WEBVTT - Why EVERYONE needs a pelvic floor exercise routine 🏋️‍♀️ 0:00:02.360 --> 0:00:04.200 So I don't think it had come as any surprise 0:00:04.240 --> 0:00:05.960 that I love the health and fitness industry and it's 0:00:06.000 --> 0:00:09.039 been an enormous part of my life for over two decades. 0:00:09.080 --> 0:00:11.640 But one thing that I hate, and I. 0:00:11.680 --> 0:00:14.440 Don't use that word lightly, is just how prominent this 0:00:14.600 --> 0:00:18.560 diet culture has become in the health space when most 0:00:18.560 --> 0:00:21.520 of these diets, if not all of them, are anything 0:00:21.600 --> 0:00:24.800 but healthy. From talking to so many people, I understand 0:00:24.880 --> 0:00:27.640 why it is so confusing to figure out what's healthy 0:00:27.720 --> 0:00:31.000 and what's not, And I feel like it's really important. 0:00:31.120 --> 0:00:34.159 It's part of my responsibility that I answer questions like 0:00:34.240 --> 0:00:34.720 this for you. 0:00:35.320 --> 0:00:38.000 I'd be very interested to see what your thoughts are 0:00:38.040 --> 0:00:38.560 on keto. 0:00:38.960 --> 0:00:42.879 Just wondering your thoughts on juice cleanses. Do you view 0:00:42.920 --> 0:00:46.520 them as a fad diet, a good way to de tops, 0:00:46.840 --> 0:00:48.559 or a good way to strip f. 0:00:49.080 --> 0:00:51.160 Our favorite nutrition as Shanna will be in a little 0:00:51.200 --> 0:00:53.720 later on to help me answer these questions. But first, 0:00:54.480 --> 0:00:57.520 pelvic flaw? What is it and who does it impact? 0:00:57.600 --> 0:01:00.520 Is it just pregnant women or old men or is 0:01:00.520 --> 0:01:01.280 it something. 0:01:01.040 --> 0:01:03.080 That we should all know about? Well? 0:01:03.240 --> 0:01:06.080 With Sess and I expecting our fourth daughter only a 0:01:06.080 --> 0:01:08.400 few weeks away. I thought it was the perfect time 0:01:08.560 --> 0:01:11.759 to chat to a good friend of mine about pelvic 0:01:11.800 --> 0:01:15.840 floor fitness and exercise during pregnancy and postpartum. So if 0:01:15.880 --> 0:01:18.560 you're expecting, or you have a partner a friend that's expecting, 0:01:18.680 --> 0:01:20.960 or you've recently given birth and you want some tips 0:01:21.000 --> 0:01:23.440 that you're going to help make sure you stick around. 0:01:43.440 --> 0:01:46.760 I'm so excited that we are joined now by not 0:01:46.880 --> 0:01:50.200 only someone who is a wonderful friend of mine, but 0:01:50.560 --> 0:01:54.960 she is a physiotherapist, women's health experts specializing in pregnancy, 0:01:55.000 --> 0:01:59.000 post natal and pelvic floor and owner of the wonderful 0:01:59.160 --> 0:02:03.080 fit to Deliver Pilarate Shidio just for women pregnant or 0:02:03.120 --> 0:02:07.280 post natal. And my great friend Chloe law Back, Welcome 0:02:07.320 --> 0:02:08.000 to the WOODLFE. 0:02:08.120 --> 0:02:09.639 Great to be here. How exciting. 0:02:09.880 --> 0:02:11.720 There's so many things I want to talk to you about. 0:02:11.760 --> 0:02:14.160 I think let's jump straight into it because the question 0:02:14.320 --> 0:02:18.480 that you probably get the most is should you exercise 0:02:19.080 --> 0:02:20.200 while you are pregnant? 0:02:20.320 --> 0:02:20.519 Yeah? 0:02:20.560 --> 0:02:24.280 What a ripper question to start us off. Absolutely, yes, 0:02:24.440 --> 0:02:27.760 you should exercise when you're pregnant, provided there are no 0:02:27.960 --> 0:02:31.960 contra indications, and in actual fact, the contra indications are 0:02:32.000 --> 0:02:36.560 things like extremely high blood pressure, or pre existing medical stuff, 0:02:36.560 --> 0:02:40.079 which is actually pretty rare. So provided that you're fit 0:02:40.160 --> 0:02:42.840 and healthy, which ninety five or ninety eight percent of 0:02:43.240 --> 0:02:46.720 pregnant women are, yes, you should be exercising. And the 0:02:46.720 --> 0:02:49.240 guidelines for the amount of exercise you do and the 0:02:49.280 --> 0:02:53.440 intensity are the same as for everyday Australians, So we 0:02:53.480 --> 0:02:55.680 should be doing one hundred and fifty minutes a week 0:02:55.840 --> 0:02:58.960 of moderate intensity exercise, so that's about half an hour 0:02:58.960 --> 0:03:02.120 a day, and that's going to just lead to so 0:03:02.520 --> 0:03:06.880 many benefits, not only during pregnancy for the mum, but 0:03:06.960 --> 0:03:10.399 also for the bub which is really great. You're setting 0:03:10.560 --> 0:03:14.840 yourself up for great success and ultimately optimizing your recovery 0:03:15.000 --> 0:03:17.280 after you've had the baby, but you're also giving your 0:03:17.280 --> 0:03:20.880 bubba the best start in life that you can, which 0:03:20.960 --> 0:03:23.800 is one of the coolest things I think you can do. 0:03:24.360 --> 0:03:26.200 I don't think there's a woman out there who would 0:03:26.200 --> 0:03:28.880 be listening to this who's either about to go through 0:03:28.880 --> 0:03:30.720 pregnancy or perhaps has that wouldn't be. 0:03:30.800 --> 0:03:32.040 Nodding along going well. 0:03:32.120 --> 0:03:35.280 I don't need any more reasons than that totally. There 0:03:35.320 --> 0:03:39.080 still is a little bit of a funny stigma attached 0:03:39.080 --> 0:03:41.920 to pregnant women exercising isn't. 0:03:41.760 --> 0:03:43.400 There totally absolutely, Yeah. 0:03:43.440 --> 0:03:44.800 Why why do you think that is? 0:03:45.880 --> 0:03:46.240 Well? 0:03:46.360 --> 0:03:49.920 I think because in the olden days, people used to 0:03:50.040 --> 0:03:52.840 like to wrap pregnant women up in cotton wool, and 0:03:52.880 --> 0:03:57.720 the advice, probably thirty five forty years ago, was to rest, 0:03:58.000 --> 0:04:00.800 and the medical evidence at the time support of that. 0:04:01.080 --> 0:04:04.600 But since then we've got a bunch of really good, 0:04:04.720 --> 0:04:08.680 rigorous research to show the benefits of exercising during pregnancy. 0:04:09.080 --> 0:04:12.840 And one of the main reasons that people I think 0:04:12.920 --> 0:04:17.080 are reluctant perhaps to start exercising or to continue is 0:04:17.240 --> 0:04:21.159 just fear. So they're worried that they can perhaps cause 0:04:21.240 --> 0:04:25.200 damage to the baby's development, or particularly in the first trimester, 0:04:25.320 --> 0:04:29.640 I think people are concerned about miscarrying. And that's a 0:04:29.680 --> 0:04:32.680 really a valid concern that I talked to lots of 0:04:32.720 --> 0:04:34.839 women about when they call up when they're seven or 0:04:34.880 --> 0:04:38.080 six weeks pregnant and they're wondering if it's okay to exercise. 0:04:38.960 --> 0:04:43.320 But it's almost more important for those women to be 0:04:43.400 --> 0:04:47.800 exercising once the pregnancy is well established. Then you want 0:04:47.839 --> 0:04:50.800 to be breeping all those benefits and making sure that 0:04:51.000 --> 0:04:53.800 your pregnancy is really healthy, you're really healthy, and that 0:04:53.839 --> 0:04:57.039 your baby's really healthy and again you're optimizing all of 0:04:57.040 --> 0:04:59.760 the things are going to help you recover. So I 0:04:59.760 --> 0:05:03.919 think it's fear and also just a lack of awarenes 0:05:04.000 --> 0:05:07.360 It's just lack of education because maybe their grandmothers and 0:05:07.400 --> 0:05:09.279 their mothers are saying, oh, it's time for you to 0:05:09.320 --> 0:05:11.640 rest and put your feet up, and you're working too hard, 0:05:11.760 --> 0:05:14.200 and you know, how could you be bothered to do 0:05:14.279 --> 0:05:17.039 the exercise after all of that hard day work And 0:05:17.120 --> 0:05:19.839 it's just, you know, it's just not right. So it's 0:05:19.920 --> 0:05:23.279 great that there's an opportunity for us to spread the 0:05:23.320 --> 0:05:27.840 word that exercise is definitely a really great thing to 0:05:27.920 --> 0:05:31.960 do while you're pregnant. The caveat in exercise