If you’ve landed on this blog you are likely wondering what a kegel is, when you should start them during pregnancy, and what benefits they offer you for your pregnancy. The good news is, I have answers for you! In my practice, empowerHer Physical Therapy and Wellness, I see multiple pregnant women daily. Many women come in for their initial evaluation wondering the same thing. But, are kegels appropriate for you?
Just like most things in life, the answer lies in a gray area - maybe!
Let’s start by learning what a kegel exercise is.
A kegel exercise is a contraction of the pelvic floor muscles. The pelvic floor muscles are a group of really small muscles that are located at the bottom of your pelvis - from sit bone to sit bone and pubic bone to tailbone. They create a hammock-like support for all our organs - our bladder, bowel, and rectum. And, if you’re pregnant - a growing baby!
If you perform a bicep curl, you are contracting or shortening your bicep muscle to bend your elbow. When we contract a muscle, the muscle shortens and acts on the bones it is attached to. When you contract your pelvic floor muscles - a kegel - you are shortening the muscles between your two sit bones and creating an upward and inward motion of your bladder, bowel, and uterus. A cue that I often give my patients is to pretend like you are trying to pull a tampon up and into your vagina.
Possible benefits of kegel exercises during pregnancy.
Performing kegel exercises during pregnancy could potentially offer you benefits which may include:
Limiting incidents of unwanted urine leakage or urinary incontinence
Providing support for your growing uterus, bladder, and rectum
Potentially helping to improve your postpartum recovery by creating a reserve of muscle strength
Reduced sensations of lack of support
When to start kegel exercises during pregnancy.
At this point, you are probably thinking - this sounds great! Why would I not need to perform kegel exercises during pregnancy? Let me explain.
Kegel exercises were first introduced in the late 1940s by Dr. Arnold Kegel as an intervention to prevent stress urinary incontinence. This laid the groundwork for advancement in women's pelvic health and brought attention to symptoms women suffered in silence for years. In the 1960s and 70s, the women's health movement continued to provide advancements with the invention of a biofeedback machine which uses a device inserted vaginally or with external probes to give women feedback on if they are properly performing a kegel and how strong their kegel exercise is. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, women began seeing pelvic floor physical therapists for these conditions which further drove research and advancements.
We’ve learned a lot since the 1940s and that is that - the pelvic floor muscles don’t always need isolated strengthening through a kegel exercise to be strong and healthy!
We have been able to study the effects of hip exercises, breathing exercises, and full body strengthening as innovative ways to improve our pelvic floor health - which doesn’t require boring kegels at all!
So, the answer to when to start kegel exercises during pregnancy is that - you probably don’t need to!
If you are performing deep core activation exercises, breathing exercises, hip, glute and back strengthening exercises, you are doing much more for your pelvic floor strength than kegels themselves can accomplish.
What benefits do core exercises, breathing exercises, and full body strengthening offer over kegels during pregnancy?
Your deep core muscles are also connected to your pelvic floor so learning to properly engage these muscles not only strengthens your core but your pelvic floor - without kegels!
Breathing exercises can help to reduce leakage by optimizing your abdominal muscles and decreasing downward pressure on the bladder. They also calm your nervous system and reduce heartburn.
The pelvic floor muscles and hip muscles work together like teammates. When we have strong hip and pelvic muscles, our pelvic floor doesn’t have to work as hard to create all the support.
Maintaining full body strength keeps us prepared for the physical demands of motherhood - an average baby is 8 lbs and there’s usually no taking it easy postpartum. When our body is strong postpartum - it reduces our chances of unwanted symptoms.
Keeps us out of pain! Kegels only address one muscle group but our whole body is working hard during pregnancy. Having strong muscles around the pelvis during pregnancy can help minimize hip, lower back, and pubic pain during.
All the above bullet points not only help us maintain pelvic floor strength during pregnancy and prepare us for postpartum - but they also help us improve our labor and delivery outcomes. They offer many more benefits than kegels alone during pregnancy.
Who doesn’t want that!?
If you’re interested in learning more about what your body needs during pregnancy, I’d love to help! I see clients out of our Fort Myers, Florida locations and virtual Monday through Thursday and occasionally Fridays. You can book an appointment below!
I hope to see you soon!
In Health,
Dr. Emily
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