This content was created in partnership with England Netball & TheWellHQ
What is the Pelvic Floor?
Pelvic floor problems are common in all women, but especially athletes and active women. Pelvic floor issues are also synonymous with mums and midlife – with good reason – and it’s a topic in which we all need to know, say and do a lot more.
Pelvic Floor & Midlife
Get Ahead of The Inevitable:
- Sporty or not, mum or not – chances are you’ll get pelvic floor issues in midlife. Why? It’s chemical.
- One in three UK women has a pelvic floor issue. The likelihood increases if you’re an athlete, if you have a baby … and it when you enter midlife. Yes, that’s two ifs and a when. Because menopause is inevitable and the pelvic floor issues that appear during the phase we call midlife aren’t just based on wear-and-tear or impact, but our changing hormones.
What does that mean?
It means the oestrogen levels flowing through the pelvic floor and vagina start to decline and taper off. In basic terms, the pelvic floor takes a massive hit during menopause – or technically perimenopause; the first of the three menopause phases.
Even if you’ve escaped pelvic floor issues so far in life, symptoms will probably catch up with you in midlife.
Symptoms & Solutions
What are pelvic floor exercises?
They’re a way of training your pelvic floor by tightening, holding and relaxing. The exercises enable you to have more command over your pelvic floor.
At the beginning pelvic floor exercises can be really tough. It’s not something we’ve trained in and it’s not exercise as we know it. There’s no buzz or rush of endorphins.
Nonetheless, we recommend the Magic Bean exercise. And we recommend, at least at first, doing it on your own in a room with the door shut. It’s vital you feel safe, unobserved and relaxed.
The Magic-Bean-in-a-Lift pelvic floor exercise
You’re about to imagine you pick up a bean with your anus and vagina. You take it in a lift up to the third floor and then let it go.
To watch a video guide with pelvic health expert Baz PRESS HERE
Pelvic Health & Physical Activity
For more information on Pelvic Health and other key female life stages on the NETBALLHer website PRESS HERE
The information contained on this website is for general information purposes only and is not intended to provide health advice, diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease. Always seek medical advice.
