Today I'm interviewing Michelle Wright of Mishfit because so many of us need to understand the importance of a strong pelvic floor and she's the expert! Read her amazing, scary, 'uplifting' story and see if it doesn't motivate you.
What has inspired you to specialise in pelvic floor issues?
I had one birth with lots of intervention and the other was a C- section. Both were fairly big babies… yet my pelvic floor survived (knowing what I know now, I think this is rather amazing!). But it was re-joining the gym and believing my body was like it was pre-natally and the fitness professionals never telling me any different, that nearly pushed me to prolapse. I decided to change career from teacher to a Body Pump instructor, but having to wear incontinence pads on stage forced me to take stock of my own body and finally get help. When I did, the advice was not to exercise "so hard", otherwise I would be having surgery for my failing pelvic floor.
Being a single mum and with my family living overseas, I could not even contemplate having the surgery or going through the post-operative care on my own with two small children. And I was embarrassed. I thought I was the only one! So I endeavoured to find out more about my own body and how I could sort it out without having surgery. What I learnt along the way astounded me! I learnt that in the class of mums that I exercised with at the gym most mornings, one-third of us would have been leaking. Yet we never spoke of it. I also learnt that incorporating pelvic floor during exercise meant that I didn't have to give up the exercise I loved and it helped me to attain what I really wanted — a flat belly. I also really enjoyed the positive side effect of stronger orgasms and a stronger pelvic floor made sex much more enjoyable for my partner. A weak pelvic floor is not just the prerogative of the post-natal or elderly. 50% of all women aged 50 and under, regardless of whether they have had children will suffer from some form of pelvic floor disfunction. This equates to about 4.8 million women in Australia
Yet it was almost like this most fabulous knowledge to remedy my own situation had been kept from me! Why didn't people tell me?! I figured, as embarrassing as it was to admit to my own pelvic floor issues, I needed to in order to start the conversation. Based on this personal experience I continued my training, became a Personal Trainer and created mishfit to become a leader in the pregnant and post-natal exercise field. Interestingly a few years later, I went back to my course work and text books to find a diagram of pelvic floor and found there was none. The reason that fitness professionals omit to tell you about pelvic floor (and safe exercise options to go with it) is that they are not taught that it is a muscle. Yet it is the only muscle responsible for keeping our insides up and inside and it is missing from all training!
You're becoming more well known for your work on pelvic floor exercise. What does it feel like knowing that when people think of you they start clenching?
I love it! I love it! I love it! But what I always remind them is that they are probably doing their short sharp little holds. These are fabulous and important for sneezes, coughs and laughter. But you must also make the time for the longer holds… this means that you won't have to navigate your world via where toilets are. It also gives you time to find your keys, open the door and get to the loo or even making it to the end of the movie.
Meet me and clench away :)
What are the benefits of pelvic floor exercise?
I think this can simply be answered:-
1) stop you leaking wee or poo
2) increase your time of "holding on"
3) longer, stronger orgasms (what's not to love about that one!)
4) a flatter tummy
5) support for your lower back or give reprieve from any pelvic instability (or commonly called pelvic girdle pain)
Those women we've all seen throwing ping pong balls out of their vaginas, do they have awesome muscle tone?
Ah, I think yes. On the other end of the scale, I have clients who are unable to hold a tampon inside (it literally falls out).
I've heard that geishas could insert ben wah balls and roll them around and around a man's penis when he was inside her. Is that true?
I am not sure about that personally… but it sounds like lots of fun… do you sell them @ Passionfruit? (Yes)
What about prolapse? It's very common yet we don't hear much about it.
You are so right - you don't hear much about prolapse… unless your sister, mother or yourself has experienced it. Unfortunately, this is a much more common event than you think - with the latest statistics being about 4 out of 10 women being affected post natally. A prolapse is when parts of your inside (held up by your pelvic floor) fall through the pelvic floor. Interestingly, surgery obviously can "fix" it, but research has shown that prolapse will re-occur if significant changes are not made to lifestyle. This can mean a whole range of things from obesity, smoking (therefore coughing more than the average person), constipation, and age (gravity sucks) will all add extra downward pressure on the pelvic floor. Or exercising incorrectly. The pelvic floor is like every other muscle in the body: if we don't exercise it, it will grow slack and not be able to support and adequately do the job it was designed to do.
It also doesn't help that we are constantly told to engage our core, but without adequate understanding of the mechanics. Many women just suck their tummies in, and therefore increase the downward pressure! A good rule of thumb is when you hear core, understand it as "floor" and draw up before sucking in.
I am releasing a double CD called Active Pelvic Practice - the gift of inner strength that is all about exercising pelvic floor to embrace all those positive side effects mentioned above. One is a meditative CD, designed to be listened to in bed before going to sleep to help not only relax the body, but also isolate and exercise pelvic floor muscle contraction. It is very easy to drift off to sleep afterwards.
The second CD is about active practice and is designed to be used while sitting or standing and then as you get more confident you can use it as you do other things, such as housework, walking, working out at the gym. The beauty of this CD is that is a mere 10 minutes long and very easily to be incorporated into every day life. Using your pelvic floor should be a functional exercise. An example of functional exercise is a squat when you bend down to pick up the washing basket and activating your pelvic floor at the same time. A much cheaper and healthy alternative to surgery!
For more information please follow the updates on www.facebook.com/mishfit
Thanks Mish. I hope you're all encouraged to start on a pelvic floor exercise program today!
To help you along, Mish and I are giving away one of her new Active Pelvic Practice CD's and a set of Lelo Luna Balls from Passionfruit - a wonderful weight system designed to improve pelvic muscle tone. (VALUE $120.00)
Email me at pfruit@bigpond.net.au with the subject title
Pelvic Practice Competition
for your chance to WIN.
Entries close 31st December 2011.
Good luck!
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