A few years ago, when I was an aspiring Cross-fit maniac, I went to watch a regional competition. I was very new to CrossFit and totally in awe of the athletes competing. For me I had always viewed gym goers as tuned into their bodies, aware of their muscle groups and what each muscle was capable of. During this relatively amateur but very impressive competition there were men and women competing in same sex pairs and they were fine specimens. The barbells (think Olympic weightlifters) and kettle bells (weights that look like upside down bells) were flying all over the box (CrossFit speak for gym) and the muscle-ups (pulling yourself up and over a metal bar) were made to look easy peasy. I was sure this final attempt at fitness and joining a gym was going to give me the elusive abs I craved and glutes of steal.
The women were onto their penultimate WOD (workout of the day) and it consisted of a whole host of lactic acid inducing exercises, including the dreaded double unders (skipping where the participant jumps once and the rope rotates under their feet twice). Now, these were my nemesis and I looked on in anticipation of picking up some tips from the CrossFit queen’s. What actually happened next was nothing short of embarrassing, for all of us. This fabulously fit woman (a dead cert for the win) began her double unders, and with every jump and whip of the rope off the floor we, the spectators were being sprayed with her urine. This beautiful, bronzed powerhouse of a women could, quite literally, not hold her own piss!
Now, as any other athlete would probably do, she carried on regardless. The title was important to her. However, for all her hard work, grit and determination to build a strong body her pelvic floor muscle was weak as f@%k. She had pelvic floor weakness.
I am no athlete by any stretch if the imagination, however, I am a qualified nurse and midwife and pregnancy and post-natal yoga teacher so I do know that the pelvic floor muscle needs to be as strong as any other muscle of the body. So why do we completely forget about it and the simple exercise it needs to become strong?
The pelvic floor muscle is so important because it holds the reproductive organs, bladder and rectum in place, supports the lower abdomen and it facilitates the passage of a baby during birth, how utterly amazing!
I have often overheard women laughing and joking about not being able to play with their children as they are afraid of wetting themselves; or being fearful of coughing and sneezing. This genuinely makes me sad. Why are women settling for poor pelvic floor health and pelvic floor weakness? I don’t want to go into the full ins and outs of how devastating pelvic floor weakness can be and the lasting damage that can result from it, but I do want to absolutely and categorically state that pelvic floor exercises are the single most impost important exercise any woman can do, regardless of whether they are of childbearing age or not. Sure, bearing children weaken the muscle, but if it's strong to begin with it stands a better chance in the long run.
My work places me in a very privileged position to be able to talk to women about their pelvic floor health and the importance of it. Pelvic floor health is the at the centre of my pregnancy and post-natal yoga programmes.
I am not saying let’s all start asking about our lady bits over lunch, but we can definitely do a quick set of 10 Kegels while we wait for the menu to arrive.
But how do I do a Kegel? I hear you ask.
How to do Kegels effectively:
1. First you need to locate the pelvic floor. To do this ensure you have an empty bladder, then imagine you are stopping the flow of urine.
2. Now imagine you are in a crowded room trying to hold in flatulence. The muscle you have activated in points one and two is your pelvic floor muscle.
3. Choose a comfortable position, sitting or lying down and complete points 1 and 2. It should feel like you are pulling the muscle up from the inside. Hold for a second or two and release fully.
4. Repeat 10 times two or three times a day.
When you first start you might find you cannot hold them for very long, the trick is to keep practicing. The more you do them the more effective they will be and the stronger your pelvic floor will become.
Follow this simple effective guide and you can have a CrossFit ready pelvic floor in no time.
Karen x