Urine incontinence affects 1 in 4 women.

And up to 75% of women over the age of 65 report the same issue.

Although there are many causes for this, one action that can be done, is to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles that consist of the Levator ani, which is the main pelvic floor muscle group.

First of all, almost all functional strength exercises will indirectly train the pelvic floor (although there are a few reasons why that may not happen).

This means that, for those people who are inactive, need to become active!

However, out of the many pelvic floor exercises that can be practiced, this is one of my personal favourites to encourage clients to practice:

Short stop tummy TVA (Transverse abdominis) vacuum:

• Standing bent forward with your hands on your knees.
• Inhale taking a diaphragmatic breath.
• Exhale and activate the TVA, draw your belly button in towards your spine and at the same time engage the pelvic floor.
• Hold for 10 seconds, rest 10 seconds and repeat up to 5 times.

The beauty of this exercise is that you’re targeting an array of muscles at the same time which are all connected in some way to help solve the problem.

Your coach,

Rupert Hambly