Pelvic Floor Exercises Every Woman Should Do (Not Just After Birth)

The pelvic floor is one of the most under-trained muscle groups in women’s bodies — and the most consequential when it’s weak. Most women only hear about it after birth, when something already isn’t quite right.

It doesn’t have to be that way. Here’s what you actually need to know — and what to do — at any age, pregnant or not.

What the pelvic floor is and what it does

The pelvic floor is a bowl of muscles at the base of your pelvis. It runs front-to-back from your pubic bone to your tailbone, and side-to-side between your sitting bones. It does four jobs:

1. Supports your organs — bladder, uterus, bowel. Without it, they literally drop.
2. Controls continence — squeezes around the urethra and rectum so you don’t leak.
3. Stabilises your core — works alongside your diaphragm, deep abs and back muscles every time you stand, walk, lift or breathe.
4. Sexual function — both arousal and orgasm depend on a pelvic floor that can contract and release well.

When it works, you don’t notice it. When it doesn’t, you notice constantly.

What goes wrong

The pelvic floor can be weak (most common), too tight (more common than you’d think, especially in women who chronically clench), or dysfunctional (uncoordinated — can’t contract or release on cue).

Signs something is off:

• Any leaking — when you cough, sneeze, jump, run, laugh, lift
• A “heaviness”, “falling out”, or dragging sensation in the vagina
• Pain during sex
• Lower back pain that other things don’t fix
• Constipation that won’t budge
• Frequent urinary urgency or feeling like you can’t fully empty your bladder
• Belly that “domes” or “cones” when you do core work

These are common — but none of them are normal. They’re all addressable.

When you should care (spoiler: now)

The four life stages when the pelvic floor needs attention:

• 20s and 30s (any woman): build awareness, prevent issues, support sex life and core strength
• Pregnancy: the floor supports a growing baby for 9 months — and what you do now affects birth and recovery
• Postpartum: the floor has been through the most physical event of your life; ignoring it is how problems become permanent
• Perimenopause and beyond: oestrogen drops, tissue thins, pelvic floor needs more deliberate attention than ever

So: all stages. There is no “I’ll worry about that later.” The women who do pelvic floor work from their 20s have far fewer problems in their 50s.

How to find your pelvic floor

Most women have never felt theirs intentionally. Three ways to locate it:

1. The stop-pee test (one time only). Mid-stream, try to stop the flow of urine. The muscles you used are your pelvic floor. Do this once for awareness — never as a regular exercise; repeated mid-stream stopping confuses your bladder.

2. The “lift” cue. Imagine lifting your pelvic floor as if you’re trying to stop yourself passing gas in a quiet meeting, and trying to draw a tampon further inside, at the same time. The muscles that contract are it.

3. The mirror check (advanced). Lie on your back with knees bent, use a hand mirror to see your perineum (the area between vagina and anus). Squeeze and you’ll see a gentle lift. Release and you’ll see it drop.

If you can’t feel anything, that’s information — it likely means the muscles are weak, disconnected, or both. A pelvic floor physio can use biofeedback to help you find them.

How to do a kegel — and what most women do wrong

The basic kegel: squeeze the pelvic floor upward like you’re holding in pee + a tampon, hold, release. Sounds simple. Usually done wrong.

The 3 most common mistakes:

1. Holding your breath. Breathe normally — exhale on the squeeze, inhale on the release. Holding breath means you’re not coordinating the floor with your diaphragm, which is the whole point.

2. Squeezing your butt and abs instead. Put one hand on your belly and one on your butt — if either is clenching hard during a kegel, you’re recruiting the wrong muscles. Try again, this time isolated to the floor.

3. Forgetting to release fully. A kegel that never fully lets go builds tension, not strength. The release is half the exercise. Releasing matters as much as squeezing.

