Category: Lifestyle

Can Yoga Help Strengthen Pelvic Floor Muscles?

Yoga offers tremendous physical and mental health benefits for people of all ages and abilities. Not only can it decrease stress, support healing, and improve flexibility, it can also strengthen pelvic floor muscles.

Yoga can improve mobility to the muscles in and around the pelvic floor and improve these muscles’ overall strength and coordination. Whether you are interested in preventing the issues that come from a weak pelvic floor or are suffering from pelvic pain, yoga could be the right exercise for you.

The Importance of Strengthening Pelvic Floor Muscles

Pelvic floor muscles aren’t always top of mind when it comes to strengthening and maintaining the body, and they often fall into the camp of “out of sight, out of mind” for many women. However, it is just as essential to care for this part of the body as it is for any other group of muscles.

The pelvic floor plays an integral role in women’s health. It serves as the base of the core and works with the deep abdominal, diaphragm, and back muscles to support the spine. Pelvic floor muscles help to control the pressure inside the abdomen when the body lifts or strains.

Additionally, pelvic floor muscles support the bladder, bowel, and uterus in women, and they play a critical role in women’s sexual health and functions.

Benefits of a strong pelvic floor include:

• Improved control over the bladder and bowels
• Reduced risk of prolapse
• Reduced risk of incontinence
• Improved recovery from childbirth or gynecological surgery
• Increased sexual sensation

Causes and Symptoms of Pelvic Floor Dysfunction

However, there are many causes of pelvic pain, and it’s not always possible to prevent the vast array of conditions that can cause pain or discomfort in the pelvic region.

Some common conditions that lead to pelvic floor pain include:

• Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
• Ulcerative colitis
• Crohn’s disease
• Urinary tract infections (UTI)
• Kidney stones
• Fibroids
• Cysts
• Endometriosis
• Pelvic inflammatory disease
• Miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy

Pregnancy, childbirth, and surgery are also common causes of pelvic floor disorders. If the pelvic floor becomes weak or damaged, you may experience the following symptoms:

• Urinary incontinence
• Difficulty with bowel movements
• Pelvic organ prolapse
• Feeling heaviness or fullness in the vagina
• Pain or discomfort in the vagina
• Constipation
• Stool leakage
• Pain while urination
• Feeling a frequent need to urinate

At Advanced Gynecology, we treat many patients suffering from pelvic floor pain and dysfunction symptoms. A common question we hear is, “What can I do to strengthen my pelvic floor?” Fortunately, there are many ways to address pelvic pain, and the integration of regular yoga may be part of your overall treatment plan.

Benefits of Yoga for Pelvic Floor Muscles

Many people are aware of the benefits of yoga for the mind and body. Increased flexibility, weight loss, improved cardio and circulatory health, and boosted energy are just a few of the benefits yogis enjoy.

On top of these benefits, yoga can also help women who are interested in strengthening their pelvic floors. Yoga can help strengthen and stabilize the pelvic floor muscles, reduce pelvic floor pain, and even help women gain control over their urinary functions.

Strengthening the pelvic floor with yoga can also lead to:

• Reduced risk of pelvic organ prolapse
• Improved recovery from childbirth
• Improved recovery from gynecological surgery
• Increased sexual sensation

Integrating yoga into your routine can lead to many benefits for not only your mental and physical health but also your pelvic floor as well.

Pelvic Floor Yoga Poses To Try

Speak with your doctor before engaging in challenging yoga poses or poses you’re unsure of how to do. While yoga can be a great way to strengthen your pelvic floor muscles, the last thing you want to do is exacerbate the pain! Improper form and overdoing it can both lead to more harm than good when it comes to your health.

There are plenty of gentle and low-intensity yoga poses that could help you strengthen your pelvic floor and reduce pain and discomfort in the pelvic region. Some focus on building strength, while others reduce tension in your muscles. The overall goal is to manage any pelvic floor pain you’re experiencing while also improving pelvic functions.

Your doctor may recommend the following poses:

• Half-happy baby pose
• Reclining big toe pose
• Supported bridge pose
• Lay on your back and elevate your legs on a chair
• Dynamic tabletop
• Downward facing dog
• Wide-legged standing bend
• Warrior pose
• Lay on your back with your legs up against a wall

Many of these poses may require the use of a block, chair, pillow, or blanket and can be done from the comfort of your own home. When you consult with your doctor, they’ll be able to provide resources for yoga poses that address your specific needs.

Yoga requires insight into your body that only you have access to. If a specific pose or flow feels like too much, it’s okay to scale back as needed. Your doctor may advise that you begin with simple poses to improve your flexibility and body awareness. As you progress, you may be able to move into more advanced poses to help with your pelvic floor pain.

How Advanced Gynecology Can Help with Pelvic Pain

If you’ve been suffering from pelvic floor pain or discomfort, turn to Advanced Gynecology for help.

