I am sure we have all heard about pelvic floor exercises, but how many of us actually know what they are, why they are so important, and how we are supposed to do them? And how do we measure our success with these mysterious exercises? Let me see if I can answer the above questions one by one. At the end of this article you should know the hows, whats and whys of pelvic floor exercises, but not only that, you should be doing them as a standard part of your fitness program!

Let’s firstly understand what the pelvic floor is. Many writers describe the pelvic floor muscle group as a hammock, hanging between the pubic bone and the coccyx. And that is a very simple definition! Let me try to conjure up in your mind a picture of what would happen if we had no pelvic floor muscles. Imagine standing in front of someone and looking at the floor between their feet and seeing a pile of squirming intestines, a bladder, a colon, reproductive organs and a few other bits and pieces hanging from between their legs and sloshing around on the floor as they walked towards you. You have just met someone without any pelvic floor muscles! These muscles hold the organs of the lower abdominal cavity in place. Not only that, they are also responsible for holding the contents of some of those organs in place. Yes, life would be a very messy business without any pelvic floor muscles.

It would also be very much lacking in pleasure. You see, the pelvic floor muscles are very much involved in our love lives. Without pelvic floor muscles, you can forget about having much pleasure between the sheets!

Our pelvic floor muscles are also supplied by the same nerve that gets our transversus abdominous (TA) working. In fact it is virtually impossible to contract TA without also at least partially contracting the pelvic floor. Various researchers are starting to look at the connections between faulty movement patterns and pain, and weak and ineffective pelvic floor muscles. OK, so now you have a better idea of the importance of the pelvic floor and some ideal of the structure, I bet you just cannot wait to start doing a pelvic floor workout!

Let me break the news to you. It’s not all that easy. I don’t know of any gyms with a pelvic floor machine. Is it somewhere over there near the lat pull down? Nup. Most gyms do not cater for pelvic floors, and most personal trainers don’t either. It is, after all, a rather personal matter isn’t it? The good news is that once you master the pelvic floor workout, you can do it just about anywhere and no one will ever know. Try standing is a crowded elevator and doing squats from ground floor to level 23. It does not work. But pelvic floor exercises do! They work while sitting at the red light, while doing the dishes, walking the dog, hanging out the washing, talking on the phone, reading a book, and so forth and so on. And they even work in spicing up your love life!

One of the key things in doing pelvic floor exercises is to isolate the muscles and lift and squeeze simultaneously, while not using the glutes, legs, abs (apart from a little TA as mentioned above). It is getting the technique right that many women (and men) have difficulty with.

What help can you get with out seeking professional advice? There are some excellent books and tapes available. Dr Rose Kings Pelvic Floor Workout (on tape and CD) and Dr Pauline Chiarelli’s paperback, Woman’s Waterworks are both excellent value. Dr King tends to focus a little more on the love life aspect and Dr Chiarelli deals more with the continence issue, but both cross over admirably in to the others territory.

There is also an excellent biofeedback device call the PFX2 on the market. It measures the pressure generated by the muscles and gives you visual feedback so you can see the results of your efforts. It also provides resistance for the muscles. And we all know how important resistance is for building muscle strength. Very clever!

Who most needs to do pelvic floor exercises? New mums, woman approaching menopause, and men after prostate surgery. Any one who has a problem with accidental leaks when they laugh, cough or sneeze (stress urinary incontinence). And anyone else who does not want to walk the planet with their insides hanging out. It’s not a good look and messy as well. And the only other real solution is surgery.