From keeping your posture in check to enjoying what goes on in the bedroom, a healthy pelvic floor is a no-brainer in the pleasure department. But how do you take care of it? Learn how to kickstart a new routine with pelvic floor muscle training
Words: Amy Dowrick | Images: Shutterstock
“Pelvic floor is so important in so many different aspects because it’s integral to these functions that we take care of,” says board-certified urologist and pelvic surgeon Dr Rena Malik.
“But sometimes a pelvic floor can be discordant, too tight or have elevated tone, which means you can develop a whole host of abnormalities,” she says.
And when facing pelvic floor weakness, just like with any workout, it’s time for muscle training to step in – but it’s not as simple as the Kegels that your Pilates instructor urges you to do.
Why do we need a healthy pelvic floor?
“It is extremely important for a variety of functions,” says Dr Malik. “It offers stability when you’re standing or sitting, and it offers the ability to defecate and urinate normally.”
“When women have pregnancy, the pelvic floor becomes very important,” she adds. “And it’s involved in orgasm and involved in sexual function.”
But according to Dr Malik, the issues of a weak pelvic floor go beyond having a little leak when coughing or sneezing postpartum – it’s a lot more complex.
Symptoms of pelvic floor dysfunction
“Most people can’t recognise it because it’s very difficult to notice, and it’s sort of gradual,” says Dr Malik. “But over time it can become noticeable.”
Pain during sex
If you’ve been experiencing pain during sex, it’s more than likely your pelvic floor.
“With sexual function, it’s very tense, and you can have pain,” says Dr Malik. “Sometimes it can be a lot of different kinds of pain syndromes and it’s really just pelvic floor dysfunction.”
It’s a very common symptom, and alongside the pain, it can cause pressure, or involuntary muscle spasms.
Poor digestion
It’s common knowledge that your digestive health is a big indication as to how your body is functioning – and your pelvic floor is no different.
“You can definitely have constipation and then often you can also have back pain,” says Dr Malik. “All of these things can happen when your pelvic floor is too tense.”
Pain on the loo
“You can have symptoms of urgency, frequency – meaning you have to go to the bathroom a lot – or you have to go and have a sudden desire that you can’t delay, sometimes even having leakage,” she adds.
And in some cases, it can actually make it difficult to urinate because the pelvic floor is so tense.
What is pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT)?
PFMT involves training your pelvic floor to function correctly – and while Dr Malik does recommend working with a physical therapist to learn the exercises to help train your pelvic floor properly, there are certain exercises that can be done at home.
Kegels
“You’re going to use the muscles that you use when you urinate, but to try to stop the flow,” says Dr Malik – who urges patients to not actually do them when urinating because that can create dysfunction.
“You want to learn what the muscles are, and then you squeeze those muscles and relax in between sets,” she adds. “You can squeeze for five seconds and relax for five seconds and do them in repetitions, just like any sort of exercise you do.”
Dr Malik suggests sitting up to do them, and as you get better, moving on to doing them standing, starting with 10 to 15 repetitions in the morning, at night, and maybe one more set during the middle of the day.
Breathing from the diaphragm
“Diaphragmatic breathing is really important,” she says. “It’s like a deep breath that expands the diaphragm – not shallow breathing that is just in your mouth and throat.”
As you inhale through your nose, you expand the abdomen and then as you exhale, you lift the pelvic floor, so it contracts and stabilises.
Happy Baby Pose
“It actually stretches and elongates the pelvic floor muscles,” says Dr Malik, who recommends holding the Happy Baby Pose during yoga to move and lengthen the pelvic floor.
Other core support exercises like bridge poses or squats are also good exercises to engage your pelvic muscles.
How can PFMT improve your sex life?
The pelvic floor muscles are the foundation of your sexual function, and according to sex therapist Dr Emily Morse, these muscles are also responsible for orgasms.
“These muscles contract and relax during sexual arousal orgasm,” says Dr Morse, who calls pelvic-floor workouts a ‘sex-ercise’. “Wouldn’t it make sense that these are muscles we want to strengthen? Doing these exercises will help you in so many ways.”
“The more that I focused on it when I was really into Kegels, the more my orgasms were accessible and stronger,” she adds.
From Kegel weights to electromagnetic stimulation, Dr Morse suggests that spending just 5 minutes a day working on your pelvic floor will have you actively noticing a difference in your orgasms – doing wonders for women in menopause, too.
“Over time, those pelvic floor muscles are going to drop, like every other muscle,” she says. “So, you might want to try doing some pelvic floor exercises and have a daily pelvic floor practice.”
But for those experiencing pain, tightness or clenching, she also recommends – like Dr Malik – to see a pelvic floor physical therapist, and steer clear of the at-home methods.
But while a strong pelvic floor seems like an all-rounder on the health front, there is a more important message to take home than an eye-rolling orgasm.
“Strengthening the pelvic floor is great if you have a weak pelvic floor,” says Andrew Huberman Ph.D., neuroscientist and professor in neurobiology at Stanford School of Medicine. “But strengthening your pelvic floor further if you already have a strong pelvic floor can be detrimental.”
Essentially, if you have any of the symptoms described by Dr Malik (to recap: painful urination, difficulty urinating, pain during sex), see a urologist instead of taking to the Kegels and get a professional assessment.
For more information on how to improve your pelvic floor, get daily updates from Dr Malik by following her on Instagram @renamalikmd
