Firstly, EVERYONE has a pelvic floor that needs to be looked after…
Men of all ages, pregnant women, non-pregnant women, young girls, older ladies, fit people, sedentary people, you name it, you’re on the list. For this very reason, we need to be mindful of how we train and what could be putting unnecessary strain on it.
If we think of the pelvic floor as a sling that is holding all of our privates in and secure, it’s easy to see how we could be faced with complications from bad practice. The most important “exercise” that we should be applying in all training programs is the activation of our deep core muscles.
These are not the surface “6 pack muscles” but the deep ones that take a bit of practice to engage. If you think about doing up your zipper of those really tight jeans and avoid getting skin caught, at the same time drawing up your pelvic floor underneath, there you have deep core activation.
The one thing we want to avoid is bracing the entire core to the point that you are holding your breath, which is putting an almighty strain down on that sling. If you need any more help with differentiating between the two then please by all means ASK!!!!!
Those of you that HAVE carried a baby (or few) through pregnancy and delivered naturally, you will always need to be a bit more cautious from thereafter. It’s not to say you can’t do some things forever, but proper maintenance through the activation mentioned above needs to be done regularly and not forgotten about. The good old ‘Kegal Squeeze’ even has an app reminder that you can get on your phone now, and I’ve had success with those of my clients that have used it in a matter of weeks!
If at ANY time you feel an urgency to pee during a particular exercise, PLEASE STOP! Only you know what you’re feeling, and you are definitely at no point “failing” if you have to stop, for this reason, I can’t express this enough!!!!!
If you have any pelvic floor issues please avoid the following until clearance from a physio has been obtained…
THE DON’T LIST
Skipping
Star jumps
Box jumps
Running
Squats lower than 90degrees
Sit ups
Full push ups
Lat pull downs
For further reading on everything pelvic floor please jump over to:
www.pelvicfloorfirst.org.au - great website full of the latest research, best exercises and health professional support.
https://suecroftphysiotherapistblog.com/ a highly experienced women's health physio.
