Pelvic Pain and Exercise: General Fitness Tips

In Female Pelvic Pain, Male Pelvic Pain by Stephanie Prendergast21 Comments

Part two of a two part series on exercise and pelvic pain.

Last week we posted a blog about whether there are any exercises that patients can do that would help with their pelvic pain healing. In this week’s blog we’re going to look at the second common question our pelvic pain patients ask regarding exercise:

“As far as my general fitness routine, are there any exercises that I shouldn’t do that may exacerbate my symptoms? And are there exercises that you specifically recommend for me based on my findings?”

Exercising for fitness often poses a problem for patients who are in the middle of the healing process causing their symptoms to flare. Often this occurs after patients have taken a break from their fitness routine because of their pelvic pain and/or fear of making themselves worse. After they return to exercise they oftentimes will start to become symptomatic again as a result.

Understandably this is very frustrating and people think they may never be able to exercise again.

It’s important for people to get daily exercise, so we work hard with patients to figure out the balance between staying fit and healthy and not exacerbating their symptoms. Therefore, exercise routines may need temporary modifications at first, with the goal being progression towards the patient’s desired activities.

So after years of conversations with my patients and a knowledge of exercise anatomy and physiology, we compiled a list of exercises that are reasonable starting places for people beginning to work out again as well as a list of activities that are often more provocative for pelvic pain patients.

The advice below is by no means and end-all be-all of “do’s and ‘don’ts”. I created it because I want people to know that they can exercise, and certain choices may be better than others when learning to manage pelvic pain.

A-List of Exercises for Pelvic Pain Patients

  • Slower, isometric, double-limb, lower impact exercises:

People that have been through any pain experience may have altered neuromuscular recruitment patterns. What this means is that they may use muscles other than the ones intended for the movement in question, which can result in injury and symptoms. Therefore, in general, slower, isometric, double-limb, lower impact exercises are a good place to start. With these types of exercises, the patient has a higher chance of performing the necessary motions with proper muscle recruitment as compared to faster moving, higher impact, and single-leg stance activities. Below is a list of examples of these types of exercises.

  • Shallow squats

Shallow squats are better because the deeper the squat, the greater the chance that hypertonic (too tight) muscles will change the motion and that the external rotators and hamstring muscles instead of the gluteal muscles will get involved, which are the muscles you want to be working in this type of exercise.

  • Progression: shallow squats on a foam pad

This movement creates an unstable surface and co-contraction of muscles, and is a safe and effective way to strengthen the gluteus muscles, thighs, and hips.

  • Balancing on the Bosu ball or foam roller

If using the Bosu Ball, first use the flat side down, then progress to flat side up for 30 seconds to two minutes.

  • Abdominal Exercises that are appropriate for pelvic pain patients

Abdominal muscles are often associated with pelvic pain; therefore, some abdominal exercise can exacerbate symptoms. Below are the abdominal exercises that we recommend for patients with pelvic pain. For a variety of reasons, these exercises do not negatively impact the pelvic floor.

  1. Plank: these are great because they are a good way to recruitment trunk muscles.

  2. Standing Triceps Extensions: these create a way to recruit the core without over-activating the rectus abdominus muscles.

  3. Supine leg-lifts on a physio ball: again, these create a way to recruit the core without over-activating the rectus abdominus muscles.

  • Walking backwards on a treadmill at 5% incline, 2.0 miles per hour.

This will help to strengthen the lower extremities while also providing an aerobic activity, but it will do so in a way that doesn’t engage those muscles that are a problem like the pelvic floor and the rectus abdominus muscles.

  • The StepMill cardiovascular machine that most gyms have.

This machine is great because at slower speeds (less than level five), people can get great gluteal muscle recruitment while also getting cardiovascular benefits.

Exercises that are more provocative and may flare symptoms:

  • Activities that involve impact, such as single leg or double leg jumping

  • Squatting in single leg stance

  • Hamstring and quadriceps machines

General fitness principles recommend free weights over gym machines. Many of my female patients report that these machines simply feel uncomfortable and exacerbate their symptoms.

  • Deep squats and lunges

When folks who have pelvic pain do squats or lunges, their hamstrings oftentimes fire instead of their gluteal muscles, which can be detrimental to a tight pelvic floor. Also, pelvic pain patients often have hip rotators that are too tight to be able to do the exercise properly.

  • Biking or spinning

Most people with pelvic pain have problems and pain in the muscles that are compressed on a bike seat, i.e. nearly the entire pelvic floor. So the pressure will aggravate the pelvic floor. In fact, some of our patients’ pain started as a result of biking in the first place. I’m not saying that if you’re a passionate cyclist and develop pelvic pain that you’ll never be able to ride again, but for those who are in treatment these exercises are not the best choices.

