8 Pelvic Floor Exercises to Overcome Urinary Incontinence

Incontinence or leakage of urine is a condition that affects thousands. Women are mainly affected after childbirth and ageing. Strengthening the pelvic floor muscles may prevent such conditions. There is a cluster of muscles that holds the bladder, bowels, and, for women, the uterus—those are known as pelvic floor muscles.
When you cough, sneeze, or even exercise, weakness in these muscles may cause urine leakage. We have gathered regular exercises to strengthen these muscles and reduce or eliminate incontinence.

Here’re the Best 8 Pelvic Floor Exercises to Help You Fight Urinary Incontinence.

• Kegel Exercises

Best-known pelvic floor exercises and extremely helpful in increasing bladder control.

How to perform Kegels:

• First, identify your pelvic floor muscles.
• Try to stop your urine flow midstream, you will feel some muscles contracting down there—these are the muscles you must focus on.
• Once identified, contract these muscles and hold for a count of 5 seconds.
• Then, rest for 5 seconds.
• Try to do it 10-15 times in one session, three times a day.

You can do Kegels anywhere – while sitting, standing, or lying down. With regular practice, you’ll notice improved control over your bladder.

• Bridge Exercise

Bridging strengthens your pelvic floor, glutes and core muscles.

To Do A Bridge:

• Lie on your back.
• Bend your knees and place your feet lying flat on the floor, hip-width apart.
• Engage your pelvic floor muscles by contracting them—like you do while controlling the urinary urge.
• Lift your buttocks, making a straight line from shoulders to knees.
• Hold this for 5-10 seconds, then release your hips back down slowly.
• Repeat 10-15 times.

This exercise is quite helpful and builds endurance within your pelvic floor muscles. Moreover, bridging is one of the best diastasis recti exercises—the workouts that help fix the separation of your ab muscles after pregnancy.

• Squatting

Great for strengthening the pelvic floor muscles, buttocks, and thighs.

How To Squat 

• Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart.
• Lower your body as if you’re going to sit back into a chair, keeping your back straight and your knees behind your toes.
• Engage the pelvic floor muscles while performing the squat.
• Return to the standing position.
• Aim for 2-3 sets of 10-15 squats.

• Heel Slides

A simple exercise to hold the pelvic floor. Heel slides will gracefully stimulate the muscles of the pelvic floor.

How to Slide Your Heels:

• Lie on your back with the knees bent, with your feet flat on the floor.
• Tighten your pelvic floor muscles.
  Slowly slide one hell away from your body maintain your heel contact with the floor.
• Slide the heel back to the starting position.
• Repeat on each leg for 10 repetitions.

• Clamshells

Great for the pelvic floor and the hip muscles.

How to do Clamshells:

• Lie on your side with your legs stacked and knees bent to a 90-degree angle.
• Keeping the feet together, take your top knee up towards the ceiling. 
• Do not move your pelvis backwards.
• Lower your knee back down to the starting position.
• Perform repetitions on each side 10-15 times. This exercise will strengthen not only your pelvic floor but also stabilise your pelvis.

• Bird Dog

A great exercise for balance, stability, and strengthening the pelvic floor.

How to do a Bird Dog Pose

• Get onto your hands and knees into tabletop position.
• Activate your core and pelvic floor muscles.
• Now straighten your right arm forward and your left leg back, both parallel to the ground.
• Hold for some seconds, then return back to the starting position.
• Repeat on the other side.
• Do 10-15 sets on each side.

• Wall Sit-Ups

A very simple exercise that strengthens the muscles of the pelvic floor. Wall sits give a boost to your pelvic floor muscles in terms of endurance.

How to do a Wall Sit-Up:

• Standing with your back against a wall, slide down into a seated position as if you were sitting in a chair.
• Bend your knees e at a 90-degree angle. 
• Hold for 20-30 seconds while clamping your pelvic floor muscles. 
• Slowly rise back up. 
• Repeat 5-10 times. 

• Pelvic Tilt:

A gentle way to work the pelvic floor. Pelvic tilts help gently activate and strengthen the pelvic floor muscles.

How to do a Pelvic Tilt:

• Lie on your back, bend your knees and place your feet flat on the mat. 
• Tighten your stomach and pelvic floor muscles. 
• Tilt your pelvis upwards gently so your lower back presses against the floor. 
• Hold for a few seconds, then release. 
• Repeat 10-15 times. 

Stay Consistent With These Pelvic Floor Exercises & Feel The Change.

All these above-mentioned pelvic floor exercises, including Kegels, squats, clamshells, bridging, wall sit-ups, and bird dog poses, focus on activating your muscles down there. Activation and strengthening help improve your control over urine. 

Though these exercises are helpful, they require a lot of time and consistency to show results. If you are facing significant urinary incontinence, Empower RF treatment may provide quick relief. This innovative women’s wellness treatment combines radiofrequency, microneedling, and electrical muscle stimulation to strengthen your pelvic floor muscles and improve vaginal aesthetics. A pre-treatment consultation may help you understand its benefits and eligibility. Take a step towards relief.