What exercises are good for improving pelvic health?
Something I get asked a lot is what exercises I recommend for improved pelvic health.
And while it depends on each individual and what’s going on with their pelvic floor, there are quite a few exercises that you probably can’t go wrong with.
In this blog post, I’ll outline my favorite exercises, tell you why they’re my favorites, and give you some form tips so that you can start incorporating them into your life.
So without further ado, here are my favorite exercises for improving pelvic health!
Pelvic tilts
I love this exercise for a couple of reasons. First off, it should feel like a nice lower back massage and who doesn’t love that!? The second reason I love it is that this movement really sets the foundation for everything else. What I mean by that is that a pelvic tilt shows me a person’s connection to and control over their pelvis. And if a patient has difficulty controlling their pelvis, it makes sense as to why there may be other coordination issues in the pelvic region.
So if this exercise feels awkward to you initially, know that there are plenty of people who also struggle with it! It should get easier with practice and should help you improve your connection to your pelvis!
Leg sways
Most people think of this as a back stretch and it certainly is, but it also stretches the hips, which can help the pelvic floor muscles relax. I also love the swaying motion as rhythmic movements usually help our bodies relax (it’s why we rock babies!). If you have muscle tension in your pelvic floor (as you might if you’re experiencing pelvic floor symptoms), this can be a nice movement to help you release that tension.
Bridges
Bridges are an exercise that I recommend all the time as a starting point to strength training. They work great to strengthen muscles around the hip, they’re low-impact, and they can be easily done at home, all wins in my book. Another perk of bridges is that since they invert the body (meaning that the hips come higher than the head), they can help with symptoms of pelvic pressure or pelvic organ prolapse.
And even if you’re pretty fit, there are so many ways to make them more difficult (like hold or pulse at the top, use a weight at the hips, do them on one leg, etc.), that they’re a staple in any lower-body workout.
Squats
Now hear me out on this one. Squats are so fundamental to our life because we do them every time that we sit. Sit in the car? Squat. Sit at the table? Squat. Sit on the toilet? You already know! The old saying “use it or lose it” is true and I’ve seen patients in my career who have been more sedentary throughout their life and then end up having difficulty with those basic tasks such as getting into and out of the car. So everybody needs to be doing squats to stay mobile throughout our lives.
But squats are also great for pelvic health because they work the leg, hip, and core muscles, which all need to be strong to have a healthy pelvic floor! When those other muscles are weak, our pelvic floor can sometimes end up compensating, which can cause lots of pelvic health issues. Also, many of my patients come to me looking for help with leaking while they run or jump, and we very often start with squats then progress from there.
They say you have to crawl before you can walk and I say you have to squat well with no symptoms before you jump with no leakage!
Balancing or other single leg exercises
Like I wrote above, many of my patients come to me because they’ve been experiencing urinary leakage or pelvic pressure while running. In order to improve that, we need to make sure you have a strong foundation for running (or for doing whatever activity you want to be able to do without symptoms, even if that’s just lifting your kiddo!).
If you’re lacking balance and your body feels like it may fall over at times, then your pelvic floor muscles are not going to function at its best because your pelvis doesn’t feel stable. Overall strength is important for stability but so is balance! So practicing exercises that require balance is crucial.
If you feel shaky with your balance, just start by trying to stand on one leg. Make sure you’re standing by a wall or something you can hold onto for safety. Once that feels easy, then you can begin incorporating single-leg exercises like lunges (or from above, single-leg bridges!) to really challenge your body.
Child’s pose
This is my favorite restorative stretch. It feels really good on my hips and lower back and I feel like I can totally relax in a child’s pose. Hopefully it feels good to you too!
As I’ve said before, to optimize pelvic health, we want to make sure that we’re strong in our big muscles so that we’re not compensating with our pelvic floor muscles, but we also want to make sure that we’re not holding onto too much muscle tension in our pelvic floor or other muscles. So it’s important to balance hard exercises with gentle stretches in our workouts so that we can improve both strength and mobility.
I also love to do a child’s pose at the end of a long day to help me just reconnect to my body and breath.
Something that brings you joy
Okay, I know this isn’t an exercise per se, but it’s so important that I wanted to include it. Like I’ve said time and again, stress and muscle tension are the root cause of many pelvic floor disorders. And while I do love all the above listed exercises, a perfect exercise routine doesn’t matter if we’re constantly stressed out. So taking the time to do something that makes you smile can be just as important as any other exercise!
So there you have it! My top recommended exercises to improve pelvic health. Give them a try and let me know what you think.
And if you’re struggling with pelvic symptoms such as urinary incontinence, pelvic pain, or pelvic pressure, I’d love to help you! My clinic is located in Durham and I specialzie in helping women with these concerns.
To get started, book your FREE discovery call. I can’t wait to chat!
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