Pelvic Floor Strengthening Exercises

CORE SOLUTIONS: No More Back Pain & No More Leaks! Pelvic Floor Clinic Pelvic Floor Strengthening Exercises

PELVIC FLOOR STRENGTHENING EXERCISES

Preventing and Treating Pelvic Organ Prolapse
Addressing Urinary Incontinence
Improving Sexual Function:
Postpartum Recovery:
Supporting Bowel Function:
Enhancing Core Stability:
Aging and Hormonal Changes: Aging and hormonal changes, particularly in postmenopausal women, can lead to a decline in pelvic floor muscle tone. Regular pelvic floor exercises can counteract these changes, promoting muscle strength and maintaining overall pelvic health. Vaginal Estrogen Therapy may be relevant for women experiencing changes in the pelvic floor due to hormonal factors, such as menopause.

Kegels:

You probably know what Kegels are. Kegels strengthen the pelvic floor muscles and this helps with bladder, bowel, and gas control, and improves sexual health.

Kegels may not be beneficial for everyone. You should not be doing these exercises if you have a hypertonic pelvic floor. Instead, check out the exercises in the Pelvic Floor Release section.

If you experience pain, difficulty, or worsening symptoms during Kegel exercises, then stop and seek guidance from a medical professional.

Differentiation in Contraction:

refers to the ability to initiate a pelvic floor contraction preferentially from either the front (urogenital triangle) or the back (anal triangle) of the pelvic floor. You want to be able to do both.

Women who leak when they jump, cough or sneeze tend to contract the back of their pelvic floor more than the front when they do Kegels. This puts excess pressure on the front of the pelvic floor and can contribute to issues like urinary incontinence.

If you go to town contracting the front of the pelvic floor and you really work on getting those lower abs too, then you might develop what kind of feels like UTI symptoms. That’s a sign of front pelvic floor tightness. They need to learn how to relax the front of their pelvic floor.

We can also have strength and tightness differences from side to side in the pelvic floor. This actually has more to do with hip function. What happens at the hip directly affects what’s happening at the pelvic floor. The obturator internus is a hip external rotator. If the hip rotational muscles don't have strong and complete range of motion, this affects how the femur sits in the socket, and the strength or tension level on that side of the pelvic floor.

So if every time you go to contract your pelvic floor but you contract your deep hip rotators instead as a substitute for your pelvic floor muscles, it have a negative impact on how your hips feel (deep glute pain at the ischial tuberosity), as well as pelvic floor function and strength and glute strength. Fixing this can have a huge impact on how your hips feel.

Kegels aren’t just about isolating the pelvic floor. It’s important to synchronize the pelvic floor and TVA with your breathing.

PELVIC FLOOR and LOWER AB CONNECTION

The pelvic floor works as a primary stabilizer for the deep core system. It’s the bottom part of that deep core system. It fires right before the TVA. So the pelvic floor leads the way: it initiates the contraction. Once we get into 30% of that pure pelvic floor contraction, it then switches to that group mentality and the lower transverse abs kick in to help.

Women who have leaks often don’t have lower TVA strength. They tend to overuse their upper abs so you might see that lower belly pooch (you might even see a gripping line). Overusing the upper abs leads to pressure on the pelvic floor.

So we need to work on the lower TVA and get rid of that lower belly pooch and even out the abdominal muscles and evening out the pressure because there’s a pressure problem.

How to Perform:

Sit or Lie down
Put hands underneath rib cage on your upper abs
Nasal exhale and initiate a pelvic floor contraction (gently squeeze your orifices). Don’t clench your glutes.
After reaching 30% of the pelvic floor contraction, involve the lower TVA (scooping action).
Lift your pelvic floor (pretend it’s moving up like an elevator) and gradually increase the engagement of the low abs. Avoid excessive tension in the upper abs (use your hands to detect this). You can hold this for 5s (don’t hold your breath).
Release: Nasal inhale and move back down the elevator and relax the orifices.
3 sets of 5 per day
Did you feel a lot of tension underneath your ribs? If so, you’re over contracting your upper abs. People who over contract their upper abs tend to put a lot of pressure down on the pelvic floor.

