3 Reasons to Strengthen Your Pelvic Floor Muscles

The pelvic floor con­sists of sev­er­al lay­ers of mus­cles that cov­er the bot­tom of the pelvic cav­i­ty. They form a ​“ham­mock” so to speak and sling from the pubic bone in the front, all the way to the tail­bone in the back.

These mus­cles have 3 dis­tinct roles:

• To sup­port the pelvic organs (blad­der, uterus, and rectum/​colon) with­in the pelvis.
• To assist in stop­ping and start­ing the flow of urine or the pas­sage of gas or stool.
• To aid in sex­u­al appreciation.

Rea­sons to Strength­en Your Pelvic Floor

Strong pelvic floor mus­cles are vital to a wom­an’s health and sense of well-being. The child-bear­ing years can take a toll on these mus­cles. Enter­ing menopause can also cause some changes, which may affect the strength in the pelvic floor muscles.

• If the pelvic floor mus­cles become weak­ened they will not do a good job of sup­port­ing the pelvic organs and the organs them­selves may start to drop down in the vagi­nal canal (pro­lapse).
• They need to be strong when we cough, laugh, sneeze, etc. so that they can con­tract and tight­en so no urine or bow­el con­tents leak out.
• Weak, stretched out mus­cles may not respond as well sex­u­al­ly and it might be more dif­fi­cult for a woman to orgasm.