5 Exercises to Strengthen your Pelvic Floor

Pelvic Floor Strength

The pelvic floor is a key player in all foundational strength. Whether you’re chasing after little ones, getting back into fitness, or simply wanting to feel stronger from the inside out, understanding your pelvic floor and building awareness and connection in that area is the key to your strength.

Your pelvic floor muscles do it all: they support your organs, play a role in sexual function, and keep you feeling confident when you sneeze, laugh, or exercise. But it’s not just about strength. It’s about having a pelvic floor that moves well, meaning it can both contract and relax as needed. Many women unknowingly struggle with a tight pelvic floor (hypertonic), which can be just as problematic as a weak one. We need to  shift our focus from just ‘strong’ to functionally strong—and that’s where these five moves come in.

Five key Pelvic Floor Exercises

These exercises will guide you to not only strengthen but also relax your pelvic floor (PF). And as always, it’s a great idea to work with a pelvic health physiotherapist to tailor your routine to your body. Feeling strong is more about connection and awareness which all starts slowly, from the inside.

Exercise – Pelvic floor activations in lying

Lie flat on your back with your knees bent and feet hip width apart. Shoulders relaxed and with a natural curve through your lower back. Take your thumbs and place them just under your rib cage on either side and do a little cough –this will help you find your obliques (we want to make sure they stay nice and relaxed throughout this movement). With your thumbs still on your obliques lay your palms on your hip bones and finger tips on your transversus abdominis which you can feel just inside your hip bones.

Now we can start to find your pelvic floor –throughout this gentle exercise you shouldn’t feel your body move or anything through your thumbs. You may feel a slight tightening at your fingertips but no tensing.

• Take a natural breath in
• As you breath out for women draw your front passage in and up (imagine you are gently drawing a blueberry up a straw)
• Do this to about a 5% contraction, hold for a second, then completely relax
• Repeat x5-10

Exercise – Opposite arm to leg extension

Your pelvic floor doesn’t work in isolation so adding in other stabilizing movements is super helpful. Start on all fours with you hands directly under our shoulders and knees directly under your hips.

• Take a natural breath in and as you breath out, activate your pelvic floor muscles at about a 5% contraction
• Keeping your shoulders and hips level extend one arm out to the front and the opposite leg out to the back (Lift no higher than your shoulder and hip)
• Slowly replace the hand and knee back to the ground
• With as little movement as possible through your hips, shoulders and back repeat on the other side
• Repeat x5-8 per side

Exercise – Hip Raise with adduction

Now that you know how to activate your pelvic floor adding glutes in can enhance your activation. Your PF is connected via fascia to your adductors (muscles on the inside of your legs). When you activate your glutes and squeeze your legs together you will enhance your PF contraction.

• Lie flat on your back with your knees bent and feet hip width apart
• Have an awareness through your PF and TA
• Take a breath in and as you breathe out push through your heels, squeeze your glutes and raise your hips off the floor until you have a nice straight line between your shoulders and your knees (Be careful not to go too high!)
• Hold here for 3-5 seconds squeezing your glutes and then slowly lower back down to the ground
• Repeat x10-15

Exercise – Box Squat

Performing functional movements with awareness of your PF is important . Using a box to squat onto not only guides your depth and ensures you get a good range of motion but a micro pause at the bottom offers you the opportunity to consciously contract and be more aware of your pelvic floor at the lowest (hardest) point of the exercise and recruit it on the way up.

• Start with your feet a comfortable width apart and toes pointing in a natural (for you) direction
• Have an awareness of your PF at the start point
• As you lower down a well-functioning PF will begin to contract automatically
• When you reach the box, pause for a micro second, then breathe out as you push through your heels, squeeze your glutes, draw in and up through your PF and come to a stand
• You can relax completely when you are back in a standing position
• Repeat x8-12
• As you become more aware of your PF in your squat you can remove the box and follow the same steps

Child’s Pose

Ensuring you can relax your PF and keeping the muscles attached to it helps with range of motion & full contraction. Stretching your adductors is a great place to start!

• Start by kneeling down
• Move your knees apart and keep your toes together
• Slowly sink down so your chest is on or near the ground (you can use a pillow to prop up your chest if you need to)
• Breathe deeply and steadily allowing all the tension to be released.
• Allow your glutes and pelvic floor to relax
• Stay here for 1-3mins

Jen Dugard is the founder and creator of MumSafe™️-the go-to website for mums to connect with Personal Trainers that are certified, experienced and partner with Pelvic Health Physiotherapists so that you know you are in very safe hands.