Exercising Your Pelvic Muscles
Why exercise pelvic muscles?
Life's events can weaken pelvic muscles. Pregnancy, childbirth, and being overweight can do it.
Luckily, when these muscles get weak, you can help make them strong again.
Pelvic floor muscles are just like other muscles. Exercise can make them stronger. Women with
bladder control problems can regain control through pelvic muscle exercises, also called Kegel
exercises.
Pelvic Fitness in Minutes a Day
Exercising your pelvic floor muscles for just 5 minutes, three times a
day can make a big difference to your bladder control. Exercise
strengthens muscles that hold the bladder and many other organs in
place.
The part of your body including your hip bones is the pelvic area. At
the bottom of the pelvis, several layers of muscle stretch between your
legs. The muscles attach to the front, back, and sides of the pelvis
bone.
Two pelvic muscles do most of the work. The biggest one stretches
like a hammock. The other is shaped like a triangle. These muscles
prevent leaking of urine and stool.
How do you exercise your pelvic muscles?
Find the right muscles. This is very important. Your doctor,
nurse, or physical therapist will help make sure you are doing the
exercises the right way.
You should tighten the two major muscles that stretch across
your pelvic floor. They are the "hammock" muscle and the
"triangle" muscle. Here are three methods to check for the
correct muscles.
1. Try to stop the flow of urine when you are sitting on the
toilet. If you can do it, you are using the right muscles.
2. Imagine that you are trying to stop passing gas. Squeeze the muscles you would use. If
you sense a "pulling" feeling, those are the right muscles for pelvic exercises.
3. Lie down and put your finger inside your vagina. Squeeze as if you were trying to stop
urine from coming out. If you feel tightness on your finger, you are squeezing the right
pelvic muscle.
The pelvic muscles work to
control the release of urine.
You can make these pelvic floor
muscles stronger with a few
minutes of exercise every day.
Don't squeeze other muscles at the same time. Be careful not to tighten your stomach, legs,
or other muscles. Squeezing the wrong muscles can put more pressure on your bladder control
muscles. Just squeeze the pelvic muscle. Don't hold your breath.
Repeat, but don't overdo it. At first, find a quiet spot to practice—your bathroom or bedroom—
so you can concentrate. Lie on the floor. Pull in the pelvic muscles and hold for a count of 3.
Then relax for a count of 3. Work up to 10 to 15 repeats each
time you exercise.
Do your pelvic exercises at least three times a day. Every
day, use three positions: lying down, sitting, and standing. You
can exercise while lying on the floor, sitting at a desk, or standing
in the kitchen. Using all three positions makes the muscles
strongest.
Be patient. Don't give up. It's just 5 minutes, three times a day.
You may not feel your bladder control improve until after 3 to 6
weeks. Still, most women do notice an improvement after a few
weeks.
Exercise aids. You can also exercise by using special weights or biofeedback. Ask your health
care team about these exercise aids.
Hold the Squeeze 'til After the Sneeze
You can protect your pelvic muscles from more damage by bracing yourself.
Think ahead, just before sneezing, lifting, or jumping. Sudden pressure from such actions can
hurt those pelvic muscles. Squeeze your pelvic muscles tightly and hold on until after you
sneeze, lift, or jump.
After you train yourself to tighten the pelvic muscles for these moments, you will have fewer
accidents.
Points to Remember
• Weak pelvic muscles often cause bladder control problems.
• Daily exercises can strengthen pelvic muscles.
• These exercises often improve bladder control.
• Ask your doctor of nurse if you are squeezing the right muscles.
• Tighten your pelvic muscles before sneezing, lifting, or jumping. This can prevent pelvic
muscle damage.
•
Healthy sphincter muscles can
keep the urethra closed.
My Pelvic Muscle Exercise Log
Print out this chart and record your pelvic muscle exercises.
Sunday
• I exercised my pelvic muscles ____ times.
• I spent ____ minutes exercising.
• At each exercise session, I squeezed my pelvic muscles ____
times.
Monday
• I exercised my pelvic muscles ____ times.
• I spent ____ minutes exercising.
• At each exercise session, I squeezed my pelvic muscles ____
times.
Tuesday
• I exercised my pelvic muscles ____ times.
• I spent ____ minutes exercising.
• At each exercise session, I squeezed my pelvic muscles ____
times.
Wednesday
• I exercised my pelvic muscles ____ times.
• I spent ____ minutes exercising.
• At each exercise session, I squeezed my pelvic muscles ____
times.
Thursday
• I exercised my pelvic muscles ____ times.
• I spent ____ minutes exercising.
• At each exercise session, I squeezed my pelvic muscles ____
times.
Friday
• I exercised my pelvic muscles ____ times.
• I spent ____ minutes exercising.
• At each exercise session, I squeezed my pelvic muscles ____
times.
Saturday
• I exercised my pelvic muscles ____ times.
• I spent ____ minutes exercising.
• At each exercise session, I squeezed my pelvic muscles ____
times.