Pelvic Floor Secrets!
Pelvic Floor secrets you need to know!
Pelvic Floor secrets are things we all need to know. We should be clued up on these but somehow they slip through the net! You would think that education in this area would be a key part of our knowledge base, but it’s not. If you’re anything like most women, you might have grown up calling your bits all sorts of creative names, and let’s be honest, how many of us really know what’s what down there? Anyone else had to Google what a vulva actually is?!
But beyond names, it’s the muscles we can’t see that really deserve our attention – those internal powerhouses that, when we understand them better, can make us feel like the strong, empowered women we know we are. So, let’s talk about the five things every woman needs to know about her pelvic floor.
Pelvic Floor Secret No 1 – You Can’t Feel Your Pelvic Floor from the Outside.
Not even a little bit! No exercise professional can tell you simply by touch if your pelvic floor is switching on let alone anything about its strength, functionality, or endurance. To properly understand your pelvic floor, I always recommend my clients see a Women’s or Pelvic Health Physiotherapist. WHPs are specialists that can assess your Pelvic Floor externally using Real Time Ultrasound and via internal examinations (it’s not as scary as it sounds and it’s VERY informative).
The secret is to relax!
Your Pelvic Floor needs to relax (more) to help push a baby out. I don’t say that flippantly, I’m always hesitant to use the word ‘easy’ when it comes to childbirth. The key part here is that you need to know prior to birth if your pelvic floor is too tight / hypertonic as this can make pushing a baby out very challenging. Symptoms of a hypertonic PF could be re-occurring UTI’s, painful sex, glute and/or lower back pain and urinary incontinence.
Young female athletes have a Pelvic Floor too
This Isn’t Just a “Mum” Thing. That’s right, no matter your age (or gender) you have a pelvic floor. These days, with women training harder and lifting heavier, we’re seeing more signs of a hypertonic pelvic floor in this younger demographic. We know that knowledge is power so if we can also educate our younger women now, we will be setting them up for success in the long term both within their current training and if they choose to become a mother later in life.
Are you doing your Pelvic Floor Exercises wrong?
You’ve probably heard the phrase ‘do your kegels!‘ but what if I told you a lot of women are doing them wrong? Research suggests that up to 60% of women are actually pushing down on their pelvic floor when they think they’re drawing it up. Yikes! Imagine doing that at the hardest point of a squat or deadlift – that’s potentially going to add far more pressure and lead to injury. So again, this is why seeing a pro to make sure you’re doing them right is essential.
Common but not normal
Leaking is common but not normal – after carrying a baby for 9 months and then giving birth, your pelvic floor is likely to be weakened and symptoms of incontinence are very common. However, these symptoms are not ‘normal’ to expect to live with for the rest of your life. Getting help by seeing a Women’s or Pelvic Health Physio is an absolute MUST!
Mum-focused author, educator and business owner, Jen Dugard is on a mission to ensure every woman is safely and effectively looked after when she becomes a mother. She is a highly qualified trainer and fitness professional educator and has been specialising in working with mums for over a decade. MumSafe is the go-to place online for women to find mum-focused fitness services that are all accredited, experienced and partnered with women’s health physios so you know you are in very safe hands.