HOW TO DO KEGELS CORRECTLY

Kegels are named after Dr. Arnold Kegel, an American gynaecologist who first popularized the idea

Squeeze + Lift

GENTLY squeeze your orifices and then lift them. You will lift up like an elevator lifting up, floor by floor.
Don’t make the mistake of just squeezing or just lifting.

Keep you Upper Abs Out of It

Women who tend to leak don’t have enough lower abdominal strength and tend to overuse their upper abs.
Can you lift your pelvic floor without engaging your upper abs? If not, you will need to work on downregulating your upper abs and increasing lower ab strength. This will help combat the downward pressure on the pelvic floor contributing to the leaks.

Don’t Be Overzealous

Being overzealous and maxing out your contractions can lead to pelvic floor tightness.
Pretend you’re lifting a blueberry with your pelvic floor, not a cinder block.

Train Both Slow & Fast Twitch Muscle Fibres

The pelvic floor has multiple roles, requiring both quick and sustained contractions.
You need to train fast twitch to prepare you for a sneeze.
You need to train slow twitch to provide postural support throughout the day.
Fast twitch: contract quickly and relax fully several times in a row
Slow twitch: contract and hold with the same intensity for 10s

Don’t Contract Your Glutes or Hip Muscles instead of your Pelvic Floor

Make sure your glutes and other hip muscles stay relaxed when you contract the pelvic floor muscles.

Improve Control: Practice Isolating Different Areas of the Pelvic Floor

You can contract just the: Front, Back, Middle, Right side, Left side
It can help to rock forward and backward on a Swiss Ball to isolate and control each part. Rock forwards and think about lifting the front of the pelvic floor. You’ll feel your low abs kick in. Rock backwards and think about contracting the back of the pelvic floor. It’s the thought that counts.
A lot of women cannot contract the front without overly contracting the back of the pelvic floor.
When you overly contract the back, it can lead to tailbone pain and tightness in the back of the hips which can cause SI joint pain, pififormis tightness and overall pelvic floor weakness. This can lead to pee leaks.
Women who leak when coughing, sneezing, or jumping often kegel more with the back of their pelvic floor compared to their front.
A tight front pelvic floor can feel similar to UTI symptoms.

Relax Between Contractions

Relaxing is just as important as contracting. If you don’t fully relax, you can’t get a good contraction.
Furthermore, increased tension may lead to tightness and pain.
Inhale and relax, letting go of tension in the pelvic floor. Make sure you’re not overusing your upper abs.

Don’t give up.

Remember your body is a kinetic chain. If your pelvic floor issues are not improving, then other areas of your body need to be assessed that can be impacting your pelvic floor. Take a look at the way you’re breathing, your TVA strength, your hip muscles, etc.

Kegels Training Plan:

Don’t overdo it. 5 minute sessions are enough! If you experience any symptoms, then STOP.

After your session, relax your pelvic floor with breathing and my pelvic floor relaxation routine (i.e. do the supine butterfly and the happy baby with breathing to release the pelvic floor).

Newbies: you can work on this daily, especially if you have a hypotonic pelvic floor. Many of my members have overcome urinary incontinence in just a week of doing these exercises. Then I suggest a maintenance plan: do it 2-4 times a month.

Day 1: Exercise 1 (a) + (b).

Day 2: Exercise 1 (a) + (c) + (d).

Day 3: Exercise 1 (a) + (e) + (f).

Day 4: Exercise 1 (a) + (c) + (d) + (g)

Then repeat this 4 day plan. Take rest days as needed. Feel free to write your own training plan. Just keep it to 5 minutes (don’t overdo it) and breathe and release afterwards. Remember, more is not better. Better is better. And don’t clench. It’s a gentle squeeze (~30%) and lift and feel the TVA scoop! The intent is to learn how to “zip yourself up, from the bottom up”. Don’t forget to fully release the pelvic floor before starting the next rep.

