If I had a pound for every time someone told me “I do my Kegels every day” as if that alone should have fixed their leaking, heaviness or pain, I could probably retire early.

Kegels (the classic pelvic floor squeeze-and-lift exercise) have become the default answer to almost any pelvic floor symptom.

Leaking? Do more Kegels.

Prolapse? Do more Kegels.

Pain during intimacy? Still, somehow, do more Kegels.

But here’s the thing I want every mum reading this to understand: a pelvic floor that is too tight can cause exactly the same symptoms as one that is too weak. And if you’re doing endless Kegels on top of a pelvic floor that’s already over-tightened, you could actually be making things worse.

Let’s talk about the half of the pelvic floor story that rarely gets airtime.

Your Pelvic Floor Needs to Do Two Jobs, Not One

We tend to talk about the pelvic floor purely in terms of strength — squeeze, lift, hold, repeat. But a healthy pelvic floor isn’t just strong; it’s functional, meaning it can do two equally important things:

• Contract — to support your organs, control your bladder and bowel, and provide stability during effort like lifting, sneezing or exercise
• Relax and lengthen fully — to allow you to empty your bladder and bowel properly, to move without restriction, and (for many women) for comfortable intimacy

A pelvic floor that can contract but can’t fully release is not a healthy pelvic floor, it’s simply dysfunctional in a different direction. This is often called an overactive, hypertonic, or non-relaxing pelvic floor, and it’s far more common than most women realise, particularly after pregnancy, birth, or periods of high stress.

What Does an Overactive Pelvic Floor Look Like?

This is where it gets confusing, because many of the symptoms of a tight pelvic floor overlap almost exactly with the symptoms of a weak one:

• Urinary urgency or leaking — a pelvic floor that’s chronically tight can actually become fatigued and less responsive, leading to leaks
• A feeling of heaviness or pressure, even without prolapse
• Constipation or a sense of incomplete bowel emptying, because the muscles won’t fully let go to allow a full, relaxed emptying
• Pain during intimacy, or difficulty using tampons
• Lower back, hip or pelvic pain, particularly around the tailbone or pubic bone
• A persistent feeling of tension in the pelvic area, even at rest

If any of this sounds familiar and you’ve been diligently doing Kegels without any improvement (or your symptoms have actually got worse) an overactive pelvic floor could well be part of the picture.

Why This Happens So Often After Birth

There are a few common reasons a pelvic floor becomes overactive, especially in postnatal women:

• Guarding after birth trauma or tearing: if you’ve experienced pain, stitches or a difficult delivery, it’s completely natural for your body to unconsciously “brace” the area, and that protective tension can become a habit that lingers long after healing.
• Compensating for a weak core: when your deep abdominals aren’t pulling their weight, your pelvic floor and back muscles often over-grip to compensate for the missing support.
• Chronic stress and holding patterns: many women unconsciously clench their pelvic floor the same way they might clench their jaw, especially during periods of anxiety, exhaustion or “always on” motherhood mode.

Doing Kegels as a default without ever addressing relaxation: if every pelvic floor exercise you’ve ever been given is a squeeze-and-hold, and you’re doing dozens of them a day, you’re training strength without ever training release.

So Should You Stop Doing Kegels?

Not necessarily, but you shouldn’t be doing them blindly, either. The honest answer is that more Kegels is not automatically better, and for a significant number of women, they’re not even the right starting point.

This is exactly why I always recommend a pelvic health physiotherapy assessment before diving into a generic pelvic floor programme. A physio can assess whether your pelvic floor muscles are actually able to fully relax as well as contract, and tailor your plan accordingly. Doing the wrong exercises for your particular pelvic floor pattern can delay your recovery, or mask the real issue.

What Actually Helps an Overactive Pelvic Floor?

If tightness and tension are part of your picture, the focus needs to shift from squeezing harder to releasing well and restoring rhythm to the whole system. In my classes, this often includes:

• Diaphragmatic breathing: learning to breathe in a way that allows your pelvic floor to fully lengthen on the inhale and gently lift on the exhale, rather than staying gripped throughout
• Full-body relaxation and mobility work: particularly through the hips, glutes and lower back, since tension here is closely linked to pelvic floor tension
• Down-training exercises: deliberately practising letting go and releasing the pelvic floor, not just contracting it
• Addressing the whole “canister”: working your deep abdominals, diaphragm and pelvic floor as one coordinated system, rather than isolating the pelvic floor with endless squeezes.
• Nervous system support: because chronic tension is so often linked to stress, slowing down and creating deep rest matters just as much as the physical exercises.