is that 0:05:31.960 --> 0:05:33.920 it's got to be something that you like. You better, 0:05:34.000 --> 0:05:36.280 you may as well choose something that you like, and 0:05:36.320 --> 0:05:38.240 it has to be you have to listen to your body. 0:05:38.400 --> 0:05:41.279 So if you're really really exhausted because you haven't slept, 0:05:42.040 --> 0:05:44.919 because you've been so sick with nausea during your pregnancy, 0:05:45.120 --> 0:05:47.839 or you've just got zero energy, then you're crazy to 0:05:47.839 --> 0:05:50.440 try and push yourself to go and do a thirty 0:05:50.440 --> 0:05:52.719 minute workout. But if you can get the energy to 0:05:52.720 --> 0:05:54.880 walk around the block or to do lapse of your 0:05:54.920 --> 0:05:58.839 whole way that is already going to give you some benefits. 0:05:58.839 --> 0:06:00.960 So you have to take the pressure of yourself and 0:06:01.000 --> 0:06:03.000 do what you can when you can, and then when 0:06:03.040 --> 0:06:05.320 you're feeling a little bit more energetic, that's when you 0:06:05.320 --> 0:06:07.280 can put your foot on the gas a little and 0:06:07.320 --> 0:06:08.000 do a bit more. 0:06:08.279 --> 0:06:10.520 You must get a lot of questions about what is 0:06:10.640 --> 0:06:14.360 the best type of exercise to do while I'm pregnant 0:06:14.440 --> 0:06:15.920 or post nat or what do you say when you 0:06:15.960 --> 0:06:16.839 get asked that question? 0:06:17.360 --> 0:06:20.720 So, low impact, moderate intensity, right, okay, So if you 0:06:20.800 --> 0:06:23.960 love cycling or rowing or. 0:06:24.120 --> 0:06:27.200 So resistance type classes or pilates. 0:06:26.640 --> 0:06:31.440 Walking, all that stuff is exactly what you want to 0:06:31.480 --> 0:06:33.560 be doing. Where it's enough to get your heart rate 0:06:33.640 --> 0:06:35.200 up and to make you feel a little bit huffed 0:06:35.200 --> 0:06:37.719 and puff so that you can still carry on a conversation. 0:06:37.839 --> 0:06:39.600 That's the level of heart rate that you want to have, 0:06:40.400 --> 0:06:42.640 so that you've got a little bit of breathless feeling, 0:06:42.640 --> 0:06:45.839 but you can still talk. That's the intensity and low 0:06:45.920 --> 0:06:48.440 impact so that you're not putting pressure on your joints, 0:06:48.480 --> 0:06:52.320 because your joints are softening during pregnancy to prepare for delivery, 0:06:52.360 --> 0:06:55.240 and that happens from about starts happening from about eight weeks, 0:06:55.320 --> 0:06:59.359 so the little hormones get into the ligaments and start 0:06:59.400 --> 0:07:02.440 to create more space, particularly around the pelvis, and so 0:07:02.640 --> 0:07:05.040 higher impact exercise can lead to a little bit of 0:07:05.160 --> 0:07:08.640 discomfort in pelvic joints or other joints. So low impact 0:07:08.680 --> 0:07:10.960 is better. And low impact is also really good because 0:07:11.000 --> 0:07:14.520 your pelvic floor muscles, which are under extra load, can 0:07:14.600 --> 0:07:19.360 tolerate a low impact move, but less likely to tolerate 0:07:19.520 --> 0:07:21.200 higher impact exercise. 0:07:21.360 --> 0:07:24.560 So higher impact you're talking about jumping squats and jumping 0:07:24.640 --> 0:07:26.920 lunges and burpies and this kind of stuff. 0:07:27.160 --> 0:07:29.560 You yeah, yeah, yeah, running, yeah yeah. 0:07:29.560 --> 0:07:32.160 So people who love running are the ones who usually 0:07:32.200 --> 0:07:35.760 don't like to hear about low impact exercise because people 0:07:35.760 --> 0:07:40.160 who love running want to keep running. And I understand 0:07:40.160 --> 0:07:43.320 that running is a fabulous exercise, but I've seen the 0:07:43.360 --> 0:07:45.360 evidence that it's better to have a little break from 0:07:45.440 --> 0:07:48.920 running after your second trimester and get back to it 0:07:48.960 --> 0:07:50.720 in the post natal period once your pelvic floor is 0:07:50.720 --> 0:07:54.400 strong enough and your joints of are strong, because it's 0:07:54.440 --> 0:07:56.160 just a lot of pressure on the pelvic floor and 0:07:56.200 --> 0:07:58.640 it's a short window of your life to cut back 0:07:58.680 --> 0:08:01.160 on something even if you love it, and then we 0:08:01.200 --> 0:08:03.400 can get back into it afterwards. 