Our board-certified team of women’s health experts is ready to help you with diagnostic care and a range of options from pain management solutions, which may include yoga, to surgical procedures or minimally invasive laparoscopic procedures. We will gladly counsel you about the best options for you and will tailor your treatment plan to your health needs.

For more information, schedule an appointment today or call 678-201-1283 to speak with one of our patient coordinators. We look forward to assisting you!

COMPLETING YOUR FIRST MURPH: HOW TO SAFELY ACHIEVE AN IMPRESSIVE MURPH TIME

 

When your workout has a “why” behind it, it can be all the motivation that you need to push yourself to complete it. In CrossFit, the notoriously intense Murph workout has a “why” behind it that has encouraged tens of thousands of people to push themselves to the limit each Memorial Day.

This workout honoring fallen Navy hero Lt. Michael Murphy will challenge your physical and mental strength and endurance like it’s never been tested before. To successfully complete your first Murph, use these tips to help you prepare.

If you are in the military and want a discount on select NASM products, check out the military discount page for trainers.

WHAT IS A MURPH WORKOUT?

The Murph workout is known as a Hero WOD (workout of the day) in the CrossFit community. This workout honors the life of Lieutenant Michael Murphy- a Navy SEAL who was killed in Afghanistan in 2005 while on active duty. The workout was created to honor not only his life, but also all of those who have lost their lives in active service. It is now considered the Memorial Day workout of the day- performed within and even outside of the CrossFit community.

Here’s the Murph workout:

• 1 Mile run
• 100 Pull-ups
• 200 Push-ups
• 300 Squats
• 1 Mile run
• Performed wearing a weighted vest: 14 pounds for women, 20 pounds for men.

The run is completed first in its entirety, and then you have the option to partition, or break up, the reps of the pull-ups, push-ups, and squats, or you can complete each section before moving on to the next, finishing with the 1-mile run. No matter how you break it down, it’s a tough workout!

HOW TO TRAIN EFFECTIVELY FOR A MURPH?

Now that you know what the Murph entails, the first thing that you want to do is to make sure you can do each of the movements well. The OPT Model is set up to help anyone, beginner or advanced, work toward this physical challenge while also minimizing the risk of injury. Plus, a certified trainer can conduct a series of assessments to help you customize your training by helping you correct any faulty movement patterns.

Recommended Phases of Training to Prepare for Your First Murph:

Phase 1: Stabilization Endurance

• Goal: Develop proper movement patterns and improve mobility and stability of the entire kinetic chain.
• Acute Variables: 15-20 reps, 1-3 sets, slow tempo.
• Length of time in Phase: 4-6 weeks.

Phase 1 Exercise Variations:

PULL-UPS

See how to do a pull-up: https://www.nasm.org/exercise-library/pull-up

You can modify this move by:

• Adding a resistance band.
• Jumping up to bar height using a box, and then slowly lowering down (doing negatives).
• Starting with a Suspension trainer row.

PUSH-UPS

See how to do a push-up: https://www.nasm.org/exercise-library/push-up

You can modify this move by:

• Using an elevated surface to place your hands, like a countertop, bench, or racked barbell at the height that allows you to perform the move with good form and proper tempo.

SQUATS

See how to do a squat: https://www.nasm.org/exercise-library/prisoner-squat

*This video is a prisoner squat with the arms behind the head. For a regular squat, let the arms hang down to your sides, or keep them bent in an athletic position.

You can modify this move by:

• Performing a ball wall squat (with a ball behind your back, against a wall).
• Holding onto a suspension trainer, facing the anchor.

 

Phase 2: Strength Endurance

• Goal: Increased stabilization endurance, hypertrophy, and strength.
• Acute Variables: 8-12 reps, 2-4 sets, medium tempo for strength exercise, slow tempo for stabilization exercise.
• Length of time in Phase: 4-6 weeks.

Phase 2 Strength Exercises:

*Use supersets in this workout by pairing one of the strength exercises below followed immediately with one of the stability exercises from phase 1 for the same movement.

PULL-UPS

• Lat pulldown on a machine
• Seated rows. This one is best paired with a suspension trainer row to help you build back strength as you work toward doing your first pull-up.

PUSH-UPS

• Barbell chest press
• Dumbbell chest press
• If you can perform regular push-ups with good form, you can try adding a light weighted vest, adding weight over time as your form allows.

SQUATS

• Goblet squat
• Bulgarian split squat

Next Steps:

Once you’ve gone through Phases 1 & 2 once, cycle back through again and try a more challenging variation or add weight as needed to increase the challenge.

Running: Once you’ve gone through these two phases once, you can begin to incorporate some running. Why wait? Running is considered a power move that requires skill. Developing good movement mechanics first is essential to being able to run pain-free and without compensations that may put you at risk for injury. Start slowly with shorter running intervals (ex: jog 30 seconds, walk 1:30-2 minutes) and build from there. You can find running apps that will progress you appropriately.