This is the whole-body, breath-led approach I bring to every class at Centred Mums because pelvic floor health was never really about one muscle group doing one movement over and over. It’s about the whole system working together, in both directions.

The Bottom Line

Strength matters, but it’s only ever half the story. A pelvic floor that can grip but never let go is just as much a red flag as one that leaks, and piling on more Kegels without understanding which pattern you actually have can leave you stuck — or make things worse.

If you’ve been doing “all the right things” and still aren’t seeing progress, it might be time to look beyond the standard advice. Please know: nothing is TMI here.

The best first step is a proper assessment with a women’s health physio or osteopath to understand exactly what your pelvic floor is doing — and then I can help you build the right movement plan around it. Explore my in-person Pilates classes in St Albans, join The Centred Mums Collective online, or grab my free pelvic floor health download to get started today.

Your guide to moving safely and confidently through pregnancy – trimester by trimester.

Pregnancy (and motherhood!) is one long, wonderful lesson in adaptation. Your body is changing week by week, and so is the way you should move it. If you’ve ever finished a workout wondering “was that actually okay for me to do?”, you are not alone, and you’re in exactly the right place.

At Centred Mums, we support women through pregnancy exercise every single day, whether that’s in our prenatal Pilates classes in St Albans or through our online programmes. Here’s a friendly, trimester-by-trimester guide to what typically changes in your body and how to modify your movement to match it.

First Trimester (Weeks 1–12): Listen More Than You Push

The first trimester is often the most deceptive one, because on the outside very little has changed – but on the inside, everything has. Hormones like relaxin and progesterone are already beginning to rise, energy levels can dip dramatically, and nausea or fatigue may make even your usual routine feel like a big ask.

What’s changing:

• Fatigue and morning sickness are common and very real
• Your abdominals are working hard to protect a rapidly developing baby
• Blood volume is increasing, which can affect stamina

What to modify:

• Give yourself permission to slow down or take rest days – this is not the time to chase personal bests
• Avoid overheating; keep workouts at a comfortable intensity and stay hydrated
• Start paying attention to your breath and pelvic floor connection now, so it becomes second nature later
• If you’re new to exercise, prenatal Pilates is a gentle, safe way to begin building strength from the ground up
• If you’re already exercising you can continue with your usual routine (unless it involves overheating in something like hot yoga) but listen to your body – if you feel like you need to take a step back then do!

Second Trimester (Weeks 13–27): The Sweet Spot — With a Few New Considerations

Many women feel their best during the second trimester – nausea eases, energy returns, and the bump is visible but not yet restrictive. It’s a great window to build strength and flexibility, but your body is quietly shifting in ways that matter for how you move.

What’s changing:

• Your growing bump shifts your centre of gravity, affecting balance and posture
•  Relaxin continues to loosen ligaments around your joints and pelvis
• The abdominal wall begins to stretch, and some women notice the first signs of abdominal separation (diastasis recti)

What to modify:

• From around 16 weeks, avoid lying flat on your back for extended periods – try semi-reclined or side-lying positions instead
• Steer clear of exercises that create excessive doming or bulging through the midline; this is where pregnancy-specific Pilates really earns its keep, teaching you how to work your core without straining it
• Be cautious with deep twisting or high-impact movements as your joints become more mobile
• Focus on pelvic floor and deep abdominal connection – this is the foundation for a smoother birth and postnatal recovery

Third Trimester (Weeks 28–40+): Preparing the Body for Birth

As your due date approaches, movement becomes less about building and more about preparing, releasing tension, and staying comfortable.

What’s changing:

• Your bump is now significantly affecting your posture, balance and breathing capacity
• The pelvic floor is under increasing pressure as baby grows and descends
• Ligament laxity is at its highest, and many women feel achy hips, backs and pelvises

What to modify:

• Prioritise pelvic floor relaxation as much as strengthening – an overly tense pelvic floor can make your birth more difficult
• Slow down; wide, controlled movements are more suitable than fast or ballistic ones
• Use props and modifications generously – this is exactly what a specialist prenatal Pilates teacher can support you with
• Keep breathing at the centre of every session; it connects you to your body and calms your nervous system ahead of birth

The Golden Rule Through Every Trimester

Whatever stage you’re at, the same principle holds true: **your body is not the same body you exercised in last month, so don’t expect it to move the same way.** Pregnancy exercise isn’t about pushing through, it’s about tuning in.