0:08:03.480 --> 0:08:05.720 So then from a post natal perspective, you get your 0:08:05.760 --> 0:08:09.200 six week check from your doctor, you have six weeks off, 0:08:10.000 --> 0:08:13.200 giving yourself plenty of time to rest and recuperate and 0:08:13.240 --> 0:08:15.360 spend time with a little bub And then if you 0:08:15.400 --> 0:08:18.760 get your six week check from your doctor, the advice 0:08:18.920 --> 0:08:21.920 is you continue on with the low to moderate intensity, 0:08:22.160 --> 0:08:25.080 lower impact stuff that you were doing during the pregnancy 0:08:25.120 --> 0:08:28.800 and slowly but surely build yourself back up. Yeah, over 0:08:28.880 --> 0:08:31.600 what time period to potentially then get back to running 0:08:31.600 --> 0:08:33.520 for those women out there that are listening that do 0:08:33.600 --> 0:08:34.079 love running. 0:08:34.200 --> 0:08:37.559 Yeah, So, provided all is well, then three months is 0:08:37.760 --> 0:08:40.480 the recommended time to start being able to do a 0:08:40.480 --> 0:08:43.520 bit more high impact exercise. So your first six weeks 0:08:43.520 --> 0:08:45.640 you kind of in your little bubble with your baby 0:08:45.679 --> 0:08:49.120 and getting to know your family and spending time learning 0:08:49.160 --> 0:08:51.520 how to feed and all of those things, and recovering 0:08:51.600 --> 0:08:55.800 from the delivery. Gentle walking, gentle stretching is great. And 0:08:55.800 --> 0:08:57.559 then from six to twelve weeks you can up the 0:08:57.559 --> 0:09:00.000 ante a little bit with that load and moderate intense 0:09:00.280 --> 0:09:02.720 but still low impact. And then from twelve weeks on wards, 0:09:02.760 --> 0:09:05.880 if your pelvic floor feels strong enough and you're ready 0:09:05.920 --> 0:09:07.920 and you're keen, then you can start to introduce some 0:09:07.960 --> 0:09:11.160 more high impact load if those joints and muscles are 0:09:11.160 --> 0:09:14.120 ready for that. And so there's a test. It's called 0:09:14.160 --> 0:09:17.240 the stress test, and it's a star jump and a 0:09:17.280 --> 0:09:23.160 cough at the same time three times. So when I 0:09:23.240 --> 0:09:27.760 show it to people, they're like, holy moley, no, I'm 0:09:27.800 --> 0:09:29.640 not ready for that. It's well, if you can't do 0:09:29.720 --> 0:09:32.160 a cough and a star jump three times, then I 0:09:32.160 --> 0:09:35.600 think a five k run is probably going to be 0:09:35.600 --> 0:09:38.360 beyond what your pelvic floor is ready for. But the 0:09:38.360 --> 0:09:40.440 progression you just touched on that, and that's exactly what 0:09:40.480 --> 0:09:42.440 you do. You start with a walk run program, so 0:09:42.520 --> 0:09:44.640 you walk for four minutes, run for a minute. You 0:09:44.760 --> 0:09:47.320 allow your body chance to strengthen up and to adjust, 0:09:47.720 --> 0:09:49.440 but you've got to keep up with your pelvic floor 0:09:49.480 --> 0:09:52.040 exercises and the strengthening of your core muscles and the 0:09:52.080 --> 0:09:54.000 glutes and all of that good stuff so that you're 0:09:54.120 --> 0:09:55.000 ready to run. 0:09:55.600 --> 0:09:59.840 So just we're talking about, you know, coming back gradually 0:10:00.080 --> 0:10:03.520 and at the right pace for us after having a baby. 0:10:03.840 --> 0:10:04.720 It's not a race. 0:10:05.000 --> 0:10:05.800 It's not a race. 0:10:05.960 --> 0:10:09.840 Every pregnancy is different. Work yourself back. If you can 0:10:09.920 --> 0:10:12.840 exercise once a week, great, twice a week, great, three 0:10:12.880 --> 0:10:15.080 times a week, great, do what you can. 0:10:15.440 --> 0:10:17.960 Dance around the house every day exactly. 