  • Sitting abduction/adduction machine (inner/outer thigh)

The sitting adduction and abduction machine is not a functional exercise, meaning that we do not use these muscles in our daily lives in the positions required on these machines, so unless you’re a competitive weightlifter, there really is no functional reason to do these exercises. On top of that, these machines can actually cause pelvic pain and, therefore, should be avoided.

  • Calf raises

Unless you are a professional body builder, most people do not need to strengthen their calf muscles. The general population tends to have tight calf muscles, which can change how a person walks and the muscles that they use daily. These muscles should be stretched versus strengthened, and daily.

  • Situps or crunches

Sit-ups directly involve the rectus abdominus muscles, one of the abdominal muscles, which have a high correlation with pelvic pain or a high tone pelvic floor as well as urinary urgency and frequency. In addition, this muscle is not a trunk stabilizer and does not need to be individually strengthened for musculoskeletal health.

  • Deep squats with heavy weights

Deep squats with heavy resistance are not a good choice due to a higher risk of injury and incorrect muscle recruitment. This position also causes a lengthening of the pudendal nerve and a tightening of the pelvic floor muscles. This combination can cause pudendal neuralgia.

May or May not be Appropriate for Pelvic Pain Patients

  • Running

Patients who have trigger points in their hips or if their gluteal muscles aren’t strong enough, running is going to bother their pelvic floor symptoms, but if they are clear in those areas they can usually slowly start to get back into running.

  • Swimming

Swimming is a great form of exercise. Certain strokes may be problematic for patients with trigger points. For example, the breaststroke activates the obturator internus muscle, patients with trigger points here should choose a different stroke, such as freestyle. Conversely, patients with psoas or hip flexor trigger points may get aggravated by the freestyle motion, but feel comfortable using the breaststroke.

But walking in water can be a fantastic cardiovascular exercise because it gets your heart rate up but because we’re practically weightless in water, muscles and joints are free of pressure.

  • Pilates and yoga

These exercises have a range of motions that can be therapeutic for pelvic pain, good for general fitness, and occasionally problematic. Therefore, pilates or yoga programs really need to be individualized per patient. To read more about yoga and pelvic pain, check out our blog on the topic here.

When it comes to exercise and pelvic pain it’s important for me as a PT to help my patients find that happy medium between continuing to exercise and stay fit and not exacerbating their pelvic pain symptoms. Not only because it adds to their quality of life and overall health, but because any exercise, and especially cardiovascular exercise will encourage blood flow and release endorphins, which is beneficial for patients in pain.

Please share your experiences with us about what has and has not worked for you and any questions that you may have!

All my best,

Stephanie

 

Comments

  1. Re. Cycling are there certain bike seats you can purchase which put less pressure on the pelvic floor? I cycle regularly to get to work and it’s my main form of exercise, so I’m kind of dependent on it and am thus loathe to give it up…

    1. Author

      Hi Hannah,

      Yes we have a list of noseless saddles that tend to be helpful for cyclists. Below is a list of several saddles that you might want to try.

      Best,

      Melinda

      Bisaddle
      Comfort Saddle
      DDWings
      Easy Seat and Easy Seat II
      Ergo, The Seat
      ISM Sport
      ISM Tourist
      Moon
      Nexride
      Real Seat
      Revla Saddle
      RideBall
      Schwinn No Pressure (not listed on website, you might find it on Amazon)
      Spiderflex
      Spongy Wonder
      Un-Saddle

  2. While I’ve most certainly exacerbated my injuries in my Pilates practice, the benefits to my body have far outweighed the costs. While Pilates may indeed spark a flair up from time to time, it’s usually because of lack of care on my part, or something outside of my practice. In many many ways, Pilates has helped me to reduce my pain and increase my function. One characteristic about Pilates that I think is really pertinent to this topic is how the system turns gravity into a friend rather than a foe. My tailbone injury has the effect of leaving me quite pulled down by the end of a day, but lying on my back for a Pilates workout sets me right again. It really is an amazing system of exercise!

  3. I miss my long walks. Walking definitely seems to be making me flare. I have a desk job and the sitting makes me hurt too. All i want to do when I get home is sit my but on a heating pad and take medicine. Where do I begin to stop this pattern. Feel like a big blob and so tired.

  4. I am so confused right now about what exercises to be doing. I have done lots of stretching, and a little walking, and some mild core over the last 2 years. I also have central sensitization pain in my legs. Walking outside in cold weather is out. I will read this with great interest.

    Thanks Stephanie.

    1. I’ve been doing Pilates 5-6 times a week for 4 months now. In the last month I’ve been bothered by pelvic floor dysfunction flare ups. What shouldn’t I be doing?

      1. Hi Steph! We hope you find a pelvic floor physical therapist near you. Everyone reacts differently to their exercises, meaning one might not flare you up but another could. A good starting place is taking a break from some of these exercises, to allow your body to relax to is’ normal state, and slowly integrating these exercises back in while being mindful of your body and listening to each movement to see what is causing the flare up.

