5 Ways to Jazzercise Your Privates!

The pelvic floor (pf) musculature is really complex and intricate. Fortunately, it is very simple to work because all these muscles have two basic functions that we can consciously control: closing/opening sphincters or lifting up the floor of the pelvic girdle. This is good news because working this delicate area is very simple but can also get boring with only a few options for our daily exercises.

So, here are 5 ways to do Kegels to spice it up for you:

1.) Hold steady

This is the basic Kegel you probably already know. Just squeeze, lift, and hold! Release and repeat. Simple yet effective. These you can get good at doing while multitasking such as driving, working on the computer, talking on the phone, brushing your teeth, etc. Change up the hold time for variety from 3 seconds all the way up to 30 seconds or more.

Warning! Don’t do while driving unless you are good at multitasking. My mother-in-law tried this while driving and almost had an accident. Multitask with other more benign activities until you reach mastery.

2.) Quick fire

To get the most out of our pfs, we need to work them at different speeds. This drill entails contracting and releasing as fast as you can for 10 seconds, resting, and repeating.

3.) Rhythm Squeeze

Pump your perineum with Michael, Britney, Usher, or Elvis! This one is my favourites and gives us endless options by inviting different artists to join us. Just as it says: squeeze and lift with the beat of the music. When you get more advanced, you can trade off between the slow beat and the double beat of the music.

4.) Elevator

These last two require a bit more concentration and fine motor control. In the elevator exercise we can imagine the pf as an apartment building with 3 or 4 floors and activate the musculature in phases. For example, totally relaxed is the basement, 20% contraction is the first floor, 50% is the second floor, 70% is the third floor, and the fourth floor is maximum contraction. Remember that elevator rides can be just up, just down, or you can be a kid on the elevator and joy ride up and down and between floors.

5.) Back to front, front to back

This last exercise is quite tricky and takes some time to master. Here you need to distinguish between the anal, vaginal, and clitoral/urethral parts of the pf muscles. In general, the difficulty increases back to front. The exercise consists of starting the contraction at the anal sphincter and moving to the vagina and then the urethra/clitoris and as usual, releasing and repeating. The harder version is the same but starting at the front and moving to the back.

There you have it. 5 different ways to Jazzercize our private parts!

Diaphragmatic suction exercise to decrease intra-abdominal pressure

This method is all the rage in Spain for postpartum core reconditioning. It is a method used by physical therapists dealing with urinary incontinence and uterine prolapse and comes from France.

It involves exhaling all air, closing the glottis, and contracting the diaphragm to create a vacuum within the abdominal cavity. This exercise is done in apnea (without breathing).

The vacuum in turn creates an involuntary contraction of the pelvic floor and the transvers abdominus. The stronger the suction, the more muscle fibers and motor units are recruited of these two muscle groups. Different postures are used to change the emphasis to different areas of the pelvic floor and the difficulty of the exercise.

These exercises are contraindicated for pregnant women, people with untreated hypertension or problems with ocular pressure. For healthy people who want to (re)train their pelvic floor and deep core stabilizers, these exercises are fabulous. They are a little tricky to learn and teach, but once mastered the results are incredible.

This is one of the main methods I use in the postpartum recovery courses I teach to get the ladies back into awesome shape.

I filmed a video of this exercise today and as soon as I can figure out how to insert a video onto this blog, I will post it for your viewing pleasure. :)