Many women are familiar with kegel exercises to tighten and lift the muscles running from your back down to your pubic bones at the front, otherwise known as “kegels.” Kegels can help improve bladder control and pelvic floor support while providing additional abdominal muscle strengthening benefits.
These stretching and strengthening exercises can be done anywhere.
Yogi Squat
Yogi Squat (also known as Malasana or Garland Pose) is a deep squat which works the hips and buttocks while simultaneously building strength in your pelvic floor and lower back. Commonly seen in Prenatal Yoga classes, but suitable for many other styles as well; Malasana makes for an excellent way to start building strength in hips, pelvic floor and lower back simultaneously while slowly progressing into more challenging poses. It makes an excellent introduction pose when starting yoga practice or when making transitioning between poses easier – great way to ease into more advanced yoga poses gradually!
Tight hips and hip flexors can be difficult to stretch when coupled with an already tight lower back. A tight hip joint can cause the spine to curve forward and lead to back pain; therefore, exercises that strengthen and loosen surrounding muscles such as the Yogi Squat pose are particularly helpful in this regard as they open up and strengthen hip joint and surrounding muscles while simultaneously aligning your spine properly.
The Yogi Squat can also help strengthen and stabilize knees by engaging quadriceps, hamstrings and adductor muscles in the lower body. Furthermore, this exercise also strengthens ankles and feet by engaging Tibialis Anterior and Peroneus Longus muscle groups – helping to ensure stability during movement and activities of daily living.
As an added benefit, the yogi squat also works to strengthen your thighs and buttocks – making it an effective workout for your entire lower body! While it may take some practice before reaching deeper yogi squats are possible if your hip flexors are tight, but the effort will pay off!
If you are having difficulty with performing a full yogi squat at first, adding a rolled up blanket or towel under your heels as support can make all the difference in reaching down to touch the floor or not. Once stronger, remove this support to see how low you can go without assistance.
Abdomen Stretch
The prone abdominal stretch, commonly referred to as cobra pose, is one of the best exercises to relax pelvic floor muscles. Simply lie prone on the floor with hands underneath shoulders. Press hips firmly against floor for deep stretch in lower abdominal region without arching back or lifting too high; hold this position for 30 seconds before changing direction or holding to other side to get similar stretch in upper abdominal region – this helps strengthen and train shoulder stability as well as improving posture and opening up chest space.
Forward fold is an effective abdominal stretch, and can be performed either sitting or lying down. A comfortable seat should be used, since this position can be challenging; beginners may benefit from using props like chairs or folded blankets as aids to aid stretching while keeping their spine upright.
This stretching exercise is also an excellent way to target adductor muscles – those muscles located along the inner thigh that attach to pubic bones – which often become tight with hypotonic pelvic floors and require strengthening and training to increase tone, or become overactive and tight for people experiencing urinary leakage. A forward fold may help lengthen and relax these adductors muscles and ease pressure on the pelvic floor.
Keep in mind that it may take three months before seeing significant results from these exercises, due to muscle fatigue caused by repeated exercises. Make sure you allow ample rest time in between each workout. It is ideal to do at least one session daily and up to five times each week but never overdo it!
If these exercises cause any discomfort or are painful for you, seeking professional assistance from your physiotherapist is recommended. They will be able to offer tailored treatment plans and exercises which may help relieve your symptoms.
Bird Dog
The Bird Dog exercise is not only great for core and hip strength training, but can also loosen tight pelvic muscles. Start by getting on all fours with wrists under shoulders and knees under hips; brace your core and pelvic floor as you extend both right arm forward while simultaneously retracting both left leg back (both keeping them aligned with spine) until reaching center; repeat for 10-12 rounds until both limbs have returned back to center position.
Exercise for those experiencing back pain as it strengthens both the upper and lower spine without compressing vertebrae. Unfortunately, people with poor balance or weak core may struggle to perform it correctly due to insufficient muscular tension between spine and hips – essential to neutral spine positioning and accurate performance of this exercise. If this exercise proves challenging for you, try doing it with one arm at first before moving onto both simultaneously.
Make this exercise even more difficult by adding an exercise ball into the mix, as this provides additional core stability challenges by forcing you to balance on it using both hands and feet. However, this variation should only be attempted by those who have mastered basic bird dog exercise on a floor surface without experiencing difficulties.
Alternative variations of this exercise include performing it on a bench instead of the floor. Doing it this way eliminates lower leg contribution to balance and makes the exercise more challenging for those with unstable hips. You could also attempt it with both legs off of the bench for a more challenging bird dog pose.
As you become more adept with bird dog moves, gradually increase the number of sets and reps per session. Just be careful not to overdo it – fatigue may hinder performance! Remember that bird dogs far outweigh their difficulty; keep practicing and watch as your flexibility improves with time!
Buttock Stretch
Tight butt muscles can be both annoying and cause lower back discomfort. Their tightness is caused by shortened hip flexors and pelvic floor muscles in your hips – known respectively as puborectalis, iliotibial band and obturator internus for men or iliotibial band and the symphysis diaphragm for women – that help bowel function as well as maintaining pelvic alignment; they may become tight due to sitting too long, pregnancy or illness surgery or other causes.
Exercise to stretch and relax the pelvic floor muscles (kegels) can help stretch these muscles for improved flexibility and stretching. Kegel exercises can be performed when sitting, lying down, or standing – you don’t even need a partner! For optimal results it is advised that these exercises be completed three different positions every day to maximize results.
To perform this exercise, lay on your back with knees bent hip-width apart and arms resting by your sides with palms facing down. Contract your buttock and pelvic floor muscles by slowly raising hips as high as possible without arching low back – hold for two breaths then slowly lower back onto mat and repeat two to three times.
Another version of this exercise involves sitting on the floor and crossing one leg over the other while supporting your knee with your hands behind its kneecap. Pull your knee toward your chest while stretching the buttock muscles; hold this stretch for 20-30 seconds on each side. If necessary, push down on your foot for increased stretching intensity.
Sit on the floor with your legs extended in front of you and reach with your left hand toward your right knee and twist your torso using only your left arm for support. As this exercise requires advanced maneuvers, your right arm may provide extra assistance as necessary when performing this twisting motion.
