Try this One Move to Strengthen Your Pelvic Floor

Article by Lucas Rockwood

Table of Contents

1. Pelvic floor anatomy

2. Reverse breathing technique

3. Pelvic floor squat walk

4. Safety disclaimer

Strong pelvic floor muscles are crucial for your health in the bathroom, the bedroom, and they can even help contribute to better posture. However, most of us have no idea where these mysterious muscles are, let alone how to train them.

Pelvic floor problems are extremely common, especially after childbirth, in the second half of life, and in people living sedentary lives. The good news is that just like your hamstring muscles or your bicep muscles, you can also train your pelvic floor muscles for strength and coordination. There are 11 different muscles that make up your pelvic floor, some large, some tiny, and while some practices attempt to isolate specific muscles or pairs of muscles, for accessibility and quick progress, the simple, but extremely effective squat walk in this guide, encourages you to focus on engaging and lifting all of those muscles together. Doing this will help you gradually build strength and coordination in your pelvic floor.

Pelvic Floor Anatomy

There’s a group of muscles at the base of your pelvis called levator ani, which includes three primary muscles that make up your pelvic floor – the puborectalis, pubococcygeal, and iliococcygeal muscles. These key muscles control your urine, bowel, and ejaculation, and in women they also support the uterus. They also affect your posture. Weakness in these muscles can cause problems.

Click to download the PDF pose chart

Reverse Breathing Technique

Your pelvic floor diaphragm and your breathing diaphragm have a paradoxical relationship. When you inhale, your breathing diaphragm pushes everything down so it’s difficult to engage down below. When you exhale, your breathing diaphragm relaxes back up to its dome shape and it’s much easier to contract the muscles around your perineum. With this in mind, we’ll focus on exercises conducted at the bottom of the exhale with breath retention.

Pelvic Floor Squat Walk

Imagine yourself stopping the flow of urine and stopping defecation – squeeze it in. This is a crude way to quickly find and engage your pelvic floor.

  • On the exhale, squeeze and lift your pelvic floor muscles, stand, and bend your knees
  • Tilt your pelvis backwards by tucking your tailbone under
  • Take three steps forward and three steps backwards, keeping your pelvic floor muscles squeezed throughout
  • Sit, relax, and repeat for five rounds

Safety Disclaimer

This is for educational purposes only. If you have a major pelvic floor dysfunction, please err on the side of caution and check with a health care provider before practicing any self-care routine.

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