I'm sure I'm not the only one who has felt that nagging feeling of needing to do Pelvic Floor Exercises (PFEs) or Kegels..?!
For me, they were't making a noticeable difference to my symptoms, so needless to say, I wasn't feeling the love. I also found the reminders pretty constant (and annoying if I'm honest) in an already busy day.
PFEs (or Kegels) were invented in the 1940s by Arnold Kegel, a Gynaecologist, and they certainly have their place. You want to be able to squeeze your pelvic floor muscles easily, if you need to, when you cough, sneeze etc. And for lots of women they work, are enough and they don't mind doing them.
So why don't I do them?
Things have moved on since the 1940s
The pelvic floor is only part of a fully functioning, strong core. We've all experienced at some point, or still do, our pelvic floor working efficiently on a subconscious level - without us thinking about it. That's a great place to be, but if you're experiencing pelvic floor problems or core weakness a bit of retraining is probably needed to get you to that place.
30% wasn't enough for me
Pelvic floor exercises are great, but only utilise 30% of the muscles involved in pelvic floor and core function. Within the other 70% are the muscles responsible for subconscious function. With the symptoms I was experiencing I needed another level of support to enable me to recover.
I don't have to
Yep. I wasn't prepared for this when I first started doing Hypopressives. It has been a great bonus and essentially why I don't do my PFEs - I don't have to. I can squeeze my pelvic floor if I need to, but my core is working well and efficiently managing the internal pressures generated by activities in everyday life (like lifting, coughing, sneezing, exercising, jumping etc).
I love the other benefits
More about that another day..
If you're interested in finding out more, please get in touch - I'd love to hear from you!