As a Pelvic Floor Physical Therapist, I have seen many patients with pelvic floor dysfunction who have been prescribed “Kegels”.  When I assess these patients with my hand palpating those muscles, almost all of them are doing something wrong.  Some people can’t relax those muscles enough to get a good contraction (and are also dealing with issues like pain that come from those muscles being tense all the time).  Some people can activate the muscles at the back part of their pelvic floor, but cannot activate the muscles at the front of their pelvic floor.  This can specifically be a problem if they are having urinary incontinence, because the muscles in the front part of the pelvic floor controls urine function!  Some people can’t activate the deep part of the pelvic floor that provides support as part of your core.  Some people can’t activate the outer muscles that are involved in preventing leaking urine and stool.  Some are holding tension in places that are not letting the rest of the pelvic floor function properly.  By saying “do Kegels” without knowing if you are doing them properly, you are “not using the right tool for the job”.

As humans, we use our senses to give us information about how our bodies are working.  We use our eyes at the gym to look in the mirror to see if we are doing exercises correctly.  While you can use a mirror check general of your pelvic floor muscles, using your finger to assess different parts of this area will give you a much more accurate picture of what is going on.  Just like other parts of the body, our brain isn’t always aware of our different pelvic floor muscles, which leads to them not functioning as well as possible.  Using our sense of touch also helps connect our brains to that area so it can understand it better!

Unfortunately, many of the sensors that measure pelvic floor function give general information on how much pelvic floor muscles are “on” or “off”.  What these sensors CANNOT usually pick up is if the muscle activation is happening at the front or the back of the pelvic floor and if the deeper or more superficial muscles are the ones firing.  With that said, if you don’t have hand function or sensation due to any medical condition or are unable to get feedback on your pelvic floor function with your fingers, you can use a sensor instead along with this program.

This program works by first connecting the brain to the pelvic floor muscles.  In forming that connection, the brain learns to control those muscles better.  In this process, the pelvic floor is also being linked to the rest of the core.  Shortly there after, you will start connecting pelvic floor activation to functional movements.  As the program goes on, you will start to build brain connection between the pelvic floor and the rest of the body.  The exercise program you will be embarking on will also help you build strength in the muscles that support pelvic floor function as well, which will both help with the issues you are having an make you a stronger human overall!

Congrats first of all!  Yes, this program starts very slowly and can be initiated as soon as you are cleared for exercise by your midwife, doctor or pelvic floor physical therapist.

Yes.  This program was developed by a pelvic floor physical therapist as a way to give her patients to have weekly video guidance going through their workouts.  Rather than having a list of exercises to go through or videos in lots of places, this program give weekly videos where you can “just push play” and not have to think about what to do next.  Research shows that our muscles learn to function better through repetition.  It can serve as a great adjunct to the great care you are getting in the clinic.

Dr. Sara Tanza is the founder of A Hands On Guide to Pelvic Floor Muscle Training Online Program and Pelvic Potential Physical Therapy.  Dr. Tanza created all the content for this program, including the online workshop and all videos.  Read more about Dr. Tanza HERE.