Once you feel comfortable with these exercises, you can move onto vaginal weightlifting exercises if you wish.

a) BREATHE & CONNECT: You can do this lying down or seated. Start with NASAL diaphragmatic breathing to connect to your TVA and pelvic floor. As you nasal inhale down, feel your lungs fill with air and feel your pelvic floor slowly release downwards. As you nasal exhale, feel your pelvic floor orifaces squeeze and lift upwards and your TVA (low abs) scoop. Keep your upper abs and glutes out of it! Repeat this for a few minutes until you feel really connected to your TVA and pelvic floor. It may start to feel euphoric.

b) KEGEL! Here’s how: nasal exhale and SQUEEZE your orifaces (anus, vagina, urethral opening) 30% & LIFT your pelvic floor upwards using your pelvic floor muscles (this is the concentric contraction). Feel your TVA (low abs) scoop. As you nasal inhale, fully release slowly the pelvic floor all the way back down (this is the eccentric contraction).

—> Do 10 reps (breath cycles). Notice how the pelvic floor turns on the TVA. The goal is to make this a subconscious pattern. Try not to contract the daylights out of your glutes when doing this (quiet your glutes and make your pelvic floor muscles do the work).

c) Repeat (b) except contract only the right side of your pelvic floor. Then fully release the right side slowly. Do 10 reps (breath cycles).

d) Repeat (b) except contract only the left side of your pelvic floor. Then fully release the left side slowly. Do 10 reps (breath cycles).

e) Once you feel comfortable with these, then you can experiment with isometric holds for 10 seconds: one set squeezing 360 degrees, one set squeezing just the right side, and one set squeezing just the left side. Try to lift higher (like an elevator moving up). Don't clench (it's a gentle upward hug), don't bear down, don't hold your breath, don’t clench with your glutes or grip with your upper abs. This means you will need to nasal inhale and exhale during the isometric hold without losing engagement of the TVA and pelvic floor. Fully release the pelvic floor between sets.

f) now try doing 10 really fast contractions in a row!

g) Do exercise (b) but just engage the vagina for 5 reps (focus on the urogenital triangle). Then try to do it just engaging the anus for 5 reps (focus on the anal triangle, squeeze the anal sphincter and lift it like you’re holding in a poo). Then finish with both the vagina and anus at the same time for 5 reps. Remember: Squeeze the oriface(s) 30% and lift them, then RELEASE them fully.

h) Finish with your breathing exercises to relax the pelvic floor.

TWO PELVIC FLOOR STRENGTHENING EXERCISES

Quadruped Hip Circles
This movement makes it more innate for you to engage and release the pelvic floor muscles.
- Begin on your hands and knees, ensuring that your wrists are directly under your shoulders and your knees under your hips. Spread your fingers wide for stability and maintain a neutral spine, keeping your back flat.
- Before initiating the hip circles, engage your low core muscles by scooping them.
- Visualize drawing a circle on the wall behind you with your tailbone.
- Lift your tailbone toward the sky to initiate the circle and feel your pelvic floor relax, swing your tailbone to one side, tuck your tailbone under, feeling the pelvic floor muscles contracting, Swing it to the other side.
- Do 10 reps. Don’t hold your breath.
- Repeat on the Other Side
- Consider incorporating this exercise into your routine on a regular basis to promote pelvic floor health.

2. Crook Lying Ball Squeeze (Hip Adduction Isometric)

Don’t do this if you have a hypertonic pelvic floor
The exercise involves a co-contraction of the hip adductors, abdominals, and pelvic floor to provide a synergistic strengthening exercise that's better (more effective) than Kegel exercises alone.
The study, conducted on postpartum women, found that simultaneous activation of the abdominals, hip adductors, and pelvic floor muscles yielded the highest pelvic floor activity.
I like this exercise because we want to get your muscles working synergistically with your pelvic floor. Nothing in the body exists in isolation.
Article link: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35248269/ Ojukwu CP, Ojukwu CS, Okemuo AJ, Igwe SE Dr, Ede SS, Ezeigwe AU, Mbah CG. Comparative effects of selected abdominal and lower limb exercises in the recruitment of the pelvic floor muscles: Determining adjuncts to Kegel's exercises. J Bodyw Mov Ther. 2022 Jan;29:180-186. doi: 10.1016/j.jbmt.2021.09.009. Epub 2021 Sep 25. PMID: 35248269.

