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This is not how you exercise your pelvic floor, but it is how you sit on a toilet.
DepositPhotos
▼ Whether or not you’ve resolved to get into shape this January, Muscle Monthis here to teach you a thing or two about stretching, contracting, lifting, tearing, gaining, and so much more.
Talk of pelvic floor muscles may bring to mind images of jade eggs, but while buying expensive rocks to stick up your nethers is a bad idea, maintaining a strong pelvic floor is a great one. Here’s everything you never knew you needed to know about keeping that pelvic floor jacked:
Do I have a pelvic floor?
If you have a pelvis, then yes, almost certainly! The pelvic floor refers to a group of muscles that “stretch like a muscular trampoline from the tailbone to the pubic bone,” as the Continence Foundation of Australia so delightfully puts it. These muscles hold up the bladder and the bowel, as well as the uterus (if you have one).
What does my pelvic floor do?
In addition to literally supporting all those organs lingering around your pelvis—which require a nice springy base, given their propensity to fill up with poop, pee, and sometimes even fetuses—the pelvic floor surrounds the fleshy tubes that allow such fluids and bodies to exit. The urethra and anus have additional rings of muscle called sphincters that give us more nuanced control of the comings and goings of our waste emissions, but anything trying to get out of your body must get past the pelvic floor first.
Do I need to work out my pelvic floor muscles?
There isn’t a ton of research as of yet on preventative pelvic exercises, but it can’t hurt (as long as you’re doing it right—more on that in a second). And there are certain conditions that may improve with the help of such exercises. A weak or damaged pelvic floor could lead to sexual dysfunction, incontinence, pain during sex, organ prolapse, or even lower back pain. In many of these cases a physical therapist will work to improve pelvic floor strength. But that doesn’t mean you should wait for a uterine prolapse before you start thinking about your pelvic floor.
“The pelvic floor absorbs all the pressure and weight of our bodies, and we pretty much do nothing in our day to day lives to strengthen it,” says Dr. Donna Mazloomdoost, a medical officer at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development who specializes in pelvic floor disorders. “It’s not like legs, where you’re walking around.” And especially as more people become obese, and put more weight on these muscles, she explains, a quick pelvic floor workout is probably well worth the effort for most of us.
Of course, the people who need to worry most about pelvic floor exercises are folks who have already suffered from related symptoms. Many individuals have strained or damaged muscles after giving birth, while others may have muscles damaged or even partially removed during prostate surgery.
How do I strengthen my pelvic floor? (▪ ▪ ▪)
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