How strong is your hammock?

Across the country, leaflets about pelvic floor muscle (PFM) exercises are thrust into the hands of new mums as they leave hospital, but with 101 other things on their mind and a brand new baby in their arms, no wonder these exercises get forgotten about. So please let me uncover the truth behind the pelvic floor...

Imagine your PFM like a hammock, attached at one end of your pubic bone and the other end to your tail bone (coccyx), weaving around and surrounding your urethra, vagina and rectum. In my opinion, they are some of the most important muscles in the body as they not only support your pelvic organs (bladder, bowel, uterus), improve stability if your pelvis but also play a huge role in sexual pleasure – yes you heard me – but if you want to hear more about that – stay tuned for my future posts!

When we squeeze the PFM, the 3 layers of muscle close and lift the vaginal walls giving support to the bladder and bowel. These muscles can become weaker and longer in pregnancy, child birth, heavy lifting, chronic coughing and with increasing age, making it harder to control bladder leakage and bowel motions and maintain the position of our organs. So don’t think if you’re not pregnant or haven’t had a baby that you’re exempt from exercising these muscles, because you’re not. And whilst we are on the topic, having a c-section doesn’t make you exempt either as you have still carried baby’s weight in your pelvis for 9 months. So everyone, listen up.

Close your eyes and imagine stopping yourself passing wind and urine. If that doesn’t work, think about squeezing your bottom hole closed and then your vagina too. It should be a scooping motion from back passage to front, as if you are drawing everything up towards your pubic bone. If you are still struggling, place a mirror under your vagina and try again - watch for the puckering up of your back passage! If you want to check that you are doing them correctly, then stopping your flow of urine on the toilet would confirm this – but remember this is only a test so be sure not to do all your exercises like this. Be careful not to hold your breath, squeeze your buttock muscles or tighten your tummy. We know that 1 in 4 ladies find it difficult to do a PFM squeeze correctly, so if that’s you or you just want to check, ask your GP for a referral to your local Women’s Health physiotherapist team!

These muscles are made up of 2 different types of muscle fibres – fast and slow so it’s important that we fire both of these up during the PFM exercise. Aim to squeeze your PFM for 10 seconds and then relax completely x10, followed by squeezing them for just 1 second and then relaxing completely x10 - so that's 20 squeezes, twice a day. Letting go of our muscles can be harder than the squeeze itself but it’s actually more important, so take all the time you need to ensure those muscles are relaxed in between squeezes. If we can’t let go of those muscles then the next squeeze is much harder and less effective which can result in poor muscle function and pain. Top tips on lengthening and relaxing the PFM coming soon!