START WITH A WEIGHTED VEST OR GO SMALLER?

It’s best to begin using just bodyweight, and to work on perfecting your form and building endurance before adding any additional weight. The CrossFit pros recommend waiting until you can perform 15-20 unbroken strict pull-ups before adding a weighted vest.

 

BENEFITS OF CIRCUITS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE MURPH CHALLENGE

Performing the Murph challenge in the partitioned format is similar to performing a circuit workout, where you perform one exercise after the other back-to-back with little to no rest and repeating for multiple rounds. There are several benefits to training circuit-style:

• Built-in rest time. Each exercise focuses on a different muscle group, so when you move on to a different exercise you are allowing the previous muscle group to rest before you get back to it. I’m not saying this workout feels restful by any means, but your muscles do technically get a small break compared with the unpartitioned format.
• Higher heart rate = higher calorie burn. In general, a circuit workout burns more calories in less time than a workout where you work and then rest before completing the next round of the same exercise.
• Condensed overall work time. Because of the above two benefits, your overall workout time is shorter than following an unpartitioned format.

WHAT IS A ‘GOOD’ MURPH TIME?

What’s considered a good time is relative to the exerciser. If you’re a beginner, less than 60 minutes is considered a good finish time. For exercisers who are advanced, you’ll want to complete it in less than 45 minutes, and for elite athletes, less than 35 minutes. Following an unpartitioned format will take the longest. The current verified world record for an unpartitioned and weighted Murph is 32 minutes and 41 seconds, completed by Alec Blenis in June of 2021.

Putting it all together:

When you are ready to put it all together, you have options for how you can attack the workout. You will always perform the one mile run first and last, but the pull-ups, push-ups, and squats can be performed either partitioned (split up circuit-style) or unpartitioned (completing all reps for one category before moving on to the next). One of the most popular ways to partition the reps is to perform 20 rounds of the ‘Cindy’ WOD – 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, 15 squats.

However, you split it up, don’t forget to keep track of your rounds so you don’t lose count of your reps! If you decide to do more consecutive reps at a time, make sure you select several reps that you can perform easily, without fatiguing the muscles.

After a few months of consistent and intentional training, you’ll be more than ready to honor our fallen heroes as you complete your first Murph.

Paper Gift Box Ideas: 5 Quick & Easy Ways To Present Creatively

 

Paper gift boxes are the way to my heart. They really are. Great gift choices don’t happen to everyone and I forgive most of my friends-judging them only on the quality of wrapping, paper gift boxes have swept me off my feet- despite their tiny capacity for delicate and fragile things, they hold the feelings of love and care. They bear within themselves the extra thought someone made for you- a beautiful presentation. Wouldn’t it be great if these boxes became a part of your life and celebrations?Without wasting any more time, here is a post, folks, about ten beautiful paper gift boxes specially designed to get your aesthetics tingling. Fresh ideas from all around the web, in one place!

Paper Gift Box Idea #1: Personalize them

Personalized gift boxes and sometimes DIY gift boxes, say a few more words than the casual and rather common wrapping paper.

Paper Gift Box Idea #2: For bulk purchases

The absolutely best place to buy gift boxes is online nowadays- they allow you to venture into options ranging from buying custom gift boxes or making a bulk purchase. However, DIY ideas are aplenty on the internet and one will only have to scour diligently to find ways to twist and turn pieces of paper into gift box. ( Pssst…But it’s always great to have what you need, in one place, right?)

Paper Gift Box Idea #3: Brighten the room

It is imperative to remember, you don’t have to give away your beautiful gift boxes to other people. Sometimes, you can make them for yourself and store cookies, notes, pens, ribbons and any other paraphernalia close to your heart. They can brighten up your tables, shelves and can be strung up from walls as pretty installations.

Paper Gift Box Idea #4: Go Origami

Most paper gift boxes can be made of origami sheets, which are readily available in the market. However, in terms of purchase, one often expects a higher quality of the paper. Commercially available gift bags are usually made of textured paper with a higher GSM value.

Paper Gift Box Idea #5: Simplicity all the way

Another valuable tip is to purchase simple gift boxes online and later decorate them with accessories of your own choice- sequins, pearls, bows, and ribbons. They enhance the experience of gift-unfolding by adding a few more steps to it.Lifestyle

Believe me, everyone judges a gift by its cover. I’m sure these ideas have charged you up enough to start making your own paper gift box. The steps are simple, and an only a few cuts and folds will turn a dull sheet of paper into a usable paper gift box. However, if you’re busy with a hectic schedule and would rather like to purchase gift bags, for the entire year, for all the festivities to come, then there are a variety of options for buying paper gift bags online in India. In terms of the market of gift bags, India is fresh in the business and a young competition is blooming fast. Believe me, season or not, it is always a good time to create your gift bags stash because festivities and celebrations are always round the corner and you can never have enough of Gift bags!