Crook lying, using a block or pillow between the knees for inner thigh engagement. In a nutshell, this is what we will be doing: We will Gently squeeze the block, perform kegel contractions, and engage low TVA area simultaneously.
You don’t have to squeeze super hard. When you squeeze, feel the inner thighs and pelvic floor turn on.
First: do a Kegel: nasal exhale & gently squeeze your pelvic floor orifices and then lift and hold 5s. Then nasal inhale and slowly lower. Don’t let your glutes take over (make sure you’re not clenching your butt).
Then try this: engage your TVA: nasal exhale and scoop the low abs (draw them in)
Then combine all 3 together.
3 full sets of 5 per day.

I love this exercise because it helps you learn how to use your pelvic floor and TVA together as a team, and you get into the habit of connecting your nasals exhalations with pelvic floor and TVA engagement.

Another study compared “drawing in” the abs to a maximum abdominal contraction. The study found that the maximal abdominal contraction method produced significantly more recruitment of all abdominal muscles compared to the drawing in method.
The subjects lay in the crook lying position and squeezed a ball between their knees as much as possible whilst doing a maximum expiration for 10s without bracing at the end of the contraction.
An easy way to get maximum expiration is by blowing into a balloon!
Article link: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35206865/ Article reference: Park SY, Oh S, Baek KH, Bae SS, Kwon JW. Comparison of Abdominal Muscle Thickness between the Abdominal Drawing in Maneuver and Maximum Abdominal Contraction Maneuver. Healthcare (Basel). 2022 Jan 28;10(2):251

VAGINAL WEIGHTLIFTING EXERCISES

I also train my pelvic floor muscles by using resistance. I call it vaginal weightlifting.

From my own personal experience, Kegels weren’t enough to improve my sexual experiences.

There is no resistance with Kegels. That’s the equivalent of flapping your arms in the air instead of using dumbbells to train your biceps. You need resistance to strengthen the vaginal muscles. Just like any other muscle in the body. And the way I teach it, you will improve both your vaginal dexterity and strength.

Why is Vaginal strengthening relevant? Because it increases pelvic floor power.

This is what helps you overcome jumping or sneezing urinary incontinence. It will also increase lubrication (b/c a strong vagina has increased circulation). This helps your vagina feel so much more. It improves your orgasms. If you’ve never had a vaginal orgasm before, this will help you achieve one.

What blows my mind is how fast incontinence can be corrected… some of the women have fixed their urinary incontinence in a week of doing the vaginal weightlifting exercises! The muscle is super responsive.

Most of us are disconnected from our vaginas. We were all taught the vagina is gross. Don’t touch it. And that is what has really disconnected us from our own genitalia. It removes us from our own healing power.

If you are disconnected from your vagina, it’s pretty damn near impossible to get connected to the rest of your body physically, mentally, sexually, & emotionally.

What was I doing with the kettle bell? Is that what I teach in my Programs?

No, I don’t have women lifting kettlebells with their vagina in my programs, unless they want to. The way I teach it involves using your fingers, and a yoni egg (or even a benwa-ball or a dildo would work).

I don’t recommend you try lifting plates or kettlebells with your vagina. I was fascinated that the world record is 31lbs, and given my current level of athleticism, I decided to give it a whirl. And I lifted 35 lbs.

There is a device inserted in my vagina (e.g yoni egg or ben-wa ball), with a rope attached. Don’t try this at home.

