What in the world is the “pelvic floor” and how do I strengthen it?

Pelvic floor, pelvic floor, pelvic floor! How many times have you seen someone post that in an article, on a social media post, or even in a doctor’s office? The phrase itself is everywhere, and yeah, we all know where our pelvis is, but where is its floor?

Source: Courtesy of Cho & Kim, 2021 (PMID: 35036386)

It’s even hard to distinguish from this weird anatomical photo above so let me explain - the pelvic floor is a group of muscles (puborectalis, pubococcygeus and iliococcygeus muscles, and coccygeus muscles) that are responsible for supporting the muscles in the pelvis (1) such as the bladder, urethra (where one pees from), prostate in males, vagina, uterus, anus and rectum (2). What does the word ‘support’ mean? In the case of postpartum women, it simply means preventing yourself from losing control of your bladder (in most cases) and your bowels. And these muscles work directly in line with the core musculature to create a stable structure for your organs to do their work around.

View fullsize

Losing control of those isn’t fun, and I’m sure you’ve heard women in your life talking about it all the time. Sometimes they’ll even  laugh and pee themselves a little from time to time, or they’ll do jumping jacks and realize they let a bit out- it happens. But how many of them have ever heard about pelvic floor muscles and how to train them to make them prevent that from happening? I don’t personally don’t think many.

Like I mentioned, the pelvic floor muscles are indeed ‘muscles’. That means we can train them and create a ‘mind & body connection’ to help them support the muscles that are causing incontinence (a fancy term for peeing or pooping oneself) and that won’t be done through kegels alone. So, let’s get into how to do that, but before I do I want to first reference and shout out the National Association for Continence, through their work and easily downloadable PDFs that I will link in this blog post for those who need help. Now let's get into my top 3 exercises from the National Association for Continence for the new postpartum mom to use in order to strengthen her pelvic muscles. 

Statement on Incontinence from National Association for Continence

1. Bracing While Sitting: This exercise is one that everyone should be doing to first establish that ‘mind & body connection’ I referenced before. By feeling and touching your abs while they contract and flex not only are you starting to now feel those stretched ab muscles begin to contract again, but now you’re beginning to understand how to control your ‘core’- a hot topic every fitness guru loves to talk about 

2. Diaphragmatic Breathing: This exercise ties perfectly into #1 due to the fact you are now using the abs you ‘awakened’ previously while bracing in a seated position, but now you’re also getting another major muscle, the diaphragm, to work in tandem with your abdominal region. Once again, increasing ‘mind & muscle connection.’ 

3. Laying Hip Bridges: This exercise is the perfect exercise to master once you have been cleared from a c-section recovery, or are able to lay comfortably on your back again with your knees bent. For 10 years I’ve been using this exercise with everyone, postpartum woman or not, to assess how strong their lower body is- specifically the glutes/butt. However, little did I know that it also strengthens the muscles of the pelvic floor (2nd paragraph).

The above 3 exercises aren’t something that should be done in a quick jiff and then not thought about again. They are tools to be taken out of the toolbelt to be used multiple times a day. A simple regiment of 3x/day of each exercise is more than enough to get you started in helping strengthen the mystical and magical pelvic floor. 

References 

1. Cho, S. T., & Kim, K. H. (2021). Pelvic floor muscle exercise and training for coping with urinary incontinence. Journal of exercise rehabilitation, 17(6), 379–387. https://doi.org/10.12965/jer.2142666.333

2. Grimes, W. R., & Stratton, M. (2023). Pelvic Floor Dysfunction. In StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing.

3. https://nafc.org/downloadable-pelvic-floor-exercises/