0:10:18.559 --> 0:10:22.080 You know, if you're torn between having an app that 0:10:22.160 --> 0:10:25.800 you desperately need or fitting a workout in, have an app, 0:10:26.000 --> 0:10:29.120 you know like that is most likely a much better 0:10:29.200 --> 0:10:31.760 choice for you to make, and then just work yourself back, 0:10:32.240 --> 0:10:36.040 slowly but surely. Now, I'd love you to give our 0:10:36.120 --> 0:10:39.800 listeners your thoughts on peerlvic floor, because you said something 0:10:39.800 --> 0:10:43.680 to me really interesting once, you said, Sam, everyone should 0:10:43.679 --> 0:10:46.319 do pervict floor and I said every woman and you said, no, 0:10:46.960 --> 0:10:49.800 every person, and I was like, oh, even me, And 0:10:49.840 --> 0:10:52.520 so it's always stuck with me. It's always stuck with me. 0:10:52.600 --> 0:10:54.720 I do my perfect floors after hearing that, So I'd 0:10:54.800 --> 0:10:56.839 love you to elaborate on that a little bit more. 0:10:57.000 --> 0:11:00.440 You're damn right. So pelvic floor muscles, we all have them. 0:11:01.000 --> 0:11:05.480 They're part of our core. They support our organs underneath 0:11:06.600 --> 0:11:09.880 in men and women. So in women, the difference is 0:11:10.000 --> 0:11:12.960 that we have three openings in the pelvic floor, and 0:11:13.000 --> 0:11:16.040 so that's what makes our muscles a little more vulnerable, 0:11:16.440 --> 0:11:19.720 whereas in men there's just two openings in the pelvic floor, 0:11:19.960 --> 0:11:22.840 and the urethra is really long, like in a woman 0:11:22.880 --> 0:11:25.600 it's just a four centimeter tube. In a man it's 0:11:25.640 --> 0:11:29.320 a variable length, but fourteen centimeters or so, so there's 0:11:29.320 --> 0:11:31.720 a long way for the weed to go before it 0:11:31.880 --> 0:11:35.800 accidentally leaks out. That's the difference. So women have got 0:11:35.800 --> 0:11:39.280 a more vulnerable pelvic floor because of those three openings. 0:11:39.440 --> 0:11:44.960 And then with childbirth, so the pregnancy weight of holding 0:11:44.960 --> 0:11:48.880 the baby in the extra fluid plus the delivery is 0:11:49.200 --> 0:11:52.800 what it leads to some stretching and perhaps some damage 0:11:52.800 --> 0:11:55.360 to the pelvic floor muscles. So that's why we hear 0:11:55.400 --> 0:11:59.080 about it more from women in those years, the thirties 0:11:59.080 --> 0:12:03.000 and forties. In men, we hear about pelvic floor dysfunction 0:12:03.280 --> 0:12:06.240 much later in life. So that's when the prostate land 0:12:06.320 --> 0:12:10.760 gets enlarged often and removed, and then the tension around 0:12:10.760 --> 0:12:13.960 the urethra is gone, and so then men have to 0:12:14.040 --> 0:12:16.640 then learn how to activate their pelvic floor muscles to 0:12:16.720 --> 0:12:20.600 control the flow of urine because that pressure has been 0:12:20.640 --> 0:12:24.600 removed once the prostate's removed. So there's no get out 0:12:24.600 --> 0:12:28.760 of jail free card. But the stats are definitely stacked 0:12:28.880 --> 0:12:32.240 up against women, so one in three women who've had 0:12:32.240 --> 0:12:36.199 a baby will experience stressing continents, and it's about one 0:12:36.240 --> 0:12:39.840 in five men in their sixties. So it's much laid 0:12:39.920 --> 0:12:43.360 down the track and it's much less prevalent, but it's 0:12:43.360 --> 0:12:47.000 still really important. And if you think about weightlifting or 0:12:47.000 --> 0:12:49.280 something that men and women both do where it puts 0:12:49.320 --> 0:12:52.440 pressure down on the pelvic floor, that's when men really 0:12:52.520 --> 0:12:56.720 need to focus on balancing that load or that intrabdominal 0:12:56.760 --> 0:12:59.600 pressure by having enough pelvic floor strength. 0:13:00.320 --> 0:13:04.160 And this is not something we know for women. It's 0:13:04.200 --> 0:13:08.640 not a post pregnancy thing. This is a during during pregnancy. 