What Is the Pelvic Floor and Why Is It Important?
What Is the Pelvic Floor and Why Is It Important?
You may have heard of your pelvic floor muscles being called your Kegel muscles or PC muscles. These terms all describe the same important group of muscles, ligaments and connective tissues that stretch like a supportive hammock across the base of your pelvis.
Your pelvic floor supports your pelvic organs — including the bladder, bowel and uterus — while helping control bladder and bowel function, core stability and sexual sensation. Strong pelvic floor muscles are essential for long-term pelvic health.
The pelvic floor is made up of several layers of muscle that work together to support and protect the pelvic organs:
- The superficial muscles support the vaginal opening and help with bladder control and sexual function. These muscles can weaken after childbirth, during menopause and naturally with age.
- The urogenital muscles surround the urinary and genital openings and play an important role in bladder and pelvic organ support.
- The deep pelvic floor muscles (known as the levator ani muscles) form the main support structure of the pelvic floor. These muscles stretch from the pubic bone at the front to the tailbone at the back, helping to hold the pelvic organs in place and protect them from downward pressure and gravity.
Over time, pelvic floor muscles can weaken due to pregnancy, childbirth, menopause, ageing, chronic coughing, constipation, heavy lifting or high-impact exercise. When the pelvic floor becomes weak, it may lead to symptoms such as bladder leaks, reduced core support, bowel problems or pelvic organ prolapse.
Why Are Pelvic Floor Muscles Important?
Healthy pelvic floor muscles help support:
- Bladder and bowel control
- Pelvic organ support
- Core strength and posture
- Sexual sensation and function
- Pregnancy and childbirth support
- Healthy bowel movements
Like any muscle group in the body, the pelvic floor needs regular exercise to stay strong and supportive. Pelvic floor exercises (Kegels) can help strengthen weak muscles, improve bladder control and support prolapse management.
At Kegel8, pelvic floor health is at the heart of everything we do. Our pelvic floor exercise and rehabilitation solutions are designed to help you strengthen, support and regain confidence in your pelvic floor at every stage of life.
Strengthening and Maintaining Your Pelvic Floor
Just like any other muscle group in the body, your pelvic floor muscles need regular exercise to stay strong, supportive and healthy. However, unlike your legs, arms or core muscles, the pelvic floor is not automatically strengthened through general exercise such as running, cycling or going to the gym.
That’s why targeted pelvic floor exercises — often called Kegel exercises — are so important.
Strong pelvic floor muscles help support your bladder, bowel and pelvic organs, while also helping improve core stability, continence and sexual wellbeing. Weak pelvic floor muscles can contribute to bladder leaks, prolapse symptoms and reduced pelvic support over time.
The key is learning how to correctly activate and train your pelvic floor muscles consistently. Like any fitness routine, results come with regular practice and the right technique.
At Kegel8, pelvic floor health is at the centre of everything we do. Our pelvic floor trainers and rehabilitation programmes are designed to help you strengthen weak muscles safely and effectively, whether you are recovering after childbirth, managing prolapse symptoms or improving long-term pelvic health.
Do Men Have a Pelvic Floor?
Yes — men have pelvic floor muscles too, and they are just as important.
The male pelvic floor supports the bladder and bowel, helps control continence and also plays an important role in sexual function and prostate health.
Pelvic floor weakness can affect men as well as women and may contribute to bladder leaks, erectile dysfunction, post-prostate surgery recovery and reduced core support.
Regular pelvic floor exercises can help men improve pelvic strength, bladder control and confidence at every stage of life.
Medical-grade devices such as the Kegel8 Ultra 20 Electronic Pelvic Floor Toner are designed specifically for safe and effective at-home pelvic floor rehabilitation. As a CE-marked medical device manufactured in line with MDR (Medical Device Regulation) standards, the Kegel8 Ultra 20 has been developed to support women experiencing bladder weakness, postpartum pelvic floor recovery, and menopause-related pelvic floor symptoms.
Sources
[3] Kegel, A. H. (1952). Ciba Clinical Symposia. Stress incontinence and genital relaxation; a nonsurgical method of increasing the tone of sphincters and their supporting structures. [online] 4(2), p 35-51 [viewed 12/05/2026]. Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14905555///
[4] Mittal, R. K. Raizada, V. (2008). Gastroenterology Clinics of North America. Pelvic Floor Anatomy and Applied Physiology. [online] 37(3), p 493-509. [viewed 12/05/2026]. Available from: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2617789/
[5] National Childbirth Trust. (27 April 2026). Pelvic floor exercises how-to guide: Pregnancy & beyond. [online] National Childbirth Trust, [viewed 12/05/2026]. Available from: https://www.nct.org.uk/information/pregnancy/body-pregnancy/pelvic-floor-and-stomach-exercises-pregnancy
[6] NICE. (2019). Urinary incontinence in women: management, 1 Recommendations [online] National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, 2019 [viewed 12/05/2026]. Available from: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng123
[7] Rahule, A. Sagdeo, V. Soni, N. (2015). Journal of Contemporary Medicine and Dentistry. Kegel exercise in Stress Incontinence. [online] 2(3), p 20-23. [viewed 12/05/2026]. Available from: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Evaluation-of-Effect-of-Kegel-Exercise-for-the-of-%2C-Soni-Rahule/20e26c8d8375900d97ab45d416870746afc85307?p2df
Comment