  5. My case is rather complicated, starting with a degenerated disk and a botched Knee Replacement. I developed Piriformis syndrome (among other issues). I had finally found Pilates and Yoga which I loved, strengthened my core and provided exercise for me.
    Unfortunately, I have needed to stop both to let my pelvis calm down. It seems that engaging my TA sucks in my pelvic floor (as it should).
    I am frustrated because I thought that Pilates//Yoga was the key to my core strength and recovery from back pain. All it did was give me a new pain issue to deal with.
    I’m going to stay tuned here because it is comforting that there are others out there like me and that there might be answers for me.
    Thank you for this site!

  6. Omg… I thought I was losing my mind in regards to having severe pelvic pain after I started exercising. I do have 150 pounds to lose, so I’m assuming that has a lot to do with my issues with pelvic pain after exercising. And I’m not just talking pain, I’m talking that I can’t walk Because it’s that excruciating for me. This article has helped a lot. I’m not too happy about not doing crunches, but I’m hoping that when I get stronger I can actually do these things once again.

  7. Great article. We should know that every exercise model has not appropriate for everyone. Exercises should be individualized.
    Thank you.

  8. Hi Stephanie I am a keen horse rider and have persisted with riding despite chronic lower back pain. I have no obvious injury in the back but was diagnosed with stage 4 endo two months ago and had a lap which removed all endo present in the pelvic cavity. I have no other symptoms of pelvic pain except for chronic lower back pain. My question is two fold- 1/ is riding once or twice a week likely to make my recovery harder? 2/ do you happen to know of a pelvic physio in Sydney Australia you could recommend? Many thanks Corinne

    1. Stephanie Prendergast, MPT says:

      Hi Corrine,

      Unfortunately I cannot comment on your situation without evaluating you. We recommend that you consult with pelvic floor physio Angela James in Sidney, she will be able to help.

  9. Hi and great information. I am an avid exercise enthusiast. I got a resistant UITI strain bacteria after having a colonoscopy. I was on IV antibiotics for 16 days. I have had so many issues. My bladder is still not well. I have been having horrible pain in the entrance of my vagina. Everyone thought it was a burn but found a doctor that told me I have a hypertonic pelvic floor because of the infection and all the pain and tightening. So got a Therwand and been using it daily. I see a PT specialist which is A pelvic floor specialist. I have been dealing with this for about 3 months since I finished my antibiotics. I had my period and I regressed. Putting on a pasd hurt. I use a Valium supporsitory at night. I do all the relaxation exercise minimum twice a day. Anything you can tell me that I am not doing that I can try?

    1. It sounds like you may have a pelvic floor disorder. Unfortunately we cannot make specific recommendations without evaluating you. We would be happy to evaluate you in one of our locations or you can use our website to find a pelvic floor physical therapist in your area that can help.

  10. Hello,
    My name is Debbie. I’ve been suffering with Pudendal neuralgia for 17 years now. I only found out 2 years ago that this was in fact PN. I was always misdiagnosed and had useless unnecessary surgeries and treatments. Now at least after 17 years I’ve gotten the right information. Thank you so much for this information. It means a lot. Considering I can barely do anything I’m gonna go for the pool. Up until 4 years ago I worked as a physical therapist, I lost my career after a very unnecessary surgery that I had. It made me so much worse and now fully disabled. I appreciate your information I say this again. It truly means a lot. Thank you. Deb and God bless us all who suffer with this horrendous disease I pray for us all.

  11. I had a total vaginal hysterectomy 2.5 years ago since then I have pelvic and vaginal pain and find it hard to do most exercises without being house bound day after on strong painkillers. I have a degerente disc disease too so not sure if that’s the cause of the pain too

    1. It sounds like you may have a pelvic floor disorder. Unfortunately we cannot make specific recommendations without evaluating you. We would be happy to evaluate you in one of our locations or you can use our website to find a pelvic floor physical therapist in your area that can help.

  12. What a wonderfully, informative article. Thankyou it has given me some hope.Please add me to your mailing list. Ive been struggling with a hypertonic pelvic floor for years and weakened muscles because of it. Hoping this blog will point me in the right direction.

  13. Wow! I know this is an old article, but still relevant. I had breast cancer a couple years ago. I need to lose a substantial amount of weight and the anti-estrogens only make this issue more difficult. I took up spinning and it is the only thing that helps me lose weight. I love it and it also helps with my stress. Diet alone doesn’t work, I need to get my heart rate up. Now I was diagnosed with vulvodynia. Yep, due to the medication. I am at a loss. My quality of life has tanked. Sexual intercourse with my husband has ceased, spin class has ceased, I am gaining weight. I am very frustrated with this new diagnosis.

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