0:13:08.400 --> 0:13:12.640 During life. So teenage girls really should know how to 0:13:13.000 --> 0:13:15.280 should be taught or should understand or have some more 0:13:15.400 --> 0:13:18.400 education about how to activate their pelvic floor muscles, because 0:13:18.440 --> 0:13:21.120 there's lots of young women or girls who haven't had 0:13:21.160 --> 0:13:26.000 a baby who still experience involuntary loss of urine, and 0:13:26.040 --> 0:13:30.320 particularly sporty girls, particularly the athletic girls, the netballers, the 0:13:30.320 --> 0:13:36.120 trampoline as, the gymnasts, the horse riders, the hurdlers, the sprinters, basketballers, 0:13:36.200 --> 0:13:38.800 so they've got lots of pressure. They're doing those high 0:13:38.840 --> 0:13:41.280 impact sports with lots of pressure on the pelvic floor muscles. 0:13:41.280 --> 0:13:44.200 And often they just haven't been taught the mechanics of 0:13:44.240 --> 0:13:47.600 activating the pelvic floor muscles, or they've got really well 0:13:47.640 --> 0:13:51.040 developed external muscles like their abs are super strong, their 0:13:51.080 --> 0:13:54.439 back muscles, their groups, but there's been no focus from 0:13:54.480 --> 0:13:57.800 the strength and conditioning side of things on the deeper 0:13:58.400 --> 0:13:59.560 pelvic floor muscles. 0:14:00.080 --> 0:14:02.040 So how do we build up our perfect floor. 0:14:02.520 --> 0:14:05.080 Well, unfortunately, it's a bit boring and it's just one 0:14:05.080 --> 0:14:06.640 of those things you kind of got to just do 0:14:07.640 --> 0:14:11.880 and you can't always do it along with other exercise. 0:14:11.960 --> 0:14:14.400 So it has to be specific initially so that you're 0:14:14.400 --> 0:14:17.280 really focusing on the muscles. So the first thing is 0:14:17.320 --> 0:14:19.840 understanding where the muscles are. So they're the muscles that 0:14:19.880 --> 0:14:21.520 are at the base of your pelvis, running from your 0:14:21.520 --> 0:14:23.600 pubic bone at the front and attaching to your tailboat 0:14:23.640 --> 0:14:25.960 at the back. So you picture that hammock of muscle 0:14:26.640 --> 0:14:29.320 and it's sitting like a bowl holding up all your organs. 0:14:30.160 --> 0:14:34.920 And then for girls, imagining that you're tightening around your 0:14:34.920 --> 0:14:38.720 back passage. And I say for girls because boys don't 0:14:38.960 --> 0:14:40.400 ever hold in farts, so. 0:14:40.440 --> 0:14:44.080 You don't understand. 0:14:44.400 --> 0:14:45.600 So we'll get to you in a minute. So I 0:14:45.600 --> 0:14:47.040 say to the girls, if you're the lift with your 0:14:47.040 --> 0:14:51.200 boss and you've just been having your chickpea soup for 0:14:51.360 --> 0:14:55.600 your homus on toast. You've got to squeeze and tighten 0:14:55.640 --> 0:14:57.640 around your back passage. And we say around the back 0:14:57.640 --> 0:15:00.200 passage because there's so many nerve innings. There way more 0:15:00.200 --> 0:15:03.000 nerve things that are in your vagina, so you're tightening 0:15:03.000 --> 0:15:06.400 around the vagina too, But it's a different feeling around 0:15:06.440 --> 0:15:09.200 the back paste. You've got much more feedback, so it's 0:15:09.240 --> 0:15:11.360 the same muscles. You can just feel it more at 0:15:11.400 --> 0:15:14.040 the back, so you squeeze and tighten, but your bum 0:15:14.160 --> 0:15:16.680 stays relaxed and your legs are relaxed. You can feel 0:15:16.680 --> 0:15:18.680 a little bit of pulling in from your tummy and 0:15:18.720 --> 0:15:23.720 that's activating your pelvic floor. For boys, you're going to 0:15:23.800 --> 0:15:27.280 imagine walking into Port Philip Bay down there in the 0:15:27.360 --> 0:15:31.280 nice freezing sixteen degree water and just slowly as you're 0:15:31.320 --> 0:15:34.120 getting deeper and deeper and the water's coming up your 0:15:34.160 --> 0:15:37.640 thighs up and it's just about to touch your balls. 