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Pregnancy Exercises to Strengthen
One’s pelvic floor happens to be a group of muscles that may not be in mind always, but if they are not strong and also flexible, they can sorely impact one’s quality of life. In pregnancy, such issues matter.
Incontinence, leakage, constipation as well as pelvic pain can all be signs of something not being proper with one’s pelvic floor. These dysfunctions can be due to weakened or tightened muscles that can make it difficult to control one’s bladder or bowels or may cause a person pelvic pain. Pregnancy does impact one’s pelvic floor and there are exercises to strengthen it. Pelvic exercises for pregnancy are indeed very beneficial for preventing urinary incontinence and also improving pelvic floor control.
Few exercises:
• Butterflies: This exercise opens the pelvis and also keeps the lower back flexible. The patient can practice it during all stages of pregnancy.
• Kegels: This exercise strengthens the pelvic-floor muscles by squeezing and then releasing them as if stopping the flow of urine.
• Pelvic tilt in box position: This exercise helps maintain good spinal flexibility and also pelvic floor control during pregnancy.
• Lateral leg abductions: This exercise does challenge one’s pelvic floor by moving one’s legs sideways while keeping the hips stable.
• Standing row: This exercise does strengthen one’s upper back and also core muscles while engaging one’s pelvic floor.
How pregnancy impacts the pelvic floor
• Incontinence or rather urine leakage during or after pregnancy is often mistaken as being a symptom of a pelvic floor weakened during pregnancy, but that may not be true.
• Pelvic floor muscles do not weaken during pregnancy. On account of the growth of the baby, it does change the orientation a bit. They do get a bit stretched.
• But if pelvic floor muscles were already weak when pregnancy began, or if they happen to be already tight, pregnancy can make such issues noticeable. This is so as muscles are not in proper shape to keep up with one’s baby’s increasing weight and also the changes in one’s body as pregnancy progresses.
• As the shifts and changes to prepare for delivery, it can emphasize if there were imbalances, if one’s hips were weak before, in case one’s core was weak earlier. As the woman progresses via pregnancy, if there is an imbalance in her pelvic floor, core, or hip strength, that can result in having the pelvic floor seem impacted.
More about pregnancy exercises:
Pelvic floor exercises in pregnancy
The best time to begin doing exercises to strengthen the pelvic floor during pregnancy is actually long before one’s pregnancy, but it is indeed never too late to start. It is better to include one’s pelvic floor muscles as part of a regular exercise routine whether the person is pregnant or not.
When it comes to pelvic floor therapy exercises, the pregnant woman can simply add pelvic floor strengthening to her existing routine.
• Spending about 20-30 minutes, say at least three to four days a week, in order to start building up muscle strength throughout one’s body, that does include pelvic floor exercises.
• Aim for two to three sets of about each pelvic floor exercise with about 10-15 repetitions.
• Not really pushing too hard while performing the exercises. The pregnant woman does not want to feel pain or have difficulty doing them, but she does want to make sure by the final repetitions her muscles feel like they have worked.
Conclusion:
If already pregnant, or plan to be soon, the initial step is to speak to one’s health care provider and, if required to a pelvic floor physical therapist in order to figure out where one’s pelvic floor health stands and which pelvic floor dysfunction exercises will indeed work best for the person.