organs of the trunk. As the years go by, exercise and pregnancy can take their toll on the pelvic floor.

A mere cough, sneeze, or physical activity like running or jumping can cause urinary incontinence, because all these actions push the bladder down. Strengthening this abdominal bridge will protect you from mishaps and discomfort. The better toned the area, the better supported the organs around the pelvis and the better they will work.

How to strengthen the muscles

1 – Basic Training

To do this exercise, first relax your abdominal muscles. Empty all the air from your lungs through your mouth, while tightening the area to work. Experts recommend you practice this several times a day (lying down in the morning, standing in the afternoon and in a sitting position after dinner). Each contraction should last for approximately ten seconds.

 2 – Kegel Exercises

This exercise is named after its inventor, Dr Arnold Kegal, who discovered a series of exercises to prevent urinary incontinence, particularly after pregnancy, in 1948. Over the years, the benefits of these exercises, which improve the health of the pelvic floor muscles in both men and women, have been shown to include easing childbirth and enhancing sexual pleasure.

• Slow exercise: Try to tense your pelvic floor muscles and keep them clenched for five seconds. Rest for five seconds and repeat three more times.
• Quick exercise: Do the same movement but more quickly and without breaks.
• The lift: Clench the muscles gradually, as though your body were a lift that is ascending slowly, stopping for a few seconds on each floor. As you relax, imagine the lift is going down.

3- Daily routine

As you master the muscles of the pelvis diaphragm, you will be able to do the exercises at any time of day, such as, for example, when travelling on the underground or watching television.

4- Hypopressive abdominal exercises

Unlike traditional exercises, these abdominals work the muscles in the central area more internally, improving and firming them. Stand up with your head held high, empty the lungs, and open the ribs again pretending to catch a breath. Don’t actually breathe in. Your ribs will open and your belly button will move back towards your spine. It is advisable to do this type of training with a specialist in hypopressive exercise.

Although it takes at least four weeks to strengthen the pelvic floor, the benefits are lifelong if you keep it up.

If you have any questions about how to do Kegal exercises or the condition of your pelvic floor, ask a professional. Nowadays there are physiotherapists who specialise in the pelvic floor who will help you to improve your intimate health.

This post is also available in: Italian