Women, Strengthen Your Pelvic Floor Muscles With These Exercises

Physiotherapists, doctors and nurses suggest pelvic floor exercises as it can help you to improve your bladder control. Generally after pregnancy or as you get older, women may notice that there pelvic muscles have weakened. Other factors like obesity, heavy lifting, chronic coughing. Pelvic floor muscle exercises are essential. The pelvic muscles support the bladder, bowel, and uterus. When they contract, the organs are lifted and the openings to the vagina, anus, and urethra are tightened. When the muscles are relaxed, urine and feces can be released from the body. Here are some exercises that strengthen pelvic floor muscles.

Bridge: Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor, hip-width apart. Inhale and engage your pelvic floor, and lift your hips. Hold for up to 10 seconds and keep breathing. Lower your hips back down and release your pelvic floor. Repeat this exercise ten times.

Wall Squat: Stand against a wall, feet hip-width apart. Inhale and engage your pelvic floor, and lower yourself into a squat as though sitting on a chair. Hold for 10 seconds. Rise back up to standing and release your pelvic floor.

Jumping stacks: Start with your legs together. Engage your pelvic floor as you jump your legs apart and bring your arms overhead. Release your pelvic floor as you hop your legs back together. Repeat this for a minute.

Kegels: Kegels is the practice of contracting and relaxing your pelvic floor muscles. This exercise may be beneficial if you experience leakage of urine during sneezing, laughing, jumping, or coughing, or have a strong urge to urinate just before passing a large amount of urine.

Crunches: Lie on your back as shown. Extend your arms straight up toward the ceiling. Inhale, engage your pelvic floor, and extend your right arm beyond your head and right leg forward. Release pelvic floor and draw arm and leg back to starting position. Repeat this with left arm and legs.