I originally wrote this on my Facebook page in April 2015 but the topic came up again at the ISSWSH conference that I spoke at this past Saturday. I was invited to speak to Physicians on the importance of physical therapy for Pelvic Floor Dysfunction and when, where, and how to refer to a credentialed Pelvic Floor Therapist. So I decided I would repost to get this blog started:
I recently was watching an episode of Botched–following the episode was a talk show with Terry Dubrow (one of Surgeons on Botched). They did a spot on Vaginal Weightlifting! I believe they called it Vaginal Kung Fu.
I have to say something about it because I’ve been disturbed since watching these ladies in class carry gatorade bottles and pickle jars from their vaginas (!!!). Your pelvic floor muscles are skeletal muscles like the other muscles in your body (biceps, hamstrings), as Dr. Dubrow stated, however, the big difference (that he did not clarify) is that they are SMALL muscles and are not designed to be WEIGHT LIFTERS. Less is more with these muscles! There is no Pelvic Floor Olympics—no need to train your pelvic muscles to carry 31lbs (world record apparently)! There is NO functional gain in that and can lead to over training, which can lead to other problems including pelvic pain.
Exercising your pelvic floor has many benefits especially in regards to bowel, bladder, and sexual health. However, not everyone is a candidate for KEGELS (pelvic floor exercises) especially if you’re adding weights.
A reported 30% of the female population have pelvic pain. It is a serious and debilitating disorder and is in desperate need of public awareness. As a general rule of thumb if you have any pelvic pain (abdominal, groin, bladder, etc.) you should not perform Kegels unless you’ve been examined/instructed to by a pelvic floor specialist.
And for the record being “tight” does not equal “strength” and there is much more to the function of your pelvic floor muscles!
Read more about this: #vaginalweightsnotrecommended