Strengthening the pelvic floor. Guest Post by Vie Activist Vibeke Murphy
Guest Post by Vie Activist Vibeke Murphy
The pelvic floor is made up of ligaments , tendons and muscles which form a supportive hammock .
The pelvic floor is super important because it is the foundation of the core of the body .
The pelvic floor works with the deep muscles of the abdomen as well as back muscles to help create core stability. It provides stability for the pelvis and supports the organs of the lower abdomen.
It loses strength with age, inactivity ,obesity and hormonal changes. Childbirth, constipation and chronic coughing also contribute greatly to pelvic floor weakness.
The good news is that pelvic floor tone can always be improved regardless of your age and current life stage. The pelvic floor can be strengthened effectively by doing kegels.
Kegels are exercises to specifically tone the pelvic floor. The pelvic floor muscles can be strengthened by contracting the muscles that you use to stop the flow of urine or to stop passing wind. Contracting these muscles and holding the contraction for a few seconds before relaxing and repeating a number of times throughout the day helps to maintain good pelvic floor tone.
Pilates and yoga are also both fabulous types of exercise for maintaining healthy tone in the pelvic floor region as they both employ the use of the pelvic floor and deep abdominal muscles during the various exercises and postures.
In pilates, Pilates 100s is particularly effective in strengthening the pelvic floor.
In yoga the bridge pose is excellent for activating the pelvic floor.
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