Pelvic Floor Muscles: Do we really need to be able to isolate?

Many clients report they are not sure if they know what a “Kegel” is for sure or if they are doing it correctly.

• Sitting up nice and tall on a firm chair, do a little side to side move so you can feel your sit bones- give them a little pull apart if you feel tight.

• The next step is to relax! Take a deep breath in and as you exhale, let your lower tummy and the muscles of your PF relax and let go.

• Now take a deep breath in and release again, as you exhale, imagine you are closing the openings to your pelvic floor. Keep breathing and further imagine your tailbone pulling toward your pubic bone.

• Different people respond to various cues (pull a blueberry up and inside, imagine a trampoline releasing and then gathering tension up like it’s becoming convex, sitz bones together, hold urine or gas in)

• You can go into a squat in the shower and actually feel the muscles around this area lengthen and then elevate with your own finger to help.

• Some women have a difficult time feeling whether or not they are doing a pelvic floor contraction in isolation but they feel like they can engage and have no leakage of urine when standing or exercising.

More to know:

• It is helpful if you can but whether or not you can feel the lift does NOT necessarily mean you will leak or have other issues related to “weakness”.

• Pelvic floor muscles are meant to co-contract with the abdominal wall and with the glut muscles.

• The need to “isolate” these muscles can be helpful as you learn, especially if you need to release pain and tension but functionally the pelvic muscles rarely work in isolation.

• An up-to-date pelvic floor PT will get you up OFF the table and doing higher level exercise or functional movements to train these muscles and will be less focused on what a scale or measurement says your pelvic floor muscle “strength” is.