Vaginal weightlifting was game changing for me, and that is why I teach it to women in my core solutions program. It helped me overcome urinary incontinence. It increase lubrication and feeling in my vagina and eliminated odour. It improved my sex drive, energy and confidence. It improved my vaginal dexterity and strength. This is how I learned how to have vaginal orgasms. It really helped me get connected to the relationship between my pelvic floor, TVA and breath, which helped me decrease pain and increase strength and mobility. It helped me get connected to my entire body and sexual life force energy.

All healing starts from within.

Consult with your physician before starting any weightlifting program.

Note: These exercises are not indicated if you have an overactive pelvic floor, otherwise you'll make your pelvic floor muscles even more overworked and tight. Take some time to rest and heal. I have provided you with a series of breathing, relaxation, decompression and stretching exercises! If you are having symptoms of pelvic floor dysfunction, then you should see a urogynecologist or pelvic floor therapist.

Activating the pelvic floor muscles is the key to engaging the TVA!

Pelvic floor and TVA training have changed my game. You do not have to do this. At first, I was unsure about sticking something in my vagina. I decided to approach it like a 30-day experiment. I would try it for a month and see what happened. And I was shocked with the results. I had my first vaginal orgasm in my life. I noticed increased lubrication and decreased odour in my vagina, more sex drive, more energy and more confidence. I finally understood how to use my breath to connect to my core and life force energy. So I continued my experiment.

Vaginal Weightlifting Homework: All healing starts from within. This will help you find and strengthen your pelvic floor muscles. It will help you understand the connection between your breath, TVA and pelvic floor. Vaginal strengthening increases pelvic floor power, reverses urinary incontinence, and increases lubrication (because a strong vagina has increased circulation). This helps your vagina feel so much more.

Most of us are disconnected from our vaginas. If you are disconnected from your vagina, it’s pretty damn near impossible to get connected to the rest of your body physically, mentally, sexually, & emotionally. You can heal yourself. You are your own best healer. These exercises will help you get in touch with the life-force energy that is within you. This is how you release all the “stuckness” that is in you. It’s how you heal the issues in the tissues.

Initially you can do these exercises 5 minutes a day, 3x a week. As you get stronger, you can decrease the frequency... just do it a couple times a month for maintenance.

⚠️IMPORTANT: Always start and finish with your breathing exercises to relax the pelvic floor.

Not everyone will agree with vaginal weightlifting. It was game changing for me, and that is why I am sharing it with you. It restored lubrication and feeling to my numb vagina. This is how I learned how to have vaginal orgasms. It really helped me get connected to the relationship between my pelvic floor, TVA and breath. It helped me get connected to my entire body and sexual life force energy. As always, consult with your physician before starting any weightlifting program.

VAGINAL WEIGHTLIFTING TRAINING PLAN:

Don’t overdo it. 5 minute sessions are enough! If you experience any symptoms, then STOP.

After your session, relax your pelvic floor with breathing and my pelvic floor relaxation routine (i.e. do the supine butterfly and the happy baby with breathing to release the pelvic floor).

Day 1: Exercise 1 (a) + (b). Then do exercise 2 (a) + (b).

Day 2: Exercise 1 (a) + (c) + (d). Then do exercise 2 (a) + (b).

Day 3: Exercise 1 (a) + (e) + (f). Then do exercise 2 (a) + (b).

Day 4: Exercise 1 (a) + (c) + (d) + (g). Then do exercise 2 (a) + (b).

Exercise 1: Build Dexterity

This is for developing a vagina with dexterity (one that articulates).

Note: it's easier to learn with a bigger Yoni egg or Kegel ball. As you get stronger, you can graduate to smaller ones. For beginners: The bigger it is, the more feedback you will get during the exercises. If you feel nothing, you can try a dildo and then graduate to a Yoni egg.