The 3 kegel exercises to do daily

Once you’ve found the floor, here’s the rotation:

1. Elevator kegels (slow strength) — Imagine an elevator. Lift from floor 1 → 2 → 3 → 4, holding 1 second at each “floor”. Hold the top for 5 seconds. Slowly lower — 4 → 3 → 2 → 1 — taking just as long going down as you did going up. The slow descent is where most women’s pelvic floors are weakest. 10 reps, 2× a day.

2. Quick flicks (endurance and reflex) — Squeeze and release as fast as you can, like flickering a switch. 10 rapid contractions × 2 sets. These train the “cough reflex” of the pelvic floor — the response that prevents leaking when you sneeze.

3. Reverse kegels (release work) — Inhale, and consciously let go of your pelvic floor — let it drop, even bulge gently down as if you’re starting to pee. This is often the missing piece. A pelvic floor that can’t release fully can’t squeeze fully. 5 slow reps daily.

The whole routine: ~5 minutes a day. Do it while waiting for tea to boil, during a phone call, in bed before sleep. Habit > heroism.

Integrate with movement

Isolated kegels are fine. Integrated kegels are better.

The exercises that build a strong, functional pelvic floor without a single dedicated kegel session:

• Deep diaphragmatic breathing — exhale → pelvic floor lifts naturally, inhale → pelvic floor releases. This is the foundation; if you do nothing else, do this.
• Squats with intentional breath — exhale on the way up, lift the floor as you stand. Builds power and floor coordination together.
• Glute bridges — squeeze floor at the top of the bridge. Floor + glutes work as a team in real life.
• Bird dogs — engage floor before lifting the opposite arm and leg. Core + floor coordination.
• Dead-bugs — same principle.

A woman who lifts weights with attention to her pelvic floor builds it more than someone doing isolated kegels with no integration.

When to see a pelvic floor physio

A pelvic floor physiotherapy assessment is the single most valuable thing you can do for this part of your body. Once is enough for most women. Worth ₹1,000–₹3,000 of one session.

Strongly consider one if:

• You have any leaking
• You feel heaviness, dragging, or “falling out”
• You have pain during sex
• You’re 12+ weeks postpartum and your symptoms aren’t resolving
• You can’t feel your pelvic floor at all, even with the cues above
• You have a diastasis recti gap > 2 fingers
• You have chronic lower back or pelvic pain that other things don’t fix

Pelvic floor physios are still rare in India. Check the Pelvic Floor India directory or ask your OB for a referral. Cities with good options: Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune.

For different life stages

Trying to conceive or pregnant — start the daily routine immediately. Add reverse kegels increasingly in the third trimester (birth needs release, not just squeeze). Our Pregnancy Fitness Guide tool has trimester-specific work.

Postpartum — the routine is part of the first weeks of recovery, before anything else. See our Postpartum Readiness tool for the week-by-week build.

PCOS or other hormonal issues — the connection between hormones and pelvic floor function is real (cycle changes affect ligament laxity). Keep the routine consistent.

Perimenopause / menopause — increase the frequency. Vaginal oestrogen (prescription, very safe, often life-changing) plus daily pelvic floor work is the standard combination for symptoms.

Active women / runners — leaking when you run isn’t a sign you’re training hard. It’s a sign your pelvic floor is overwhelmed. Address it before it becomes injury.

What we include in our classes

Every Online Everyday Glow week includes pelvic floor work — breath drills in warm-ups, integrated cues in strength sessions, dedicated end-of-class flows in yoga days. Our coaches understand the floor as a muscle group like any other, not something only postpartum women think about.

The short version

• The pelvic floor matters at every life stage, not just after birth.
• Leaking, heaviness, painful sex, “doming” core — none of these are normal. All addressable.
• Daily routine: elevator kegels + quick flicks + reverse kegels. 5 minutes. ~10 minutes if integrated with movement.
• Most women do kegels wrong: holding breath, clenching butt, or never releasing. The release matters as much as the squeeze.
• One pelvic floor physio session is the highest-leverage health investment many women will make.

Train with us — pelvic floor included in every class →