What no more kegels either???

These vaginal squeezes have been such a huge part of my physical life, especially since discovering The Tupler Technique. True, right after you have a baby there is no stopping the urine flow when you gotta go but that quickly rectifies with time. Especially if you employ deep kegels to the count of ten while giving your breasts to your baby, as the midwives at the Austin Area Birthing Center taught me to do. 10 kegels as you nurse on each breast gives you 20 kegels each breastfeeding session and when you're nursing 8-10 times a day 200ish kegels is an easy goal to reach. And one that pays off! Or at least it did for me, long runs and trampoline flips a year post-baby were all 'whhheeeeee!' without surprise pee. Cool.

And the more I attempted to pull my vagina to my bellybutton the more everything internal seemed to work itself back into proper place. My diastisis recti closed up by working hard on it Tupler-style after birthing my twins but according to Katy at Aligned and Well doing such intense kegels should have weakened my pelvic floor to the point my inner organs should be falling out! Since I am the #1 checker of my own cervix I'm quite aware of where my uterus sits and yep it's still way way up there. Cool.

Annnyway....Squats. Squats are the key Katy Says, as muscles function optimally by balancing each other out and it's the gluteus maximus that balances the pelvic floor. Huh. Well, squats have always been central to my workouts too so maybe that's why it's all worked out for me. Breastfeeding while doing squats and including your fabulous vaginal muscles is an excellent exercise in balance, core strength and patience and is one of my absolute favorite exercises to do with a baby. I'm available for hire as a post-partum fitness doula in case anyone is wondering!

And for those who are just posh without being a mama, a strong pelvic floor is obviously in your best interests too. Birthing babies is not the only threat to it as age and gravity are attracted to us all.

SO, my personal anecdotal kegel success aside I encourage you to listen to the Katy with science on her side. I'll be RSVP'ing to her next online Pelvic Floor Party and I hope you do too! xoxo