Pelvic Floor Exerciser Newsletter

The Forgotten Muscle Group - An open letter to all Personal Trainers & Gym instructors

Imagine the following conversation between you and a client:

“I’ve completed your assessment. Here is your exercise program. It covers every muscle group like your calves, abs, back, quads, hamstrings, shoulders and chest. If you stick by this plan for 3 months we will have you looking and feeling great.”
“What about my pelvic floor?”
“Ummm, pelvic floor?”
“Yes, my pelvic floor. Why have you not included that in my workout?”

Now, you have probably never had anyone mention this to you, but how would you react if they did?
Embarrassed?

Why would anyone want to include this muscle group in a fitness program? Who are the people likely to need better conditioning most?

The truth is, that everyone, male and female, can benefit by having a stronger pelvic floor. Better sexual function and better urinary and fecal continence are the major benefits.

The major target group is new mothers. Childbirth weakens the pelvic floor and many new mums suffer “stress urinary incontinence”. This embarrassing condition is simply urinary leakage when you don’t want it. Laughing, coughing, sneezing, exertion can all bring on an “accidental leak”. You would be surprised how many elite athletes suffer occasional leakage! Even some who have never given birth! Older women who have had multiple childbirths are strong candidates for a pelvic floor exercise program.

Many women go through life accepting that “accidental leak” as a given part of life. They usually won’t suffer it till after the first baby. They might talk to their mother. “It’s just part of being a mother dear” may be a typical response. In frustration they may talk to older sisters or friends who have already become mums. And a high percentage of them are likely to have a similar problem. “ OK, I am just normal and I will have to put up with it I guess. Maybe it will just get better”

Women who do not treat accidental urine leaks will eventually become one of the 50% of those in nursing homes who are incontinent. 12% of women enter nursing homes ONLY because they are incontinent (Statistics from the Australian Continence Foundation).

The Australian Continence Foundation states that 10% of Australian women endure accidental urine leaks unnecessarily. The treatment of first choice is pelvic floor exercises. The alternative is an operation that, in many cases, provides temporary relief only.

The problem is that Pelvic Floor exercises are tricky to learn and completing an exercise program can be challenging. Many people have difficulty identifying their pelvic floor muscles and for you as the trainer, it is very difficult to know if you client is doing the exercises at all, much less doing them properly.

Another challenge is providing some sort of resistance for the pelvic floor muscles to work against. Increase in strength is greatly enhanced when resistance training is used.

And providing some sort of visual feedback for the client is another problem. Think of any other exercise that a person does. They can see, or you can see, that they are not only doing the exercise but also doing it correctly.

Fortunately there are products available on the market to help over come all these challenges. One such product is manufactured by one of our associated companies, Cardio Design.

The PFX2 and Peritron are perineometers. These are devices that actually measure the strength of the Pelvic Floor Muscles. Not only do they measure the strength of the muscles, but they also provide resistance and visual feedback. The client can actually see if they are achieving something when doing the exercise.

The Peritron is the clinical model perineometer. It accurately measures the strength of the pelvic floor and gives visual indication of even the weakest contractions. It displays the peak strength of the contraction, the average strength of contraction, and the length of contraction. (All this is a give in most other exercise situations isn’t it? You can see you client lift a weight, you know how long they have held it

The PFX2 is a “take home” perineometer. The client can purchase this unit from you, take it home, and do their pelvic floor exercises in the privacy of their own home.

THE BONUS! Exercising your Pelvic Floor will strengthen your pubococcygeus muscle. A stronger pubococcygeus will give you greater sensation and control during sex. Why? Well, the pubococcygeus or ‘love muscle’ loops around the vagina. Its nerve endings provide the sensation you experience during sexual intercourse. Increasing the bulk of your pubococcygeus by exercise will increase the number of nerve endings. More nerve endings means more sensation for you. Being able to flex the walls of your vagina will increase your partner’s pleasure also.

Now, what about men? Can they benefit? Yes, men particularly after prostate surgery, may suffer weakened pelvic floor muscles. And there is a PFX just for men, which uses an anal sensor rather than a vaginal sensor.

One last thing. Before starting a program of pelvic floor exercises to improve bladder control it is a good idea to have your client talk to a Doctor in case there are other factors affecting their condition.