The Benefits of Strengthening Your Pelvic Floor: Why It Matters for Everyone

The pelvic floor is a group of muscles and tissues that form a supportive hammock across the bottom of your pelvis. These muscles play a crucial role in bladder and bowel control, sexual function, and overall core stability. The importance of pelvic floor health is often discussed in the context of women’s health, especially during pregnancy and postpartum. But everyone can benefit from a strong and well-functioning pelvic floor.

In this article, we’ll explore the many benefits of strengthening your pelvic floor and why it’s an essential aspect of overall fitness and well-being.

What is the Pelvic Floor?

The pelvic floor muscles span the area underneath the pelvis, connecting the pubic bone at the front to the tailbone at the back. These muscles support the pelvic organs, including the bladder, intestines, and, in women, the uterus. They also control the openings of the urethra, anus, and vagina (in women), helping to maintain continence and support sexual function.

Benefits of Strengthening the Pelvic Floor

Improved Bladder and Bowel Control

Why It Matters: One of the most well-known benefits of a strong pelvic floor is improved bladder and bowel control. Pelvic floor exercises, such as Kegels, help strengthen the muscles that support the bladder and rectum, reducing the risk of urinary incontinence and improving bowel control.

How It Helps: For those experiencing stress incontinence (leakage during activities like coughing, sneezing, or exercising), strengthening the pelvic floor can significantly reduce symptoms. In many cases, it can prevent them altogether.

This is particularly beneficial for women postpartum and men after prostate surgery, but it can also help anyone experiencing incontinence.

Enhanced Sexual Function and Satisfaction

Why It Matters: A strong pelvic floor can enhance sexual function for both men and women. In women, strong pelvic floor muscles can lead to increased sensation during intercourse and may improve the ability to achieve orgasm. For men, a strong pelvic floor can help with erectile function and ejaculation control.

How It Helps: Pelvic floor exercises improve blood flow to the pelvic region and increase muscle tone, which can lead to enhanced sexual pleasure and confidence in intimate situations.

Support During Pregnancy and Postpartum Recovery

Why It Matters: For women, a strong pelvic floor is essential during pregnancy and postpartum recovery. During pregnancy, the pelvic floor muscles support the growing baby and help stabilize the spine. After childbirth, strengthening these muscles can aid in recovery and help prevent issues like prolapse and incontinence.

How It Helps: Regular pelvic floor exercises before and after pregnancy can reduce the risk of pelvic organ prolapse (when pelvic organs drop from their normal position) and improve recovery from childbirth by restoring muscle tone and function.

Improved Core Stability and Posture

Why It Matters: The pelvic floor is a key component of the body’s core, working alongside the diaphragm, deep abdominal muscles, and back muscles to support the spine and pelvis. Strengthening the pelvic floor enhances overall core stability, which is vital for maintaining good posture and preventing lower back pain.

How It Helps: A strong pelvic floor contributes to better alignment and movement efficiency, reducing the strain on other muscles and joints.This can be particularly beneficial for athletes, those who perform heavy lifting, or individuals who spend long periods sitting.

Prevention and Management of Pelvic Organ Prolapse

Why It Matters: Pelvic organ prolapse occurs when the pelvic organs (such as the bladder, uterus, or rectum) drop from their normal position and push against the vaginal wall. This condition can cause discomfort, urinary issues, and a feeling of heaviness in the pelvic area.

How It Helps: Strengthening the pelvic floor can help prevent or manage prolapse by providing better support to the pelvic organs. In cases where prolapse has already occurred, pelvic floor exercises can alleviate symptoms and potentially reduce the severity of the prolapse.

Reduced Risk of Pelvic Pain

Why It Matters: Pelvic pain can be caused by a variety of factors, including muscle tension, nerve irritation, and dysfunction in the pelvic floor muscles. Strengthening and properly engaging these muscles can alleviate chronic pelvic pain and improve quality of life.

How It Helps: By improving muscle tone and balance, pelvic floor exercises can reduce pain and discomfort associated with pelvic floor dysfunction. This is particularly important for individuals dealing with conditions like pelvic floor hypertonicity (overly tight pelvic muscles).

Enhanced Exercise Performance

Why It Matters: A strong pelvic floor contributes to better performance in various physical activities, particularly those that require core stability and lower body strength. This includes activities like running, weightlifting, and yoga.

How It Helps: Strengthening the pelvic floor can improve your ability to generate power, maintain balance, and perform movements with greater control. This not only enhances performance but also reduces the risk of injury during exercise.

Support During Menopause

Why It Matters: During menopause, hormonal changes can lead to a weakening of the pelvic floor muscles. As a result, this increases the risk of incontinence and prolapse. Regular pelvic floor exercises can help counteract these effects.

How It Helps: By maintaining pelvic floor strength during menopause, women can reduce the likelihood of experiencing pelvic floor dysfunction. As a result, they can improve their overall quality of life during this stage.

How to Strengthen Your Pelvic Floor

Strengthening your pelvic floor involves regularly engaging and exercising these muscles. Here’s how you can do it:

Kegel Exercises

How to Do It: To perform a Kegel, focus on tightening the muscles you would use to stop the flow of urine. Hold the contraction for a few seconds, then release. Aim to perform several sets of 10-15 repetitions throughout the day.
Tip: Make sure you’re not engaging your abdominal, thigh, or buttock muscles—focus solely on the pelvic floor.

Pelvic Tilts

How to Do It: Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Gently tilt your pelvis upward, engaging your pelvic floor muscles as you do so. Hold for a few seconds, then release.
Tip: This exercise also helps to strengthen your lower back and improve core stability.

Bridge Exercise

How to Do It: Lie on your back with your knees bent. Lift your hips off the ground while squeezing your glutes and engaging your pelvic floor. Hold for a few seconds before lowering back down.
Tip: Focus on the mind-muscle connection to ensure your pelvic floor is engaged throughout the movement.

Squats

How to Do It: Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and lower your body into a squat position while engaging your pelvic floor muscles. Return to the standing position and repeat.
Tip: Squats are a great way to strengthen the pelvic floor. Additionally, they also train lower body muscles like the glutes, hamstrings, and quads.

Yoga and Pilates

How It Helps: Many yoga and Pilates exercises naturally engage the pelvic floor muscles, promoting strength and flexibility. Practices like the bridge pose, child’s pose, and pelvic tilts are especially effective.
Tip: Incorporate these exercises into your regular fitness routine to consistently work on your pelvic floor strength.

Final Thoughts

Strengthening your pelvic floor is an essential aspect of overall fitness and well-being that often goes overlooked. Investing time in pelvic floor exercises can yield significant benefits. Make these exercises a regular part of your routine to improve your quality of life and maintain pelvic health long term. Remember, a strong pelvic floor is important for everyone—regardless of age or gender.

Author: Nikeem Quinn-Jenkins