0:15:38.240 --> 0:15:43.000 That feeling of everything lifting and drawing in is activating 0:15:43.080 --> 0:15:44.800 your pelvic floor muscles. 0:15:44.800 --> 0:15:47.640 Right, okay, And how long do you hold it for? 0:15:48.600 --> 0:15:51.320 So when you're starting out about three seconds, so you 0:15:51.360 --> 0:15:54.200 want to get a really strong contraction, give it everything 0:15:54.240 --> 0:15:57.800 you've got, and then release fully. So it's just as 0:15:57.840 --> 0:16:00.240 important to release fully, same as any muscle. If you're 0:16:00.240 --> 0:16:02.080 trying to strengthen, you need to relax so that you 0:16:02.120 --> 0:16:03.840 can then activate it again. 0:16:03.960 --> 0:16:05.400 When you say this is something you need to do 0:16:05.440 --> 0:16:07.600 in isolation, so you're not doing this what you're trying 0:16:07.640 --> 0:16:09.320 to do your squat So you did list at the gym, 0:16:09.640 --> 0:16:11.800 this is a that's correct morning exercise. 0:16:11.960 --> 0:16:13.760 Or you're brushing your teeth. 0:16:13.600 --> 0:16:15.640 Right, okay, and how many reps am I doing? 0:16:15.680 --> 0:16:17.720 So you're standing there brushing your teeth, you're doing ten 0:16:17.960 --> 0:16:18.880 three second. 0:16:18.560 --> 0:16:20.920 Holds, ten three second holds, And that's. 0:16:20.800 --> 0:16:25.720 Kind of like a baseline maintenance homework program. And that's 0:16:25.760 --> 0:16:28.840 a really great thing to start because then you don't 0:16:28.840 --> 0:16:32.480 build up that fear about exercising the pelvic floor muscles. 0:16:32.520 --> 0:16:34.920 It just happens and it gets stronger and the feeling 0:16:35.040 --> 0:16:38.480 comes back much more quickly. So start as early as 0:16:38.480 --> 0:16:40.600 you can, and if you haven't, don't worry. You haven't 0:16:40.640 --> 0:16:43.520 missed the vote because you're still going to get the 0:16:43.520 --> 0:16:46.920 benefits of strengthening whenever you start brilliant advice. 0:16:47.080 --> 0:16:50.200 Klok. I've spoken to you five thousand times and I've still. 0:16:50.080 --> 0:16:50.960 Learned a lot today. 0:16:51.400 --> 0:16:53.480 I can't thank you enough for coming on and sharing 0:16:53.520 --> 0:16:56.000 all of you with them today with our wood Life listeners, and. 0:16:55.920 --> 0:16:57.840 Thank you so much thanks for having me. 0:17:01.120 --> 0:17:03.280 So to all of our Woodlife listens out there, I 0:17:03.320 --> 0:17:05.800 think you know what your homework is. Get doing those 0:17:05.800 --> 0:17:08.000 pervict floor exercises every day while you're. 0:17:07.880 --> 0:17:08.760 Brushing your teeth. 0:17:08.800 --> 0:17:11.600 And next, we're going to dive into questions with our 0:17:11.640 --> 0:17:19.639 wonderful nutritionist Shana about diet culture. There's a good chance 0:17:19.840 --> 0:17:22.359 that you've either been on a diet or you know 0:17:22.520 --> 0:17:26.520 someone who has. Diet culture is alive and well, and 0:17:26.520 --> 0:17:30.040 there's so many different ones out there, some promising crazy results, 0:17:30.640 --> 0:17:33.840 others saying they're good for your health. We're going to 0:17:33.920 --> 0:17:38.000 unpack your diet questions with our favorite nutritionist Shanna. 0:17:38.160 --> 0:17:40.080 Welcome, Hey Sam, great to be here. 0:17:41.000 --> 0:17:43.560 This is a funny one because I would be in 0:17:43.600 --> 0:17:46.480 the absolute minority. I've never been on a diet. 0:17:46.720 --> 0:17:47.920 I'm probably in the minority. 0:17:47.960 --> 0:17:50.640 There would definitely be most of our listeners out there 0:17:50.640 --> 0:17:53.600 that have tried a diet of some description, so it's 0:17:53.640 --> 0:17:55.760 no surprise when we get questions. 