The pelvic floor is the centre of strength for the whole body.
It is a small muscle that does great things: the pelvic floor. But it is only when problems arise that we devote attention to this hidden muscle in our crotches. And yet a healthy pelvic floor musculature has a lot to offer. When well trained, it ensures a pleasant body sensation, improves posture, relieves the back musculature and brings many other advantages with it.
Men and women are reluctant to talk about problems below the belt.
Coughing, sneezing, laughing – everyday life is full of situations that are out of our control. But if you have a weak pelvic floor, these can quickly become uncomfortable. For example, if you suffer from incontinence, you may lose a few drops of urine in such situations. For a long time, the pelvic floor muscles were a neglected or even taboo subject, but now we know how important this muscle group is inside our body. It contributes to good posture and stabilises our internal organs – if its strength diminishes, it can lead to significant problems for both women and men.
The symptoms of a weak pelvic floor are varied. Men, for example, suffer from erectile dysfunction or have to deal with pelvic floor problems after prostate surgery. In women, a symptom can be a prolapsed uterus. Both sexes often suffer from abdominal pain, bladder prolapse and involuntary loss of urine and stool, i.e. incontinence, with women being significantly more affected than men. According to Dr Gabriela Kieser, almost one in three women over the age of 60 suffer from urinary incontinence. But young women can also be affected, especially after pregnancy and childbirth. And your sex life can also be influenced by the pelvic floor muscles. Having strong, healthy pelvic floor muscles can have a positive effect on your sexual sensitivity during intercourse.
A weak pelvis can cause the bladder to bulge.
Cross-section of the pelvic floor.
Like a woven wicker basket, longitudinal and transverse muscles in three layers form the base for the pelvis and abdominal organs. The pubic bone, pubic branches, ischial tuberosity, tailbone and sacrum are the clearly palpable boundaries of the pelvic floor. The urethra and rectum pass through two gaps, and in women, the vagina passes through a third gap.
Pregnancy and childbirth, as well as hormonal fluctuations, place a particularly heavy strain on a woman's pelvic floor. In men, the frequency of pelvic floor problems increases with age or after prostate surgery. Prolonged sitting and standing also have a negative effect on the pelvic floor. And being overweight, heavy lifting and carrying, or general connective tissue weakness can also impair the function of the muscles.
Strengthening the pelvic floor muscles – for example after an operation, a birth or even at a young age as a preventive measure – has many advantages. These include improved continence, increased sexual pleasure and support for the pelvic floor during and after pregnancy.
There are many simple fitness exercises that we can do at home to strengthen the muscles inside our bodies. They are based on actively tensing and relaxing the pelvic floor, similar to holding back urine. However, isolated pelvic floor training is not an easy task, because the targeted control of the pelvic floor must first be learned. That is why we at Kieser Training have spent years working on a machine that can be used to train the muscles in isolation – and we are very proud that we have succeeded in doing so with the A5 pelvic floor machine.
Learn how to control and train your pelvic floor muscles using the A5.
Please click here to activate Youtube. Your IP address may be transferred to the USA and Google may set its own cookies. The USA does not have an adequate level of data protection under EU standards. In particular, processing of your data by US authorities for monitoring purposes and, if necessary, without the possibility of legal recourse is possible there. You can revoke your consent at any time. You can find further information in our privacy policy.
The centrepiece of the machine is a pressure sensor integrated horizontally into the seat. The ‘sensor tube’ detects the intensity of the contraction of the pelvic floor muscles and displays it on the machine's screen, so you can see how your training is progressing.
Training is carried out using a defined sequence of muscle contractions, the intensity of which is determined individually before each workout. You sit on the sensor tube and a small dot moves across the screen as soon as the pelvic floor is tensed. By tensing and relaxing it, this point moves along a line. In this way, you can constantly check whether you are contracting the right muscles.
[Translate to English:]
Eating slowly, chewing well and drinking plenty of water aids digestion.
The following tips can also help you to strengthen your pelvic floor in your everyday life:
Like all other muscles, those of the pelvic floor do not work alone. The back, inner and outer abdominal muscles, hips and thighs should also be strengthened through strength training and exercises to work together to ensure a stable spine and optimal posture. Strengthen your body with targeted exercises – you can find an overview of our training equipment and exercises here.
A small muscle that achieves great things. What are you waiting for? Try out our exercise on the A5 motorway. It's worth the effort.