Note: you can do this without anything inserted in your vagina. It’s just a Kegel. 🙂

a) BREATHE & CONNECT: You can do this lying down on your back or sitting up in bed with pillows behind you. Start with NASAL diaphragmatic breathing to connect to your TVA and pelvic floor. As you nasal inhale down, feel your lungs fill with air and feel your pelvic floor slowly release downwards. As you nasal exhale, feel your pelvic floor orifaces squeeze and lift upwards and your TVA scoop. Keep your upper abs and glutes out of it! Repeat this for a few minutes until you feel really connected to your TVA and pelvic floor. It may start to feel euphoric. You can listen to relaxing music.

b) Insert 2 fingers (or a yoni egg with a string attached or a ben-wa/Kegel ball with a string attached, or a dildo) into your vaginal canal. Remember, it’s a Kegel… so SQUEEZE 30% & LIFT your pelvic floor: Here’s how: As you nasal exhale, gently squeeze both your fingers (or the object) with your vaginal opening and then lift the object upwards using your pelvic floor muscles (this is the concentric contraction) and feel your TVA (low abs) scoop. As you nasal inhale, fully release slowly the pelvic floor all the way back down (this is the eccentric contraction).

c) Repeat (b) except contract only the right side of your vaginal canal around the right side of the object (or the around the finger that is on the right side). Then fully release the right side slowly. Do 10 reps (breath cycles).

d) Repeat (b) except contract only the left side of your vaginal canal around the left side of the object (or the around the finger that is on the left side). Then fully release the left side slowly. Do 10 reps (breath cycles).

e) Once you feel comfortable with these, then you can experiment with isometric holds for 10 seconds: one set squeezing 360 degrees, one set squeezing just the right side, and one set squeezing just the left side. Try to move the object up higher and higher into the vaginal canal. Don't clench (it's a gentle upward hug), don't bear down, don't hold your breath, don’t clench with your glutes or grip with your upper abs. This means you will need to nasal inhale and exhale during the isometric hold without losing engagement of the TVA and pelvic floor. Fully release the pelvic floor between sets.

f) now try doing 10 really fast contractions in a row!

g) Do exercise (b) but just engage the vagina for 5 reps (focus on the urogenital triangle). Then try to do it just engaging the anus for 5 reps (focus on the anal triangle, squeeze the anal sphincter and lift it like you’re holding in a poo). Then try to do both the vagina and anus at the same time for 5 reps. Remember: Squeeze the oriface(s) 30% and lift them, then RELEASE them fully.

h) Finish with your breathing exercises to relax the pelvic floor.

Exercise 2: Build Strength

Not only will this fix urinary incontinence, but it will also bring a "numb vagina" back to life, and make vaginal orgasms a reality for you. Not only will this connect you to your sexual life force, but it will also make you much stronger. I attach weights to my string using a carabiner, strap and plates.

Use a yoni egg with a string attached (or a Ben-wa/Kegel ball with a string, or you can use a dildo). Note: it's easier to learn with a bigger Yoni egg or Kegel ball. As you get stronger, you can graduate to smaller ones. Insert it into your vaginal canal and then...

Tug on the string to try to remove it, but use your pelvic floor muscles to resist its removal. You'll feel the pelvic floor muscles SQUEEZE & LIFT upwards. Use the other hand to palpate your TVA (low abs). Can you feel your TVA scoop when you try to remove the object? Now nasal exhale when you try to resist removing the object. Can you feel the connection between the pelvic floor, TVA and breath? The goal is to make this a subconscious pattern: nasal exhale as the pelvic floor activates (and moves upwards) and the TVA activates (scoops inwards and upwards).

(a) Repeat for 10 tugs. Pay attention to slowly letting go of the pelvic floor between reps. Inhale through your nose as you slowly release your vaginal grip on the object. Let your pelvic floor fully relax.

(b) Then do 3 isometric holds: resist the tugging for 5-10s. Don't bear down, and don't hold your breath. This means you will need to nasal inhale and exhale during the isometric hold without losing engagement of the TVA and pelvic floor. Fully release the pelvic floor between sets.

Finish with your breathing exercises to relax the pelvic floor. You can also do my pelvic floor release routine.

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