Post PT Pelvic Floor/Core Exercises

I'm one of the few on here that I've read about that used both a therapist and trainer. You tell your trainer exactly what you just asked "I want to strengthen my core with a focus on pelvic floor strengthening".

That being said, you should ask your trainer first if they have a specialty in pelvic floor work and what it is. You should know that most trainers at a gym are the lowest ranked of trainers, they tend to be the "blue light special" trainers and I find most aren't worth their salt. Ask around, and ask your therapist if they know any.

I was lucky that the trainer I've used for a very long time specialized in pelvic floor - it was for women after pregnancy but the rules applied and she took the extra time to talk to a pelvic floor therapist (which happened to be MY therapist) about any modifications recommended and then incorporated that into my routines.

What most of it boils down to is this: when you do your core exercises, put in pelvic floor engagement. For example, on squats you ENGAGE coming up from the squat (the hard part of the squat) and disengage going back down again. Remember to FULLY release, and take the extra time if you need to, and if you aren't sure - and you won't be after you hammer you floor like this - take a slow deep belly breath and it will release. Don't rush things, you need as much time resting between squats (or whatever) as you took engaging. It should be 1-for-1 timing - if it took you 5 seconds to come up from the squat while engaging then it should take you 5 to release/rest between.

Don't rush, I can't emphasize this enough. The mechanics of incorporating pelvic floor with core can be complicated and if you are used to an exercise already then it's twice as hard to focus on engagement.

Every movement that engages your core can engage your floor if you focus on it. But know that you will blow your muscles out very fast, you won't feel them engage anymore, and that's OK, you did your job. I found my floor would be toast after about 30 minutes of this type of exercise.

Good luck!

Survivor - did you find PT on your own or your Urologist gave you a referral ? I am asking since my husband contacted UCSF this morning and they said that they do PT AFTER the procedure *sigh . My husband is doing Kegels since April on his own and started with core in June but I thought some professional input would be desirable. We do not have a lot of disposable income so I am wondering if getting a referral BEFORE procedure is customary or not ?
Thanks in advance 🙂

I have had PT for other issues in the past. (elbows - knees). I have not been very satisfied. I had LARP 5 years ago. I am still incontinent even though I have worked on my kegels. I decided to have PT done at Mayo clinic to see if the exercises help and to learn how to do them from what I would consider the best. If it all possible I wanted to put off an AUS device. I go to the gym daily so I am working with my Mayo PT to help with exercises that I can incorporate into my workouts. I currently am doing both strength and cardio. I plan to go to about 6-10 sessions at Mayo and then just incorporate them myself. I dont really need a trainer for any help.

PT = personal trainer or pelvic floor therapist?

I found both on my own. My trainer I'd already known for years. The therapist was much more challenging, I called every one in town, booked appointments with every one in town to hedge my bets since they tend to be ultra booked for weeks or months and when I relayed this to my trainer she said that the one she worked with no only specialized in pelvic floor but mens pelvic floor and was a professor of it for a local college. She got me an intro, which led to an appointment within a week and it progressed from there.

Thanks Survivor :),
I was thinking about physical therapist and thanks for telling me how you found one < 3. It is the same here - a good physical therapy place is booked and usually not covered with mediocre health insurance plan like we have. It is United but we have super huge deductible :(. Without doctor's referral we would have to pay 100% of a bill. Rates here are from $160 to $300 an hour for specialized therapist. But what can one do - it is how it is ...

It seems that one can get referral only if there is a problem, as always, in the USA prevention does not exist as a concept, just expensive fixing of problems *eyeroll .

i had RARP in April, When I had my visit with the surgeon post surgery I asked for the PT referral at that time. I called the PT office and was able to schedule a series of 4 weekly appointments approximately 4 weeks later. She has been great. I just had a follow-up appointment with her today and confirmed a home care plan. It is very important that the PT you work with does have the experience working with prostate issues otherwise you might be wasting your time. I have also found Yoga with Adrian on YouTube specific to pelvic floor. most of those yoga moves are what the PT suggested anyway so it was confirmation that i was in the right direction. I think consistency is the key. Create the plan and stick to itregardless of how mundane it may feel. Celebrate the small wins.

Thanks Jjm - that is very encouraging to know that it is OK to start with professional PT after surgery. I will try to find that yoga YouTube today : ))), thanks so much the info.

I would think your deductible would be gone by now with all the CT's and MRI's and what-not, especially if treatment is planned this year.

That being said, I spent about $8K of my own money for the trainer (she's very good and quite expensive), but my rationale was that "I can't spend it if I'm dead and it's worth $8K to be continent and sexually able".

No judgement, but it was easy for me to decide to spend whatever it took to get through it all with as few side effects as I was able to control as possible.

I started pelvic floor PT 2 weeks ago before my surgery at the end of this month. I will also be doing more after my surgery. I'll let you know how effective the pre-surgery PT works is after my surgery.

Thanks for explaining your thinking and decision making < 3 . At the moment we are battling $5600 Decipher test fee, for some reason insurance decided not to cover it at the end. I guess our "great" urologist on purpose did not declare it necessary since we insisted on it and he told us that he does not think we need it. We have $2,500 deductible so at this point we are already approaching over $ 8,000 even without future possible costs for this year. Our insurance never covers 100% even after deductible. Our cards are maxed due to inflation and cost rise first during pandemic and now due to invented "measures". I had some health issues also this year, also have $2,500 deductible and actually I canceled my foot surgery because we will not be able to pay for it on top of everything. As people in my old country say: "One can stretch as much as a comforter allows ." 😉