Pelvic floor muscle training pictures

If you haven't started pelvic floor muscle training yet, we recommend that you start now and stick to it until it becomes a good habit that will last your whole life. Improving your pelvic floor muscle strength can help prevent stress urinary incontinence, a problem that affects 70% of women during pregnancy or after giving birth. There's even direct evidence that stronger pelvic floor muscles can shorten the duration of the second stage of labor.

What is pelvic floor muscle training?

Pelvic floor muscle training is a set of exercises you can do to strengthen your pelvic floor muscles. The pelvic floor muscles support your urethra, bladder, uterus, and duodenum. This set of fitness exercises is named after gynecologist Arod Apple Kegel. Kegel recommended this exercise to women with urinary incontinence or poor bladder control as early as the 1940s. After giving birth, both of these situations are likely to occur.

Pelvic floor muscle training can also promote blood circulation in your duodenum and vaginal area, prevent hemorrhoids, and accelerate the healing of episiotomy or perineal tear. Finally, regular and consistent pelvic floor muscle training after giving birth will not only help you control your bladder, but will also increase the elasticity of your vagina, making your post-natal married life happier.

Pelvic floor muscle training methods

How to do pelvic floor muscle training:

Imagine trying to hold in a fart while also trying to stop the stream of urine during a pee. It's a "tightening and lifting" feeling - closing and lifting the vagina and anus. (Reminder: You can put a clean finger into the vagina. If your finger can feel squeezed during the exercise, it means that the exercise method is correct. Or try pelvic floor muscle exercises during sex and see how your husband feels. If your method is correct, he will feel that your vagina is firmly "embracing" his penis.)

Pelvic floor muscle training methods

When doing the crunches and lifts, you must pay attention to keeping the rest of your body relaxed, without tightening your abdomen, thighs, and buttocks, or holding your breath. In other words, during the entire exercise, only your pelvic floor muscles are working hard. Although it may not be easy for you to stimulate these muscles independently at the beginning of training, more training will make you feel that pelvic floor muscle training is much easier. When training, placing the door handle on your abdomen can help you ensure that your abdomen remains relaxed.

When doing pelvic floor muscle exercises, tighten your pelvic floor muscles, count to 8-10 seconds, relax for a few seconds, and then tighten again. If you have urinary incontinence problems, try tightening your pelvic floor muscles when you sneeze or cough. You may find that this helps you avoid bedwetting.

When you first start doing pelvic floor muscle training, you can train your pelvic floor muscles several times a day. As your muscles continue to improve, you can gradually increase the frequency of your daily training and increase the time you spend tightening your pelvic floor muscles each time. You can do it 3 times a day, 3 to 4 sets each time, 10 times each set.

Frequently asked questions

Make pelvic floor muscle training a part of your daily routine and do it every day: for example, you can do it when you wake up in the morning, while you watch TV, and before going to bed. As long as you stick with it, it doesn't matter when or where you do your pelvic floor muscle exercises.