Female Fitness - strengthening pelvic floor muscles

Karen Asp

Why women should strengthen their pelvic floor muscles.

In the past decade, women have gotten pumped about strength training. We've flocked to free weights at gyms, bought strength training videos for home and hired personal trainers to guide us through the gluttony of squats, lunges, curls, crunches and push-ups. Yet we're not doing enough. Blame it on ignorance or embarrassment, but we've overlooked perhaps the most important muscle group in the female body: the pelvic floor muscles, also called vaginal muscles or love muscles.

Strong pelvic floor muscles mean increased pleasure in the bedroom. Yet sex is only part of the picture. There are also a number of general health reasons that should entice women to exercise these muscles and encourage fitness professionals to start talking about this topic with their female clients.

The Pelvic Floor Importance

A woman's pelvic floor consists of a large group of muscles that perform a number of important functions. They support the female reproductive organs, enhance sexual pleasure and aid in childbirth. Although these muscles can't be seen as easily as a bicep or hamstring, women can feel them working when they voluntarily stop the flow of urine midstream--which, by the way, isn't advisable.

These muscles work like any other muscle in the body. In other words, if you don't use it, you'll lose it. "Without regular resistance exercise, those muscles lose 80 percent of their strength by the time a woman turns 65," says Daniel S. Stein, M.D., medical director of the Foundation for Intimacy in Tampa, Florida, and a board-certified gynecologist.

According to Stein, deconditioning of the pelvic floor muscles begins as early as the late teens and progressively worsens. Almost all of his patients, even those in their twenties and women who haven't had children, have experienced significant weakening of these muscles. "The lack of resistance exercise causes vaginal muscle atrophy in all women, not just women who give birth. Of course, childbirth overstretching and subsequent lack of resistance exercise of these internal muscles makes matters worse and the need for post-partum resistance exercise, to restore tone and tightness, even more important," explains Stein.

When vaginal muscle atrophy occurs, problems arise. According to the National Institutes of Health, perhaps the most common problem is urinary incontinence, which strikes at least 40 million people in this country (mainly women and the elderly). Urinary incontinence (a preventable but embarrassing leakage) is often provoked by a sudden movement like a cough, sneeze, laugh or jump.

Furthermore, weak pelvic floor muscles can't properly support women's reproductive organs. Over time, these organs drop lower in the body, causing lower back discomfort and pain, especially during intercourse. This weakening also decreases women's stimulation during intercourse. Moreover, without strength, vaginal muscles in women who have just given birth won't recover as quickly as they would if they were strong.

"All of these problems can be prevented," says Suzanne Sloan, president of Naissance Holdings L.C., manufacturer of GyneFlex[TM]. "You have to start by being fit internally," Sloan adds.

The Kegel Controversy

Until recently, women have been encouraged to do Kegel exercises to strengthen their vaginal muscles. These squeeze-and-hold exercises were pioneered by Dr. Arnold Kegel in the 1940s. He discovered that vaginal muscles could be isolated and strengthened through resistance exercise.

In modern-day Kegels, women are instructed to squeeze their pelvic floor muscles (as if stopping the flow of urine), hold for an amount of time (varies from doctor to doctor) and then release. Yet Dr. Kegel never intended his exercises to be done without resistance, which is why modern-day Kegels have proven useless.

"A muscle must perform work to build strength and endurance and today's Kegels don't promote muscle development," Stein says. Doing Kegels, he adds, is like doing arm curls without a dumbbell. Furthermore, women often do Kegels incorrectly. They either can't execute the exercise because their vaginal muscles are too weak or they contract the wrong muscles, usually their abdominals and thighs. Childbearing women also undergo episiotomies to tighten the outer tissue of the vagina, but Stein says this does not restore muscle tone. For these reasons he recommends that women of all ages begin a resistance program for their pelvic floor muscles. While there are numerous contraptions on the market, Stein advocates his creation, GyneFlex[TM].

Introducing GyneFlex[TM]

According to Stein, GyneFlex[TM] functions like a pair of dumbbells for the pelvic floor muscles. Simply put, women work against the resistance of the GyneFlex[TM] to increase their vaginal strength. The small, penis-shaped device comes in varying resistances so women can continually challenge their muscles.

