3 Pelvic floor exercises you need to start doing right now

Exercise 1: Long hold for strength

Source: The Royal Women’s Hospital, Victoria

Step 1:
Sit, stand tall, lie on your back with your knees bent and legs comfortably apart or kneel on your hands and knees.

Step 2:
Close your eyes, imagine what muscles you would tighten to stop yourself from passing wind or to ‘hold on’ from passing urine. If you can’t feel a distinct tightening of these muscles, please speak/seek help from your local women’s health physiotherapist.

Step 3:
Now that you can feel your pelvic floor muscles working, tighten them around your front passage, vagina and back passage as strongly as possible and hold for three to five seconds. By doing this, you should feel your pelvic floor muscles ‘lift up’ inside you and feel a definite ‘let go’ as the muscles relax. If you can hold longer (but no more than a maximum of eight seconds), then do so. Remember, the squeeze must stay strong and you should feel a definite ‘let go’. Repeat up to ten times or until you feel your pelvic floor muscles fatigue. Rest for a few seconds in between each squeeze.

Note: Steps one to three count as one exercise set. If you can, do three sets per day in different positions. Do your pelvic floor exercises every day for the rest of your life.

Exercise 2: Squeeze and lift

Source: Continence Australia

• Squeeze and draw in the muscles around your back passage and your vagina at the same time. Lift them UP inside. You should have a sense of “lift” each time you squeeze your pelvic floor muscles. Try to hold them strong and tight as you count to 8. Now, let them go and relax. You should have a distinct feeling of “letting go”.
• Repeat “squeeze and lift” and let go. It is best to rest for about 8 seconds in between each lift up of the muscles. If you can’t hold for 8, just hold for as long as you can.

• Repeat this “squeeze and lift” as many times as you can, up to a limit of 8 to 12 squeezes.

• Try to do three sets of 8 to 12 squeezes each, with a rest in between.

Do this whole training plan (three sets of 8 to 12 squeezes) each day while lying down, sitting or standing.

Exercise 3: Quick squeeze for power

Source: The Royal Women’s Hospital, Victoria

Squeeze and lift your pelvic floor muscles as strongly and as quickly as possible. Do not try to hold on to the contraction, just squeeze and let go. Rest for a few seconds in between each squeeze. Repeat this 10 to 20 times or until you feel your pelvic floor muscles fatigue.

If you can, do this exercise set one to three times per day.

During both exercises you should:

• feel your pelvic floor muscles ‘lift up’ inside you, rather than feel a downward movement
• relax your thighs and buttocks
• keep breathing normally
• stop exercising if your muscles fatigue.

Not sure where your pelvic floor is, or how to tone it once you’ve found it?  Watch Dr Marg Sherburn from the Women’s as she demonstrates how to take care of those pelvic muscles.

Useful resources for exercising pelvic floor muscles

Source: Pelvic Floor First

Pregnancy and exercise

The pelvic floor and core exercises

The pelvic floor and resistance exercises

Remembering to do your Pelvic Floor Exercises