Barbells for postnatal training
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Vaginal balls are probably the most known tool for strengthening the pelvic floor.
Still, you tend to blush as soon as they’re mentioned? There’s no need to: Vaginal balls are more than just sex toys to increase lust. They’re also a medicinal tool to optimize pelvic floor training.
In this text we’re going to explain to you why you should include tools into your pelvic floor training and which alternatives there are to the infamous vaginal balls.
Exursion: Why should we even strengthen the pelvic floor after pregnancy?
The pelvic floor, which consists of several muscles stretching from pubic- to tailbone, supports and protects or internal organs, e.g. uterus and bladder, and ensures our upright posture and continence. During pregnancy, the pelvic floor is particularly challenged: The uterus grows to about 100 times it’s regular size and, due to the extra weight of the baby and the amniotic fluid, pushes down the pelvic floor. Further, a change in hormones weakens the muscles and ligaments to facilitate birth, which then stretches the muscles of the pelvic floor even further.
If the pelvic floor isn’t being strengthened after having given birth, incontinence, constant urgency, foreign body sensations or pressure in the abdominal region, back pain due to a wrong posture or pain during sex can be the consequence.
Noticing and activating the pelvic floor with Emy
In order for pelvic floor training to be successful, it is essential to learn to notice the pelvic floor muscles and to be able to tighten them purposefully.
For a long time, we’ve been pondering about how we can make sure to teach mums how to tighten their pelvic floor correctly from afar, after all, we as trainers can’t look into the body.
The ideal solution: Fizimed’s pelvic floor trainer Emy. The wireless trainer measures tensions and sends them to the App via Bluetooth, which then gives direct feedback on how much the pelvic floor is being tightened.
Even for us, when we were trying out the Emy, this immediate feedback was surprising, yet very helpful: The biofeedback technology shows where our own weaknesses are: E.g. we were shown obvious deficits when we weren’t fully focussed on the work out. This feedback is particularly helpful for newbies in pelvic floor training.
This is why, and this applies especially to beginners, training with the Emy is done focussed and aimed at only the pelvic floor muscles: In supine position the pelvic floor is tightened independently of other parts of the body; the activity is being measured. Hence why this trainer is only partially suited to be used in complex motions sequences or in the exercises in the MumMeFit App.
The pelvic floor trainer Emy can be used approximately six to eights weeks after having given a natural birth. Users, who have been training three to five times a week for 15 minutes, have reported significant progress after only three weeks. We recommend the training in addition to a postnatal course. However, since each pregnancy is different, you should always consult with your doctor or midwife.
The pelvic floor trainer by Fizimed has been developed in cooperation with doctors and is recommended by medical professionals. It is made of high quality medicinal biomaterials and is intended for long term usage. Hence why it is definitely an investment at 199€. Luckily, we have a discount code for you: Get 20€ off your order with the code MumMeFit20.
Click here to learn more about our experiences with the Emy
Next level pelvic floor training with vaginal balls
With vaginal balls you can work on your pelvic floor without (in contrast to the Emy) having to do anything for it: There’s smalls weights rotating inside the ball. The contraction of the muscles of the vagina, due to holding the ball, strengthens the pelvic floor: In order for the balls to stay inside the vagina, the muscles are being tightened and because of that strengthened. Like this, the balls can be worn during day-to-day activities, or, for a more challenging training, also during sports: The more impacts a type of sport has, the more the pelvic floor is being challenged. This means: Wearing vaginal balls when running trains the pelvic floor even more than wearing them e.g. when swimming. However, before stating sports that contain lots of jumps or impacts, postnatal training should be completed. For beginners it’s sufficient to simply hold the vaginal balls.
There’s many different companies offering vaginal balls, such as Eis or Lubexx, that are partly even sold in the drugstore.
You can chose between several different sizes: Bigger and lighter balls are used for weaker muscles, e.g. after having given birth, since it’s much easier to hold them. Similar to working out in the gym, weights get increasingly heavier (and the balls get smaller).
A short story from our own experience: Up to the 6th month of the pregnancy, Anica used to go for 6km runs with the most heavy vaginal ball by Billy Boy. After birth, she wasn’t even able to hold the lightest ones. A realization really shocking!
Tipp: Start training with vaginal balls before pregnancy already. Like this, your pelvic floor is being strengthened preventively and you will see the difference after birth even more clearly.
For beginners, it is recommended to wear vaginal balls in the morning instead of the end of a long day, that strained the pelvic floor enough already. Try vaginal balls for several minutes a day in the beginning and then slowly increase the duration of wearing them.
Like this, success won’t take long: The first positive results will be visible as early as two to three weeks after having started the training. When worn for 15 minutes daily, vaginal balls increase pleasurable sensations during sex, help rebuilding of the pelvic floor after birth and prevent incontinence.
Pelvic floor training deluxe with yoni-eggs
Vaginal balls have a thousand-year-old east-asian tradition: Originally, they were made of gemstones, hence why they were only available for the wealthy elite. Due to the industrialization it became possible to produce them from cheaper materials such as plastic or silicone and make them accessible for the broad masses of the population.
For everyone, who places value on material and aesthetics even in their tools for pelvic floor training, there is hand-made yoni-eggs made from 100% certified gemstones, e.g. by Liebelei.
Yoni-eggs are the vaginal balls’ spiritual sister:
They are being placed in the vagina, worn for a certain time period and, if desired, combined with a familiar physical activity. Due to having to hold the egg, the pelvic floor muscles are being activated; like this, yoni-eggs support rebuilding after pregnancy as well.
Liebelei has got the right egg for everyone: As a beginner or as a new mum start with a large egg, which is, due to it’s size, most easily to hold. Use the chain to retrieve the egg. Work yourself up to the middle and then to the small yoni-egg. Your can get the set of three for 199€.
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No matter which tool you decide to use, consistency in training is the most import thing. You can best reach consistency if you combine wearing the tool with a familiar activity from everyday life.
Together with a postnatal course or the exercises in the MumMeFit-App you can achieve optimum strengthening of the pelvic floor with these tools.
Have fun tightening your muscles!