Unless they're severely deconditioned, most women start with the standard set which includes two GyneFlex[TM] devices, equivalent to four and six-pound weights. There's also a set for severely deconditioned women which offers the lightest resistance. Once they gain strength, women can move to the next set.

Stein advises women to do three sets of 21 repetitions five days a week. Once they've developed tone and strength, they can continue with three days a week. The instructions that come with each GyneFlex[TM] remind women to use their pelvic floor muscles--not their abdominals or thighs.

By using GyneFlex[TM] and working the pelvic floor muscles against resistance, women re-educate their neuromuscular wiring. "Because of this, women have greater blood flow, nerve sensitivity and improved circulation," Stein says. With this re-education comes vaginal muscle development.

The End Result

In the bedroom, women with stronger vaginal muscles can achieve better, longer and multiple orgasms. Women also gain control of the timing of their orgasms. "There's an increased sensitivity to touch, so all touch sensations become stronger and more exciting," Stein says.

GyneFlex[TM] also promotes general health benefits. By doing these exercises, women can reduce postpartum vaginal stretching, prevent age-related vaginal atrophy and urinary incontinence. In fact, of the 3,000-plus women who have used GyneFlex[TM] under Stein's direction, 96 percent increased pelvic muscle strength, 100 percent reported an improvement in sexual response and 87 percent cured mild urinary incontinence.

In closing, Stein emphasizes the need for all women to strengthen their pelvic floor muscles. As he says, "Nothing could contribute more to a woman's self-image and health than having the ability to control orgasms and knowing that her body is in tip-top shape, inside and out."

Karen Asp is a certified fitness professional and health and fitness writer who has written for Shape, Fitness, Walking, Fit Pregnancy and Oxygen.

RELATED ARTICLE: The Foundation for Intimacy

The New York Times wrote, "What Americans really need is medical help to juice up their sex drive." Taking a medical approach to sexual health is so revolutionary that only one doctor along the Eastern seaboard has dedicated his entire practice to this field. Dr. Daniel Stein, noted gynecologist, fertility expert and author, has established The Foundation for Intimacy, the Southeast's first private practice to pioneer medical treatment of sexual health issues.

While psychological factors contributing to sexual health difficulties are more commonly discussed, physical factors including neurological, vascular, muscular or hormonal problems are very rarely, if ever, diagnosed. The Journal of the American Medical Association reported that 43 percent of women and 31 percent of men are sexually dysfunctional at any given time, "a significant public health concern." Dr. Stein estimates that over 90 percent of sexual health problems are medically treatable. The Foundation uses an integrated approach to care, embracing the concept that both mental and physical components should be evaluated and treated when dealing with sexual dysfunction.

"The Foundation for Intimacy is truly the first medical practice to address sexual health issues using the mind, body and soul. An ever-increasing body of scientific research provides evidence that with healthy sexuality and loving intimacy comes a healthier, longer and more fulfilling life," commented Dr. Stein, who serves as Medical Director of The Foundation. "We are dedicated to helping both individuals and couples achieve a lifetime of loving sexual intimacy."

The Foundation designs individualized treatment plans for sexual concerns including:

* Sexual Desire Disorder

* Urinary Incontinence

* Post Partum Sexual Disorders

* Anti-Depressant Induced Sexual Side Effects

* Erectile Dysfunction

* Neurological Sexual Dysfunction

* Cancer, Disability and Sex

* Age-Related Desire and Arousal Disorders

* Pre- and Post-Menopausal Hormone Deficiencies.

The Foundation for Intimacy, located in Tampa, Florida, is dedicated to promoting health by enhancing the vital connection between body, mind, spirit and loving sexuality. Evidence-based science and state-of-theart medicine are focused on enriching the individual potential for gratifying intimacy. For more information on The Foundation for Intimacy, contact Mary Hanyok at (813) 871-1234.

For more information about GyneFlex[TM] visit, www.gyneflex.com. To find out about special volume discounts for personal trainers, contact Sloan by e-mail at gyneflex@aol.com or call (727) 867-1011.

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