The pelvic floor exercises should be done on a daily basis and can be done lying down with knees bent, sitting or standing. Perform these exercises once a day to regain continence.

Below you will find some useful instructions:

• Squeeze and draw in the muscles around the urethra and rectum. You should have a sense of “lift” when squeezing. You should hold them strong and tight as you count to 8 after which you should let go and relax for 8 seconds. At this point you should have a distinct feeling of letting go
• This schedule should be repeated between 8-12 times per day
• If you initially cannot hold the pelvic floor for 8 seconds you should hold as long as you can.

Note that training your pelvic floor muscle is a matter of how long you can hold squeeze rather than the number repetitions.

You should also include breathing exercises to strengthen your abdominal muscles

1. Lay down and breath out
2. Keep your abdomen flat and push your loin to the floor.
3. Think to squeeze as if trying to stop passing gas
4. Roll to the side while continuing to both squeeze and breathe out.
5. Go back in upright position and slowly relax the muscle

Tips to remember my pelvic floor training?

It is important to get into a daily routine and the easiest way to accomplish this is to link it to something that you do on a daily basis. Remember that training the pelvic floor does not take a lot of time. Below you can find some inspiration as to when and where you can train your pelvic floor. The situation may vary depending on how comfortable you are with the exercises, but could be whilst;

• Laying in bed before you sleep
• After meals
• Before or after undressing yourself in the evening
• Sitting in your car on your way to or from work.

It is not important where you do it but that you get to do it on a daily basis. Therefore you should find the everyday situation that fits you the best.

Before initiating your pelvic floor training you need to find out how to locate these so that you are sure that you are training the right muscles

Tips to locate the pelvic floor muscles

1. Sit or lay down with your thighs and buttocks relaxed. Without squeezing your buttocks try to squeeze as if trying to stop passing gas. Now relax and repeat to make sure that you have found the right muscle.
2. When going to the toilet to pass urine, try to stop the stream and start it again. Notice which muscles that helps you do this. It is important that this should only be done once a week to secure bladder functionality.

If with the above exercises, you do not feel a distinct lift or squeeze of your pelvic floor muscles, you should consult your doctor or another healthcare professional, as they can help you locate the muscle.