Suffering from "key in the door" syndrome? Find your pelvic floor...

No one wants to to be caught short on the tube, or let "key-in-the-door-sydrome" (where you urgently need to get to the loo once you get to your front door!) get the better of you. It would also be great to improve posture and the ability to lift without injury. How about to bend and twist without risk of a prolapsed disc? Or to be able to sit for longer without hip and lower back pain?

All these things need a strong pelvic floor. But for most people it's hard to actually find the pelvic floor, never mind have a strong one.

How to find your pelvic floor:

Seated: Sit on the prominent "sit bones", moving the soft tissue of your bottom cheeks (glute muscles and a natural fat deposition) out of the way to the side. Now imagine you are trying to reduce the distance between the two sit bones - this will make you squeeze that mid-central, lower muscle group, your pelvic floor. To strengthen the muscle, repeat for 10 pulses, holding each for 2-3 seconds.

Standing: For ladies, it's simple to explain. Just squeeze the muscles that stop you from urinating. Squeeze them up towards the diaphragm and release. Continue for 10 squeezes. For men, just imagine you are walking into very cold water and that feeling should automatically engage the muscles around the testicles. This engagement is more subtle for men, however this is a good start to engaging the pelvic floor.

Lying: Lie supine, facing the ceiling. Place your two thumbs on the bony prominence of the pubis (your hard bone at the very bottom of your body between your legs) and find your way to the top of the hard bone. At the top, let both thumbs sink into the softer area of your mid-pelvis. Now cough. You should feel your thumbs push up as your pelvic floor muscles engage. Now you've found it - imagine you are pushing those thumbs up away, whilst squeezing the two sides of your pelvis together. Continue for 10 squeezes.

Let me know if you still can't find it!