This is exactly why generic workouts don’t always serve pregnant bodies well, and why pregnancy-specific movement matters so much. At Centred Mums, every class is designed around what your body actually needs – supporting your pelvic floor, protecting your abdominal muscles, and helping you feel strong, capable and connected right through to birth and beyond.

Ready to move through your pregnancy with confidence? Explore our Pregnancy Pilates classes in St Albans or get in touch to find the right fit for you — nothing is TMI.

One of the most-asked postnatal questions!

If you’ve been Googling “when can I start exercising after birth” at 2am during a feed, first of all – hello, I see you, and welcome. This is one of the questions I get asked most often at Centred Mums, and the honest answer is: it depends on you, your birth, and your body but there’s a gentle, supportive path to get you there safely.

There’s No Single Magic Date

You may have heard “wait until your 8-week check” and that’s a sensible general guideline, especially as a green light from your GP or midwife that nothing needs further investigation. But your 6-week check is a starting point for a conversation, not a starting gun for a 5k. Every postnatal body is recovering from something significant, whether that was a straightforward vaginal delivery, an assisted delivery, or a caesarean birth, and each of these comes with its own healing timeline.

What’s Actually Healing After Birth

However you gave birth, a huge amount of internal healing is happening that you can’t see:

Your pelvic floor has supported the weight of a full-term pregnancy and, if you had a vaginal delivery, has been significantly stretched (and possibly torn or grazed) during birth

Your abdominal muscles have separated to accommodate your growing baby and need time and the right kind of movement to reconnect

If you had a caesarean, you’re recovering from major abdominal surgery, and your scar tissue needs time to heal and regain mobility

Your ligaments and joints are still under the influence of pregnancy hormones for some time after birth, particularly if breastfeeding

This is exactly why returning to exercise isn’t about waiting for a specific week number and then leaping back into your pre-baby routine — it’s about rebuilding from the inside out.

A Gentle Roadmap

In the very early days (week 1 onwards)

Gentle walking and simple breathing and pelvic floor reconnection exercises are usually appropriate for most women, as guided by your midwife or a postnatal specialist. This is about reconnecting, not training.

From around 6 weeks (with the go-ahead from your GP).

This is often when women can begin more structured postnatal-specific movement — think gentle abdominal and pelvic floor rehabilitation, not high-intensity workouts. A specialist postnatal Pilates class is one of the best places to start, because it’s designed specifically to rebuild deep abdominal and pelvic floor strength progressively and safely.

From 3 months onwards

For many women, this is when higher-impact activities like running CAN start to be reintroduced — but only once you’ve built a solid foundation of core and pelvic floor strength, and ideally after being assessed by a pelvic health professional. Returning to running too soon, before your pelvic floor and core can properly support the impact, is one of the most common causes of ongoing symptoms like leaking or heaviness down the line.

My honest advice is that unless you have been REALLY on top of your rehabilitation and were already really strong beforehand, three months is too early to be doing high impact exercise. I tend to think that a realistic timeframe for most people is closer to six months because then your body has had longer to heal and you have had more time to do the ground work in strengthening yourself.

Recovery isn’t linear, and it isn’t the same for everyone. Some women need longer before impact exercise feels right for their body, and that’s completely okay.

The Signs to Watch For

Whatever stage you’re at, these are signals that you may be doing too much, too soon:

• Leaking during or after exercise
• A feeling of heaviness, dragging or bulging in the pelvis
• Doming or bulging through your abdomen
• Ongoing back, hip or pelvic pain
• Increased bleeding after exercise (postnatally)

None of these mean something is “wrong” with you – they mean your body is asking you to build your foundation a little more before adding load but they are all worth seeking support from a specialist physio to help you work correctly.

Why Postnatal-Specific Pilates Matters

This is where Centred Mums comes in. Postnatal Pilates isn’t the same as general fitness – it’s a specific, progressive process of reconnecting to your breath, rebuilding your deep abdominals and pelvic floor, closing abdominal separation, and gradually reintroducing load in a way your body can actually handle. It’s the bridge between “cleared to exercise” and “ready for high impact” and it makes all the difference to how you feel, both now and for years to come.

You don’t have to figure this out alone, and you certainly don’t have to just accept leaking, heaviness or pain as the new normal.

Ready to start your postnatal recovery the right way?

Explore our Pilates for New Mums classes in St Albans  or get in touch  – we’d love to support you.