Pelvic Floor Safe Exercises Poster for Strengthening

This pelvic floor safe exercises poster guide helps you exercise safely and reduce your risk of pelvic floor problems worsening.

This poster is designed for women with:

• Prolapse problems
• Postpartum
• Bladder or bowel problems
• Pelvic floor weakness
• After gynaecological surgery (including prolapse, hysterectomy, bladder or bowel)

Please feel welcome to print this pelvic floor safe exercises poster

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Pelvic Floor Safe Exercise Saver Pack

Inside Out eBook and exercise workout video both available in this cost effective saver pack (download or hardcopy format).

Inside Out eBook and exercise video pack helps you:

• Lose weight and maintain body weight
• Safely strengthen and tone
• Understand unsafe exercises to avoid
• Choose pelvic floor safe exercises
• Strengthen your pelvic floor
• Increase your lean muscle
• Improve your bone health

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The 10 Principles for Pelvic Floor Safe Exercises

1. Posture

• Maintain the normal inward curve in your lower back during every effort; lift, lower, push or pull against resistance.
• Using the correct posture will help you activate the protective support of your pelvic floor and deep lower abdominal muscles during your strength exercises.

2. Pelvic Floor

• Activate your pelvic floor muscles immediately before and during your effort if you’re able to.
• Ideally your pelvic floor muscles should contract strongly with your effort and then relax back to resting immediately following. If you can’t feel your pelvic floor muscles it’s important to keep your resistance low and avoid potentially unsafe strength exercises.

3. Exhale

• Breathe out during your effort and never hold your breath during resistance exercises.
• Holding your breath increases downward pressure on your pelvic floor. Breathing out reduces to the downward pressure on your pelvic floor.

4. Heavy Lifting

• Avoid heavy lifting and never strain with your resistance exercises. Keep the load within a manageable range. Avoid lifting weights from ground level wherever possible and always use safe lifting techniques.
• If your pelvic floor is at increased risk of injury, minimize the load until your pelvic floor condition has improved. This will help you avoid straining and injuring your pelvic floor.

5. Abdominal Exercises

• Avoid intense abdominal bracing at all times particularly during resistance exercises. Know how to activate core abdominal muscles correctly before and during exercise to stabilize your trunk.
• Intense abdominal bracing or strongly tightening the abdominal muscles increases the downward pressure onto the pelvic floor, increasing the risk of pelvic floor overload and injury.

6. Start Light

• When starting out use minimal resistance and focus on using the correct technique.
• Gradually increase resistance over time when you can use the correct technique and you are confident in your pelvic floor strength and control.

7. Support

• Choose supported positions for your strength exercises. Supported positions such as sitting on a Fit Ball or lying down may be used as an alternative to standing resistance exercises.
• Physical support can reduce the likelihood of pelvic floor symptoms with resistance training and improve your ability to feel your pelvic floor muscles working.

8. Recover

• Take the time to rest between sets (groups) of resistance exercises.
• Resting allows your muscles (including your pelvic floor muscles) to recover so they can work effectively before your next strength effort.

9. Listen

• Listen to what your body tells you during and after resistance exercises. Notice those risky gym exercises and/or machines that cause you pelvic floor symptoms and either modify or cease them altogether.
• Pelvic floor symptoms with exercise are not normal; they indicate that you’re overloading your pelvic floor with some aspect of your training. Monitor your pelvic floor symptoms with your exercises, especially if you’re at increased risk of pelvic floor injury e.g. returning to exercises after gynaecological surgery or childbirth.

10. Rest

• Take a break from resistance training if you have pelvic pain, acute lower back pain or if you feel fatigued and unwell.
• Your supportive pelvic floor and deep abdominal muscles won’t work as effectively when you have pelvic pain and/or fatigue and your risk of injury is increased. Return to exercise gradually when your body has recovered.

This pelvic floor safe exercises poster guide is free to download, share with friends and post at your local gym or fitness center.

Further Reading & Related Videos

» Elliptical Machine Workout Tips For Pelvic Floor Safe Exercise

» Dumbbell Lunges That Safely Strengthen & Tone Your Thighs

» Leg Press Mistakes To Avoid for Pelvic Floor Safe Exercises

» How To Squat – Physiotherapist Video for Pelvic Floor Safe Leg Strengthening