Written by Patricia Siegel, Pelvic Health Expert
Photography by Paul Buceta
Hair & Makeup by Monica Kalra
A series dedicated to helping women strengthen their pelvic floor to live a healthier, happier life.
If you’re wondering what makes pelvic floor health so interesting, consider everything that’s involved when it comes to this delicate topic. Not only is the pelvic floor responsible for bladder and bowel movement, it is also highly involved in sexual function and spine alignment. It consists of a superficial, an intermediate, and a deep layer, with a total of 14 to 16 muscles—accounting for approximately five percent of total muscle mass in the female body. (Fun fact: men have a pelvic floor as well!)
The pelvic floor is assisted by major muscle groups helping with optimal function. The diaphragm, core, legs, and glutes play an important role in optimal pelvic floor health. During childbirth, your pelvic floor muscles can stretch up to 200 percent of its total length, showing the direct impact and possible consequences during the postpartum period. This stress, as well as other birth complications, can lead to future problems like organ prolapse or bladder and fecal leakage. On the other hand, an overly active pelvic floor, an increased muscle tone, as well as poor muscle coordination, can lead to the same issues as they increase the pressure on the bladder, leading to incontinence and painful intercourse. It is important to address these issues from two different viewpoints during the recovery and therapy process. A weak pelvic floor needs to be strengthened and mobilized. An overly strong pelvic floor needs to be relaxed and eased.
"Cardiovascular exercise has tremendous benefits when it comes to pelvic floor health and postpartum recovery…"
Traditional Pelvic Floor Therapy is a great start as it helps with initial assessment and general exercises such as Kegels, bridges, planks, mobilization and stretching. What traditional pelvic floor therapy is not addressing, unfortunately, is the aspect of cardiovascular exercises for pelvic floor health and recovery.
Cardiovascular exercise has tremendous benefits when it comes to pelvic floor health and postpartum recovery as it not only strengthens, but also oxygenates vaginal and rectal tissues helping with recovery, lubrication, and scarring. In addition, it provides a holistic approach of all agonistic working muscles in accordance with your pelvic floor. The act of constant balance and cardiovascular input and mood regulation via endurance sport is one of the most underrated and omitted aspects of pelvic floor recovery. Studies have shown that women with postpartum depression engaging in regular endurance activities showed decreased symptoms of depression and increased mood regulation. Running, swimming and cycling are wonderful examples that combine both the strengthening factor of pelvic floor as well as associated muscles, but also help with mentioned mood regulation, recovery and weight loss postpartum.
The benefit of running for your pelvic floor health is not only the constant core engagement and diaphragmatic breathing, but also the advantage of being able to take your baby with you on the stroller runs. Natural light will help with melatonin regulation and the sleep pattern of your child. Swimming will naturally engage you in optimal breathing due to the water resistance. It also puts you in a horizontal position, reducing stress on the pelvic floor. Your pelvic floor muscles activate by aligning your hips in the water. The rhythmic pedal motion in cycling will recruit and optimize pelvic floor muscle coordination as well as providing strength to your legs and glutes assisting your pelvic floor. It is, however, important to consult a healthcare professional prior to any postpartum activity (around six weeks postpartum) to check for postpartum organ prolapse. Once that is cleared, you can start engaging in these activities.
It is also important we debunk the common misconception that you should stop an activity as soon as you experience leakage. You can keep engaging in these activities and work on the symptoms at the same time, with the goal of eventually stopping the leakage. Incontinence pads are a great tool to assist with bladder leakage (period pads aren’t designed to hold as much fluids as the incontinence pads do and are therefore not recommended).
Let’s move towards feeling better physically and mentally when it comes to pelvic floor health—lace up those runners, suit up for a swim, or hop on the bike and get to it!
