Do you suffer from lower abdominal heaviness and a feeling of pelvic heaviness while sitting after a day at work?
Despite doing strengthening exercises at home, intimate fatigue still sets in when you spend several hours in a fixed sitting position. While this problem primarily concerns women, men can also be prone to pelvic floor weakness.
This sensation is the result of a normal biomechanism in cases of sedentary behavior: prolonged sitting on a standard office chair creates abdominal pressure that fatigues the pelvic floor.
In this article, we explain how to optimize your seating to protect your perineum at the office.
Pelvic heaviness at the end of the day: what is your pelvis going through at the office?
The phenomenon of abdominal hyperpressure (The piston effect)
Feeling pelvic pain on an office chair after sitting for 8 hours is the result of abdominal hyperpressure.
Sitting at a 90° angle on your office chair or hunching your torso forward compresses the abdominal cavity. This continuous pressure mechanically pushes the organs downward, crushing the perineal muscle; hence this pelvic heaviness at the end of the day.
The deactivation of the transverse muscle on a rigid chair
The transverse muscle is part of the deep abdominal belt, acting as the body's natural corset and helping to support the organs.
If you remain seated, leaning back in a standard office chair, your abdominal muscles deactivate, leaving the perineum to bear the entire weight of gravity alone.
This continuous and increased pressure on the perineal muscle net eventually weakens the pelvic floor.
Why are floor exercises not enough against 40 hours of sedentary behavior?
Sedentary behavior and the perineum do not mix well. The strain felt in the pelvis after 8 hours of sitting is evidence of the passive mechanical crushing to which the pelvic floor is subjected. This constant pressure negates the effects of perineal rehabilitation and strengthening exercises done at home.
So, how can you limit hyperpressure to protect your perineum and avoid this pelvic heaviness at the end of the day?
How to decompress the pelvic area at your workstation?
The key to limiting pressure on the pelvic area while sitting is to ensure you adopt good posture. Here are some exercises to relieve the perineum during workdays.
Stabilize and keep the pelvis neutral
Among common posture mistakes at the office, failing to stabilize the pelvis is the most common. A pelvis in retroversion rolled onto the tailbone, crossed legs, and a hunched back with the head tilted forward are all bad habits to be banned at the office.
To avoid overloading the pelvic floor, it is necessary to keep the pelvis neutral with a straight back, neither too arched nor in retroversion. In this position, the deep muscles of the abdominal belt can play their role as pelvic stabilizers.
Adjust seat height to open the hip angle
Adopting an ergonomic posture at the office involves adjusting your seat height.
Position your chair to open your hips, keeping your knees slightly lower than your pelvis. In this way, the abdomino-pelvic angle is greater than 90° and releases the pressure exerted on the lower abdomen.
Keep feet flat on the floor to limit tension
Feet placed flat on the floor help distribute weight and stabilize the pelvis.
Conversely, crossing your legs or letting your feet dangle creates an imbalance in the pelvis, which forces the pelvic floor to compensate unnecessarily to hold the torso upright.
Adopt self-lengthening to reactivate deep muscles
How you sit influences the weight exerted on the pelvic floor. A scientific study illustrates this idea well: the more you straighten up while seated, the lower the load on the perineal muscles.
To optimize the alignment of your torso, stretch the top of your head upward, as if you had a marionette string above your head. This postural reflex naturally re-tightens the transverse muscle and relieves the pelvic organs.
Free your diaphragm through breathing
Lengthening the torso goes hand-in-hand with fuller breathing.
In this exercise, the goal is to open the rib cage to free the diaphragm, abdominal muscles, and the pelvic floor. In this way, you achieve full respiratory movements and better load distribution.
Be careful, however, not to "suck in your stomach"! This reflex of compressing the abdomen can block breathing.
How to strengthen your perineum while seated?
Here are some exercises to strengthen your perineum while sitting, to be done discreetly at the office, in the car, or at home.
The voluntary orifice contraction exercise (Seated Kegel method)
Strengthening your perineum at the office can become child's play once you have acquired the right reflexes.
To contract your perineum while sitting in your chair, you must sit with your back straight and your feet flat on the floor. Then, simply imagine holding in gas or a need to urinate; squeeze for 5 to 10 seconds and release. Repeat the contractions 10 times.
Be careful to squeeze without holding your breath or tensing your gluteal muscles.
If possible, perform this Kegel exercise 3 times a day to maintain a strong, muscular perineum.
Diaphragmatic aspiration in a seated position
It is important to learn to combine breathing and perineal contraction to protect the pelvic floor on a daily basis. Incorrect breathing, such as pushing your stomach out and pushing downward, puts pressure on the pelvic floor.
The diaphragm and perineum are linked by a back-and-forth movement that coordinates breathing, like a piston system.
During a deep inhalation, the diaphragm, located at the top of the abdomino-pelvic cavity, descends, and the perineum, which is at the bottom, relaxes.
When you exhale while bringing your navel up toward your ribs, the diaphragm moves back up and the perineum contracts.
Training rhythm at the office
It is obvious that a woman who has just given birth or who suffers from incontinence has greater needs than a person without symptoms. In case of difficulties, perineal rehabilitation with a professional is highly recommended.
Otherwise, regular training can help maintain a strong pelvic floor that effectively supports the organs. You can perform these seated perineum exercises at the office. Performing 3 sets of 10 contractions per day is generally enough to guarantee effective muscle strengthening.
The Bloon active seat: tone and preserve your perineum without even thinking about it
Rather than sitting on a rigid chair for hours, choose active seating on a ball chair at the office. Without even realizing it, sitting on a ball helps work your deep muscles, especially those of the pelvic floor.
The ball chair induces a micro-core reflex of the transverse and abdominal muscles that wakes up your perineum
The ergonomic Bloon ball chair was designed by an osteopath to combat sedentary behavior. Unlike passive seating on a standard office chair, dynamic sitting on a ball engages the pelvic stabilizing muscles.
Thanks to its slightly unstable support that requires micro-adjustments, the ball induces an unconscious core reflex in the abdominal belt, the large transverse, and the perineum.
Sitting on a ball facilitates pelvic mobility and promotes blood circulation
The benefits of sitting on a ball are multiple: in addition to engaging the perineum and all the deep muscles, the freedom of movement offered on a ball chair allows you to mobilize your pelvis throughout the day.
These constant micromovements are effective for activating blood circulation and avoiding congestion. Forget heavy legs, tingling, and sensations of pelvic heaviness during prolonged sitting!
A Bloon ball is discreet and does not draw attention, even in a company setting
If you are looking for a ball chair that is both ergonomic and stylish, Bloon seems to tick all the boxes to meet your needs.
The elegant and modern design of the Bloon ball chair in high-end fabric, available in a wide variety of colors, allows it to be easily integrated into your office decor. Far from the neon plastic gym ball, your ball chair becomes a full-fledged piece of furniture that adds style to your workspace.
For optimal comfort and safety, the Bloon Active Seat™ has been designed with a weighted anti-roll base. Not only do you benefit from increased stability, but there is also no risk of your ball rolling around the room.
Conclusion
Perineal rehabilitation and perineal muscle strengthening exercises are excellent ways to get a rock-solid pelvic floor.
However, too long a period of immobility, such as remaining in a static sitting position all day at the office, negates the beneficial effects of perineum strengthening exercises.
Sitting on a ball can therefore be a solution to complement daily perineal contractions. Thanks to its slightly unstable base, the Bloon ball chair allows you to integrate constant micromovements into your daily work life. Without even realizing it, this dynamic seat activates the deep muscles of the abdominal belt and the pelvic floor.