0:17:55.359 --> 0:17:59.920 Like this, Hey, Sam, I'd be very interested to see 0:18:00.119 --> 0:18:03.720 what your thoughts are on Keto and something that I'm 0:18:03.720 --> 0:18:07.800 looking at doing. And I think even though Keto is 0:18:07.840 --> 0:18:11.840 a lifestyle, I think it's something that we should horribly 0:18:11.880 --> 0:18:13.000 talk about more. 0:18:13.040 --> 0:18:15.800 So, isn't that an interesting great question Brooklyn that Brooklyn 0:18:16.240 --> 0:18:20.679 said it's a lifestyle which I don't necessarily agree with, 0:18:20.720 --> 0:18:23.800 which I think can be a controversial opinion because those 0:18:23.840 --> 0:18:27.480 that are on the Keto train are pretty steadfast about it, 0:18:27.520 --> 0:18:30.879 and it's I believe that Keto has some good bits, 0:18:31.000 --> 0:18:33.720 but it's far too restrictive as it definitely leaves out 0:18:33.760 --> 0:18:36.119 some key nutritional areas. Do you want to elaborate a 0:18:36.160 --> 0:18:38.760 bit more and explain to our listeners first of all, 0:18:38.760 --> 0:18:39.600 if I'm right and what. 0:18:39.560 --> 0:18:42.640 I'm on about, Yeah, absolutely so. I think with any 0:18:42.680 --> 0:18:47.160 diet diets that take out entire food groups or macronutrients, 0:18:47.480 --> 0:18:49.320 they're a bit of a red flag straight away. So 0:18:49.400 --> 0:18:53.280 with the Keto diet, you're having very minimal, like virtually 0:18:53.320 --> 0:18:56.560 no carbohydrates whatsoever. You're focusing more on the high fat 0:18:56.600 --> 0:18:59.919 foods and protein as well. But by removing the carbohydrate 0:19:00.160 --> 0:19:02.800 that's actually the kinds of foods we get fiber from, 0:19:03.240 --> 0:19:05.760 and fiber is really important for our gut health and 0:19:05.880 --> 0:19:09.399 carbs in general, they are our bodies preferred source of fuel. Obviously, 0:19:09.440 --> 0:19:12.480 we want to choose the right type of carbohydrates. The 0:19:12.600 --> 0:19:14.520 less refined, the better, so that's the key. 0:19:14.680 --> 0:19:15.200 That's okay. 0:19:15.240 --> 0:19:20.359 I think carbohydrates are being demonized, and some carbohydrates probably 0:19:20.359 --> 0:19:23.280 deserve to be demonized and don't really do us any favors, 0:19:23.320 --> 0:19:25.080 and getting rid of them out of our diet, or 0:19:25.119 --> 0:19:27.480 predominantly getting rid of them actually does do us a 0:19:27.520 --> 0:19:30.320 whole lot of favors. But getting rid of them altogether, 0:19:31.160 --> 0:19:33.840 not getting that fiber and and some other valuable things 0:19:33.880 --> 0:19:35.320 that we need from our carbs, is. 0:19:35.280 --> 0:19:37.520 Not the answer, is it exactly? And I think we 0:19:37.600 --> 0:19:40.200 often forget that lots of veggies fall under the carbohydrate 0:19:40.560 --> 0:19:44.160 banner as well, so you're also limiting your vegetable intake. 0:19:44.200 --> 0:19:46.320 And we know how important it is to get plenty 0:19:46.320 --> 0:19:48.560 of veggies as part of a balanced diet, so we 0:19:48.600 --> 0:19:52.080 want to be careful when we are restricting entire macronutrients 0:19:52.119 --> 0:19:54.920 or big food groups like that. In saying that keto 0:19:55.000 --> 0:19:58.359 can be beneficial in particular, conditions like epilepsy. There've been 0:19:58.400 --> 0:20:01.280 some studies done there. However, for general health, it's not 0:20:01.359 --> 0:20:03.040 something I would get behind or recommend. 0:20:03.160 --> 0:20:05.560 So it's a really good question from Brooklyn, and that's 0:20:05.960 --> 0:20:09.000 I hope that clears up Brooklyn why I said. I 0:20:09.119 --> 0:20:12.320 don't personally, and China shares this opinion that it is 0:20:12.359 --> 0:20:17.000 a lifestyle choice because when I hear the term lifestyle choice, 0:20:17.160 --> 0:20:20.640 I think sustainability. Now, there's a lot of good things 0:20:20.640 --> 0:20:22.760 about it cuts out a lot of the bad things 0:20:22.760 --> 0:20:25.879 that too many of us consume in two higher quantities. 0:20:25.920 --> 0:20:28.560 And this is where it's all relative. So many of 0:20:28.640 --> 0:20:32.040