Should I continue to do my current exercise program while healing my pelvic floor?

By: Dr. Brianne Grogan, PT, DPT

KEEP THIS IN MIND when deciding whether or not to continue any exercise or exercise program.

1) When gently exercising to take care of yourself, remember the adage "sore but safe." This simple phrase can eliminate the freak-outs that might occur when you get a new twinge, or if you have a tough day. It's NORMAL to feel your muscles waking up when you're moving in new ways! While you want to avoid pain, please remember that sometimes a twinge is just a twinge, and nothing to be alarmed about. If you're keeping your exercise progression gentle and gradual, then you're on the right track.

And so reminding yourself, "I'm sore but safe" is super helpful to calm your nervous system, which is typically on high-alert if you've been dealing with pelvic health issues for a while.

2) That being said, it's super important to listen to your body. So if your "sore but safe" pains are truly getting worse each day... or if your exercises are leaving you feeling depleted and exhausted... or if your symptoms are truly getting worse with time, then you need to adjust something.

When you're on a healing path, this is a **very important time** to get honest with yourself and **tune in** to the connection between the exercises you're choosing, and your symptoms.

If, for example, you're wondering if you should also do low-impact exercise in addition to Lift or Overcome, here are some questions to ask yourself:

• do I feel better after doing this workout, or worse?
• do I feel more mentally/emotionally energized after doing this workout, or do I feel drained?
• does my body feel stronger after doing this workout, or does it feel weaker/fatigued/exhausted/pushed too far?
• are my prolapse symptoms better/neutral after doing this workout, or are they worse?
• do I have bladder symptoms after doing this workout?
• is my pelvic tension or pain better/neutral after doing this workout, or is it worse?
• due to where I am on my menstrual cycle, is it a good idea for me to do this workout, or is there something more supportive for my health that I could choose?
• is this truly the best workout for me today? do I have the energy for it, or is there something else that's a better choice for me?
• what's my motivation for doing this workout? is this workout the best choice for me to meet that particular motivation, or achieve that particular goal?
• does this workout **align me** and bring me closer to my goals, or not?

When deciding whether to continue your additional exercise (or or whether to ADJUST it to something different), ask yourself these questions regularly. Remember that your needs can change day-to-day.

And also remember that sometimes bodies simply need a BREAK, and time to heal. Life is long, and even if you need to change/adjust/cease your low-impact workouts for now, you can always come back to them later when you're feeling amazing.

>>>>> IN SHORT, balance the "sore but safe" concept with getting real and honest with yourself, about whether your exercise routine is truly serving you... or not.

Ask your intuition, ask your inner wisdom. 

Ask that still, quiet, calm voice deep inside -- NOT THE FEAR VOICE IN YOUR HEAD.

That's where your answers lie.