Fitness Gear: The Pelvic Floor and Women's Health

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Tuesday, October 28, 2008

A new study is showing that women should continue to exercise the pelvic floor muscles for better overall health. Many women have done these types of workouts without really thinking about it for many years.

The pelvic floor consists of the muscles that connect the pubic and tail bones. These muscles have to be strong in order to make sure that women can maintain normal sexual function. This also helps them to control bladder functions and supports the action that the legs and the spine perform.

Whether a woman is going to give birth or she is going to run a marathon the pelvic floor muscles have to be healthy in order to support these activities. An unhealthy pelvic floor can mean incontinence and/or pain.

According to Sheila Dugan, M.D., FACSM and an expert at American College of Sports Medicines, here are some exercises that women can do to promote healthy pelvic floor muscles for better health:

Start with deep breathing and concentrate on the pelvic floor muscles "dropping away" from the body. This should be done slowly and at least 5 minutes a day. It is a good idea to practice this if you get stressed or are feeling tense.

Next step is to lie on your back and put the bottoms of your feet together. Drop your knees to your side. This is a great way to relax your pelvic floor muscles and your groin since they usually work together. Stay in this position for about 5 minutes.

Still laying on your back, draw your lower belly muscles towards you like you are wearing a girdle. Hold it in this position for a count of five and then release them slowly. Try to do this at least 10 times a day as often as you think about it during the day.

Now, lift your pelvic muscles up for that count of 5 -- still on your back -- hold them in this position and then slowly lower them back down. You can think of five up, hold, five down, repeat. Do this as often as you can during the day.

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