5 Pelvic Floor Exercise Mistakes And How To Avoid Them
You?ve made the decision to start a program of pelvic floor (or kegel) exercises and you are raring to go. But you?re sure there must be pitfalls, and you want to make sure you avoid them. After all, you want all the effort you are going to put in to bring success!
Let?s look at the most common mistakes you are likely to make when you begin to exercise your pelvic floor muscles:
1. Incorrect exercise technique. Some studies have suggested that up to half of all women bear downwards when they first try to contract their pelvic floor muscles, especially if their muscles are seriously weakened. This is an easy mistake to make, but it is also a dangerous one, since pushing downwards with your pelvic floor muscles can weaken them still further. You can improve your exercise technique by careful, focused practice, but if in doubt, seek help from your doctor or from a women?s health physical therapist. Appropriate exercise devices can also help. A vaginal probe with an indicator attached or a perineometer can provide feedback on a correct contraction and be valuable learning tools.
2. Using the wrong muscles. If you put some of your effort into the wrong muscles, your exercises will be less successful. Avoid tightening the muscles in the front of your tummy, or in your thighs or bottom. Concentrate on contracting your pelvic floor muscles only. Visualisation may help with this. Try imagining that you are trying to lift a marble up your vagina using the muscles of your pelvic floor.
3. Failing to use all the right muscles. Although you don?t want to tighten the abdominal muscles down the front of your body, your deeper lower abdominal muscle (called the transversus abdominis or TA) is linked to the pelvic floor and should be contracted simultaneously with the pelvic floor muscles for maximum benefit. To locate the TA muscle, try visualizing a piece of string connecting the two points of your hip bones and drawing them together. A tightening deep in your abdomen, just above your pubic bone, will signal that you?ve found the right spot.
4. Holding your breath while you squeeze. This is another common mistake, which will prevent you from holding the contraction effectively. Try to continue relaxed breathing whilst focusing your full attention on your pelvic floor muscles.
5. Not having a regular exercise timetable. There?s a lot of unhelpful advice around suggesting that you don?t need a timetable for pelvic floor exercises, but can just fit them in when you are doing something else. The problem with that approach is that the exercises generally get forgotten, and if they do get done, they don?t get your full attention. Ten effective contractions, done with full concentration and held for a count of 10 are far more effective than 30 half-hearted squeezes while you are waiting for a train. At least in the early days of your exercise program, allocate a fixed exercise time and stick to it. Research has shown that women who use an alarm to remind them are more likely to exercise regularly than those who don?t.
So, to give yourself the best chance of success, make sure you know the correct exercise techniques, and give yourself the time to devote to your exercises.
Remember, technique plus time equals a stronger pelvic floor.
Linda McClelland is the founder of Pelvic Floor Exercise, providing information, links, services and products to help both women and men worldwide achieve a stronger, healthier pelvic floor. Visit her at http://www.pelvicfloorexercise.com.au
WNQA Articles:
Online Dating Advice For Singles - Online Speed Dating
Speed dating is all the vogue these days among busy singles This information talks about what exactly it is, and how can it be carried out online
Online Dating Top Do's and Don'ts : OnlineBootyCall.com Publishes Dating Tips for Singles
Moses Brown, Founder and CEO of OnlineBootyCall.com (OBC), the fastest growing casual dating website, announced his best tips for singles dating online. As an active member of Online Booty Call and numerous dating services, Brown knows a great deal about the Do's and Don'ts of online dating. This experience has made him an authority on dating, and his advice will improve your chances of meeting singles online.
Dating Advice that Covers Online Dating to Accepting a Marriage Proposal
Dating is no longer difficult as the Professors House guides you from landing a date to walking down the aisle.
Tips For The Working Mother - Staying Sane When Working From Home
For most moms, working and raising children can be very daunting. But for those moms who work from home, getting their work done while preparing meals, trying to get children to take naps, cleaning and running errands can make working during the day almost impossible. Developing a strategy and a work schedule is important if you want to continue working and raise your family at the same time. The following tips can help you become more productive when working and still maintain a close connection to your children.
A Weight Loss Diet Tip That Really Works
Many people search for a magical weight loss diet tip that will help them shed the pounds and keep them off. But is there really any such thing? If all the best information could be packaged into one workable piece of advice, then maybe that would be the magical tip people yearn for.
Healthy Weight Loss - Diet Plan Tips
So you want to lose a few pounds and you have been told that not eating for a few days can help you achieve this and it is true you will lose weight but this is not the way to lose or control weight as any doctor will attest too. Our health is a finely balanced mechanism which relies on a number of factors especially on the foods we eat so healthy weight loss does not mean starvation which usually weakens our immune system.
New Online Nutrition Service Features Diet and Weight Loss Tips That Work
Don't fall for another fad diet, HyperStrike's Online Nutrition Programs are for safe and permanent weight loss
Single Parenting Problems - Mothers As Single Parents In USA
Single mothers face a lot of problems while bringing up children in USA Financial problems being the most important as ex-husband may not pay the court order money for child support
The House Designers is Now Better Homes and Gardens® Exclusive Online Home Plan Provider
The House Designers is now BHG.com's exclusive home plan provider. Choose from over 4,000 best-selling house plans from the leading architects and designers in the United States.
Weight Loss Tips - 25 Weight Loss Tips For Healthy Weight Loss
People who lose weight and keep it off succeed by adapting a healthy lifestyle, not by dieting. You must enforce healthy eating habits that will continue to be part of your life forever. Weight loss isn?t something you can do for a few weeks or month. It?s a life-long commitment.
4 Important Tips on Quick Weight Loss Diet Plan
One thing must be true about quick weight loss diet plan, it has to be as realistic as possible. How many times have you browsed on lists of sophisticated diet plans in magazines only to toss them back to the bin afterwards? Many diet plans are jargons. They give impression that some in the lists are available in the outer space. It has to be easy to follow, clear and practical.
Weight Loss Tips: 25 Weight Loss Tips for Healthy Weight Loss
People who lose weight and keep it off succeed by adapting a healthy lifestyle, not by dieting. You must enforce healthy eating habits that will continue to be part of your life forever. Weight loss isn?t something you can do for a few weeks or month. It?s a life-long commitment.
Easy Weight Loss Tips - An Easy Weight Loss Plan to Get the Weight Off
With so many diet books, weight loss programs and pills, potions and drinks, you would think that developing an easy weight loss plan took a Master's degree in Nutrition to figure it out But it really isn't like that