The pelvic floor is a group of muscles that support the pelvic organs, including the uterus, bladder, vagina, bowels, and rectum.
A weak pelvic floor can cause issues with your pelvic organs. You may leak pee more easily, release poop or gas at the wrong times, or have more painful sex.
Strengthening your pelvic floor can help with the symptoms of a weak pelvic floor. Pelvic floor strengthening exercises are typically easy to do at home. A healthcare provider or physical therapist with expertise in pelvic floor training can also offer guidance.
Before you start doing exercises to strengthen your pelvic floor, it’s a good idea to check in with your healthcare provider or a pelvic floor therapist. They can help determine the best exercises for your particular situation and provide guidance on proper technique.
Kegel Exercises
The most commonly recommended pelvic floor exercises are Kegel exercises. These exercises are relatively easy and can effectively strengthen your pelvic floor.
Here’s how to do Kegel exercises:
- Sit or lie down in a relaxed position
- Find your pelvic floor muscles; you can do this by pretending that you are peeing and that you need to hold your pee in
- Squeeze your pelvic floor muscles for about three seconds
- Fully release these muscles, exhaling deeply
- Repeat this as many times as you feel comfortable, slowly working up to about 10-15 reps
- Consider doing Kegels about three times each day
- Try not to squeeze or tense your other muscles (stomach or thigh muscles) while squeezing your pelvic floor muscles; try to isolate just your pelvic floor muscles
Other Strengthening Exercises
Kegels are not the only exercises that can help strengthen your pelvic floor. Research has found that strengthening some of the muscles near your pelvic floor muscles, such as your abdominal (stomach) and hip muscles, can also make your pelvic floor stronger.
Some exercises that can strengthen both your pelvic floor and surrounding muscles include:
- Squats: Stand with your feet a bit wider than your hips, slowly sink your hips toward the floor, and push up with your legs and butt to stand back up straight
- Cat-cow: Get on all fours, curve your back and bring your head upward like a cow, then arch your spine and bring your head down like a cat
- Pelvic tilts: Lay on the floor with your knees bent, then gently lift your pelvis off the floor while engaging your abdominal muscles
- Bird dog: Get on all fours and slowly extend one arm and the opposite leg, then switch off and extend the other arm and leg.
Strengthening your pelvic floor has many benefits. The specific benefits will partly depend on your symptoms and how your weak pelvic floor affects your health and daily life.
If you are leaking pee due to a weak pelvic floor, strengthening your pelvic floor can help you reduce or stop leakage. A stronger pelvic floor can relieve excessive gassiness or leakage of poop. It may also improve your bowel movements overall, keeping you more regular.
Strengthening your pelvic floor can make sexual intercourse less painful. It may also improve your ability to orgasm and may increase the intensity of your orgasms.
People have reported many other benefits after doing pelvic floor strengthening exercises, including:
- Stabilizing of the pelvic bones and spine
- Less lower back pain
- Better range of movement and more flexibility
- Better overall recovery from childbirth
- Protection from pelvic organ prolapse
- Decrease in pelvic organ prolapse symptoms
The primary function of your pelvic floor is to hold your pelvic organs in place. Your pelvic floor is like a hammock, giving support to your uterus, bladder, bowels, vagina, and rectum.
There are a few simple ways to identify your pelvic floor muscles. Here’s what to do:
- Take a moment to sit comfortably or lie still.
- Imagine that you are about to pass gas (fart) and squeeze those muscles to stop the gas from leaving your body. Now, imagine that you are peeing, and squeeze your muscles to stop the pee from flowing. The muscles you had to squeeze are some of the muscles that are part of your pelvic floor.
- Alternatively, next time you sit on the toilet to pee, try stopping the flow of urine by squeezing your muscles. The muscles you use are your pelvic floor muscles. Don’t make a habit out of stopping mid-pee, as it could prevent your bladder from fully emptying.
