Your pelvic floor is a collection of muscles and tissues that make up the bed or bottom of your body. It supports pelvic organs like your rectum, vagina, uterus, bladder, and bowels. Picture it like a hammock or trampoline that’s holding up an assortment of important organs.
Pelvic floor exercises target the muscles that make up this part of your body. There are different variations you can do, and physical therapists often recommend kegel exercises for any problems with urine leakage, sexual dysfunction, or sometimes even involuntary defecation. Physical therapist Liz Miracle told Real Simple, “It’s important to have a well-functioning pelvic floor that’s not only strong and able to support your organs to prevent issues like urinary and bowel leakage, but able to relax when needed, so you can actually [go to the bathroom] easily and pain-free.” Contrary to what you might think, however, this is not all pelvic floor exercises are good for. They’re also about achieving that firm midsection most of us are envious of as we get older. And even if you’ve never done them before, don’t worry. You’re never too old to exercise your pelvic muscles.
Part of the challenge with kegel exercises, however, is locating your pelvic floor. It’s not always as simple as it sounds. And this is the first step before you think of exercising these muscles, because you don’t want to make the mistake of missing the muscles you want to strengthen, shared physical therapist Jessica Valant via YouTube.