Can Pilates Help Strengthen Your Pelvic Floor?

The muscle group on everyone’s mind this winter? The pelvic floor. But hold fire on the Kegels – fitness experts say Pilates is the new go-to workout for strengthening your pelvic floor. Here are five exercises to get you started.

What Is The Pelvic Floor?

The pelvic floor is the term used to describe the group of muscles and ligaments that support the bladder, uterus (womb) and bowel. While maybe not the most glamorous muscle group to work on at the gym, they’re incredibly important as they help prevent and treat pelvic floor disorders, such as urinary incontinence.

What’s The Link Between Pilates & The Pelvic Floor?

‘When people think of the core, they often neglect to think about the pelvic floor – but these muscles that sit at the base of the pelvis are the foundation of core strength,’ explains Daniella Laxton, founder of Pilates studio Core Tonic. ‘The pelvic floor muscles help to stabilise the core, support the spine and importantly, support the pelvic organs such as the bladder and bowel.’

Pilates can help pelvic floor problems by focussing on and engaging the pelvic floor muscles during specific exercises, helping to strengthen and tone the muscle group and improve its function and stability. ‘Pilates is such an effective way of strengthening these muscles because of its focus on the deep abdominals,’ adds Daniella. ‘Pilates teaches control, precision and how to connect to your centre in the most effective way possible.’

You may have already heard of one of the more popular pelvic floor exercises, Kegels – a series of pelvic floor muscle contractions and relaxations that can help with bladder and bowel control. While often practiced independently, Daniella tells us that they can also be worked into various Pilates movements. ‘Kegel exercises – where you contract and relax the pelvic floor muscles – can be performed anywhere and can be incorporated into a Pilates class,’ she confirms. ‘But exercises that can improve the condition of the pelvic floor don’t stop there. For example, I’ll often incorporate pelvic floor strengthening with pelvic tilts, bridges and cat/cow.’

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5 Pilates Exercises To Help Strengthen Your Pelvic Floor

The team at reformer Pilates concept FS8 share their top exercises to try at home:

1. Activation

Breath control plays a big role in activating your pelvic floor muscles. It is important to master Pilates breathing techniques to enhance the mind-body connection and stabilise your core muscles.

How To Do It: 

1. Sit or lie comfortably
2. Inhale through your nose, expanding your rib cage
3. Focus on engaging your pelvic floor and transversus
4. Exhale through your mouth, closing your rib cage down and in

2. Pelvic Curls

Also known as ‘bridges’, and more commonly known to strengthen your glutes, hamstrings and core muscles, pelvic curls also facilitate pelvic stability and practise your posterior tilt.

How To Do It: 

1. Lie supine with the knees bent, legs parallel approximately hip distance apart, arms relaxed at the sides with palms down, and the pelvis in a neutral position
2. Inhale to prepare, exhale to set the core
3. Begin to curl the pelvis and spine off the mat, one vertebra at a time

3. Deep Squat

Deep squats will help you strengthen your pelvic floor, as well as other muscle groups, all while improving your flexibility.

How To Do It: 

1. Stand with your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, with your toes pointing slightly outward
2. Engage your core and lower your body by bending at your hips and knees simultaneously
3. Remember to keep your back straight and chest elevated

4. Bird Dog

This bodyweight exercise is perfect for building core strength, and we know the pelvic floor is an essential part of your core. This exercise also promotes balance, spine alignment, range of motion, and lower back pain recovery, making it suitable for all ages and levels.

How To Do It: 

1. Start on your hands and knees, with your hands under your shoulders and your knees under your hips
2. Reach one leg up and out so it’s in line with your back.
3. Reach the opposite arm straight out in front.
4. The arm and leg travel out together, then back to the starting position.
5. Switch sides.

5. Quadruped Plank

Like bird dog, this exercise is a Pilates floor exercise designed to boost stability and increase core strength.

How To Do It: 

1. Kneel on the ground with your knees about shoulder-width apart and your toes curled under your feet
2. Position your hands on the floor, under your shoulders
3. Maintain proper posture by keeping your back straight, chest up, and eyes looking down
4. Raise your knees an inch or two off the ground by lifting your lower half into the air
5. Keep your back straight and parallel to the floor
6. Hold this position for the duration of the exercise