The pelvic region is nothing but the space between your hips and that’s why pelvic strength is very important for many functions — it is required for women during child birth, for men to have a good prostate health, it also protects our spine and organs in that area. Sedentary lifestyle, lack of movement, unnatural seating positions in chairs, sitting on very soft mattresses, use of the Western toilet, etc has led to a lot of discomfort today in our pelvic region which can affect different organs in that area. For women, it holds the reproductive organs, urinary tract, etc. We used to sit on Indian toilets which demands squatting and the muscles would get tighter, but then came the Western toilet and the habit of squatting changed. Our parents, grandparents and ancestors were using Indian toilets, sitting on the ground more often throughout the day, eating meals on the floor in a cross leg position (sukhasana) — all these actions causes these muscles to contract and they get stronger with contraction and relaxation. But nowadays, we hardly see anyone sit on the floor and eat their meals because they are so dependent on the dining table. Not using pelvic muscles makes them weaker.
For women while going through pregnancy, if the womb gets heavier and if the pelvic muscles are not able to hold the weight, it starts lowering towards the vaginal area and can lead to a lot of problems like bleeding, pain and loss of elasticity in the vaginal muscles. Women with a lot of belly fat too can have weak pelvic floor muscles. This apart, ageing too can weaken these muscles.
For men, it is important for prostrate health, urinary tract, etc. When you tend to hold on to urine for longer than usual, you can weaken your bladder muscles and eventually your pelvic muscles. It’s important to urinate when you have the urge to do so. Apart from exercises, our lifestyle determines how strong our pelvic muscles will be. Weak pelvic muscles are connected to bladder issues, prostate issues, incontinence (inability to hold on to the urine and needing to pass urine frequently even at night is called urinary incontinence), etc. If you do not urinate, you may even start leaking.
That’s where squats and kegel exercises help to make your pelvic muscles stronger and avoid these kind of issues in future.
Squats:The more you squat as low as possible can help clench and strengthen these muscles.
Kegel: Sit with your back straight, imagine that you are urinating and mid flow you clench, and stop the flow. Doing that while urinating is not recommended as you can contract infection. You may do it maybe for the first time for practice by choosing a hygienic place. But later, do not hinder your urination as it can lead to incomplete emptying of your bladder leading to UTIs. Identify the muscle used for urination, clench, hold for 10 seconds and repeat three counts of this. Do not overdo. As you get better, you may move on to 15-20 seconds. Kegels are great for one’s sex life as well because these exercises improve blood flow and circulation, particularly in the pelvic area. And therefore, especially for women post delivery when the vaginal muscles get weaker, kegels can strengthen the walls and the muscles to make them tighter and back to normal. For men with erectile dysfunction, practicing kegels will help an erection last longer due to improved circulation.