How To Strengthen Your Pelvic Floor
You probably never thought about your pelvic floor until it stopped working properly.
And then you started peeing or pooping when you weren't planning to. Or you felt heaviness in your vagina or pain in your hips and low back. Or you had difficulty reaching orgasm—or feeling much of anything at all.
These are some of the signs of pelvic floor weakness, which affects millions of women after the toll of pregnancy and the hormonal changes of menopause.
Whether you had a baby months or even decades ago, Vagercise can help you strengthen your pelvic floor through more than 65 on-demand exercise and educational classes taught by pelvic floor physical therapists.
The best-known exercise for pelvic floor strengthening is the Kegel, a move that involves both a squeeze and a lift of the pelvic floor muscles.
Kegels are more complex than they sound: One in four women do Kegels incorrectly.
And many women shouldn't do them at all because their pelvic floor muscles are actually too tight, which can cause similar symptoms like bladder leaks or lower body pain.
But pelvic floor strengthening isn't only about Kegels. For a functional pelvic floor, you also need strength and mobility in your core, hips and glutes.
Vagercise includes educational classes that help you understand the causes of your symptoms and determine which exercises are right for your needs.
For most women with pelvic floor weakness, we recommend taking these Vagercise classes:
- The Pelvic Floor Strength series, which includes Kegels in a variety of settings to simulate real-life demands
- The Core Strength series for strengthening the deep core muscles that contract along with your pelvic floor
- The Hip and Glute Strength series for working more muscles that are key to stabilizing your pelvis
- The Pelvic Floor Yoga and Relaxation series for increasing mobility and reducing tension in your muscles
It takes weeks of work to strengthen your pelvic floor. You’re not going to get six-pack abs after only a few visits to the gym, and rebuilding your pelvic floor is no different.
But with consistent effort, Vagercise can help most women improve their symptoms in about 6 weeks.