It can take time to notice results once you start strengthening your pelvic floor. Have patience, and continue to do your exercises regularly.
Monitor your symptoms. Ask yourself questions like: Are you leaking pee any less often? Is sex less painful? Are you less gassy or experiencing less poop leakage?
Most people notice an improvement in symptoms after doing pelvic floor strengthening exercises for about 3-6 weeks. If your symptoms don’t improve after this time, consider contacting your healthcare provider or a pelvic floor therapist for guidance and support.
When your pelvic floor becomes weakened, your pelvic organs may prolapse, or descend into an abnormal position. Pelvic organ prolapse can feel like abnormal pressure in your vagina or rectum. It may also feel like you have to pee more than usual.
A weakened pelvic floor can also result in symptoms like leaking pee, excessive gas, or fecal incontinence (when you can’t always control when poop comes out).
There are many possible causes and risk factors for a weak pelvic floor, including:
- Obesity
- Older age
- Pelvic floor injury
- Pregnancy, especially if you spent a long time pushing during labor, have had multiple children, or gave birth to a larger-than-average baby
- Pelvic surgery
- History of chronic constipation
- Frequently lifting heavy items
- Chronic respiratory disorders
While performing pelvic floor strengthening exercises can help improve symptoms of a weak pelvic floor, it’s also possible to overwork your muscles—causing an overactive pelvic floor.
An overactive pelvic floor occurs when your pelvic floor muscles become sore and exhausted. People with an overactive pelvic floor might experience increased pelvic floor symptoms, like an increase in leaking pee.
To avoid overworking your pelvic floor, start slowly, gradually building to more reps and greater intensity. If you feel any pain or discomfort while doing any of these exercises, stop and seek guidance from a trained professional.
While doing these exercises, try to breathe deeply and relax your body. You want to contract your pelvic floor muscles but not the muscles in your pelvis, hips, or jaw.
Many populations can benefit from pelvic floor strengthening.
While pelvic floor issues are often associated with female anatomy, males can also have pelvic floor dysfunction. This is especially true for individuals who have had prostate surgery or who experience urine or fecal incontinence. People assigned male at birth can strengthen their pelvic floor by tightening and releasing the muscles used to hold in urine or gas.
Older adults can also benefit from pelvic floor training. As people age, their muscles naturally weaken, making them prone to pelvic floor issues such as incontinence and overactive bladder (feeling like you have to pee all the time). Pelvic floor strengthening can help with these issues.
Pelvic floor strengthening can also benefit people who are pregnant. During pregnancy, the weight of your growing baby and uterus can weaken your pelvic floor muscles. Rebuilding your pelvic floor muscles after giving birth is important for restoring pelvic strength.
Research is mixed about whether you should perform pelvic floor exercises during pregnancy. It’s best to ask your healthcare provider for advice about this. However, strengthening your pelvic floor before and after pregnancy is recommended and beneficial.
If you have any concerns about your pelvic floor or symptoms of a weak pelvic floor, don’t hesitate to reach out to your healthcare provider.
Reach out to your provider if you have any of the following symptoms:
- Leaking pee
- Leakage of feces (poop)
- Uncontrolled gas leakage
- Trouble peeing
- Feeling like you have to pee constantly
- Trouble pooping or chronic constipation
- Pelvic pain
- Trouble identifying and squeezing your pelvic floor muscles
- Prolapse of pelvic organs, which might look like a visible bulge inside or coming out of your vagina
Experiencing a weak pelvic floor is common after pregnancy, in older age, or if you’ve had pelvic surgery or a pelvic injury. Signs of a weak pelvic floor include leaking pee, leaking poop or gas, or painful sex.
Pelvic floor exercises like Kegels can help alleviate some of these symptoms. Exercises that strengthen your abdominal and hip muscles can also be helpful. If you don’t find relief after trying these exercises for a few weeks, consider reaching out to your healthcare provider for support.
