Pelvic Floor Elevator

How to do a proper pelvic floor muscle contraction:

The pelvic floor muscles are the base of your pelvis and trunk. They are very important postural muscles and help to stabilise your back and pelvis.  They also are very important in continence and lumbopelvic pain management.

They can be thought of as two muscle groups: outer and inner

The outer group opens and closes the sphincters.

You contract them by cutting off the flow of pee mid-stream.  You may do this just to test out how to activate them but don’t make a habit of cutting off the flow while on the toilet.

The inner group support your abdominal organs and slightly lift and lower them.  You can engage them trying to synch your waist or imagine a deep zipper sipping from the base of your pelvis to your belly button.

A proper pelvic floor muscle contraction should address these two groups.

You can think about the exercise like an elevator:

Close the door of the elevator and then lift it up.  To release, lower the elevator and allow the doors to open (without forcing them open or bulging)

Practice doing 10 two-part contractions with a clear sequence:

close – lift – lower – open

Categories :

Annie Strauch