I can confidently tell you that while pregnant, you can safely perform the series of Kegel exercises as coached on our Hab-It: Pelvic Floor DVD in any of the three positions demonstrated on the video. These positions include lying on your back, sitting, and standing. Although lying on your back can be contra-indicated during pregnancy due to pressure on your abdominal aorta, the two-minute segment of our Kegel sequence is sufficiently short to alleviate concern.

Today, however, I want to provide a 4th, alternate, position for those who want to avoid lying on their back altogether when doing … Continue Reading

I recently received a request to review optimal sitting posture, as one of our subscribers noted she sits quite a bit throughout her day. So let’s review…

To give your pelvic floor optimal support while sitting you want to sit on chairs that position your hips slightly higher than your knees. This takes the hamstring tension off your pelvis, allowing it to rock forward to a more neutral position with ease. In many chairs you can achieve this by sliding forward. Getting your buns to the front edge of the chair will help drop your knees down … Continue Reading

How does breathing and the diaphragm affect the pelvic floor?

Our abdominal cavity has only so much room, so as our diaphragm draws down to take in a breath, we need to learn to breathe by expanding our lower rib cage and upper chest to displace the volume that the diaphragm is taking up. If we cannot do this, then the descending diaphragm will cause an increase in abdominal pressure that will displace the pelvic floor down (although this downward displacement is natural to a certain degree). If you aren’t able to expand your lower rib cage and chest then you … Continue Reading

I can hardly contain my excitement. I just sat down with the latest issue of Inside Triathlon (March/April 2010) magazine and came across an article by Torbjorn Sindballe. He was writing about body balance and alignment, and how that can affect race results. I was intrigued because this follows along with my beliefs, as I have written about, how posture can affect the efficiency of our musculosketletal system, our lung expansion, our bone health, our pelvic floor function, and more.

As I continued to read, he addressed something that had completely changed his training: a focus on … Continue Reading

I get so many great questions from those that are working to better understand their body and using the Hab-It:Pelvic Floor DVD to get themselves started, that I decided to share some enlightening QA moments. My hope is that by sharing these, we help even more women reach that “Aha” moment.

I’ve only just started using your DVD this week. One thing is unclear: Am I to do ALL the workouts each time (three times a week)? I can’t find this very fundamental piece of information… I’m very excited about the program, and am hoping to see results in … Continue Reading

The transversus abdominus muscle (TA) plays a very important role in pelvic floor (PF) rehabilitation and function, yet most explanations for controlling continence don’t mention any exercises other than Kegels. Why is this? Have our media outlets failed us by over-simplifying the method of PF strengthening, leaving those who are following their direction destined for failure? I believe so. Today let’s take a closer look at this postural muscle and the role it plays in core stability and pelvic floor strength.

First let’s get a good visual of our anatomy (you can find a good visual here: … Continue Reading

Since January is the month for resolutions, let’s resolve to take back control of our continence. What will it take? As with all resolutions – it will take commitment and consistency. Here’s our plan:

Make a commitment to 8 pelvic floor lift and holds per day. This is a 2-step exercise. Elevation of your pelvic floor is the tough part of a pelvic floor contraction. The easy step is to squeeze your sphincter muscles as if to stop the flow of urine or the passing of gas. The tough part, and possibly the most … Continue Reading

Let’s talk abs for a bit. Did you know that you have different kinds of abs that perform very different actions? There is the rectus abdominus, which are our 6-pack abs, that start just below our sternum and run down to our pubic bone. It is the rectus abdominus (RA) that people are talking about when they say, “check out his/her abs!” The true function of our RA is to curl our spine forward, bringing our ribs closer to our pelvis. Everytime we contract our RA, we compress our abdominal and pelvic cavities, increasing our … Continue Reading

How do you know if you have a prolapse? Some urogynocologists go as far as to say that every woman will experience some degree of prolapse in their lives. A prolapse? What exactly is it, what causes it, what can I do to prevent it or resolve it? I wanted to use this blog to talk about all of these questions surrounding prolapse because so many of us have or will experience the symptoms.

Let’s take it one question at a time. What does a prolapse feel like? For some it may feel like a soft, round … Continue Reading

Directing women how to hold appropriate posture while caring for their new born is very difficult. I don’t like feeling hypocritical, so I must be honest with you – my posture was not great when my babies were spending a good portion of their day in my arms and sleeping on my chest. The tendency for a new mom to thrust her hips forward and to lean back with her upper body, allowing her baby to lie on her chest is hard to deny. We all do it. And as our babies get bigger and gain … Continue Reading