Do you dread jogging, jumping, coughing or sneezing because you might wet yourself? You are not alone, especially if you have gone through menopause. But you can put a stop to this by strengthening the pelvic floor through regular exercises.
The floor of our pelvis is made up of muscles and other tissues which stretch from the tailbone at the back to the pubic bone in front. Not only do these muscles supports our bladder, uterus, colon, vagina and anus, they actually keep everything together and are also responsible for some of our vital body functions.
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The pelvic floor supports our physical movements and our posture as well as helping with bowel control, bladder control and sexual control.
Like all other muscles in our body our pelvic floor muscles get smaller and become weak with age. A weakened pelvic floor can cause a loss of bladder control which might cause you to leak small amounts of urine when you cough, sneeze or during exercises.
Below are some exercises that can strengthen the pelvic floor and keep the leaks at bay:
- Breathing exercises will help strengthen the muscles of your pelvic floor. When you breathe in, the cylinder expands so that the diaphragm, pelvic floor and the deep abdominal muscles widen. When you exhale, the cylinder gets smaller and tightens up. Try and lift up your pelvic floor pulling in your tummy at the same time to strengthen your pelvic floor muscles.
- You must always maintain a good posture to strengthen your pelvic floor
- Always make sure that you sit on your sit bones with your pelvis straight underneath you.
- The floor has to stretch and relax as well as contract, so always allow time for the floor to expand lower and release in between contractions.
- Sit-up exercises can really help to strengthen a weak pelvic floor.
