What exactly is the pelvic floor?
Your pelvic floor, which sits at the base of your pelvic girdle, is made up of a group of muscles, ligaments, tendons and fascia - the fibrous, connective tissue that runs throughout your entire body. All these parts work together to support your bladder, bowel and uterus, while keeping your core strong and intact.
Your pelvic floor is also responsible for many functions in your body such as the ability to ‘hold it in’ if you can’t get to a loo, supporting your pelvic organs and assisting with optimal sexual function.
During pregnancy, your pelvic floor works overtime to support your ever-changing weight, while the hormone relaxin softens and stretches the muscles, ligaments and tendons surrounding your baby to make space for a safe delivery. This can lead to a weak pelvic floor, which can sometimes last for months or even years after giving birth.
But it’s not all bad news. The pelvic floor is flexible and responsive to exercise, meaning that it can return to its former glory with a combination of pelvic floor exercises (or Kegels) and the right pelvic floor trainers.
What is a pelvic floor trainer?
Pelvic floor trainers are little pieces of equipment designed to fit safely into your vagina, much like a tampon. They’re made from materials such as stainless steel, silicone or BPA-free plastic, and come in different shapes and sizes depending on their function. For instance, some are ball-shaped which give the pelvic floor muscles something to grab onto, while others are cone- or egg-shaped for easier insertion.
If you don’t fancy the idea of inserting a gadget into your vagina, there are simple pelvic floor apps, such as the Squeezy app, which guide you through a series of manual exercises you do yourself.
In a nutshell, pelvic floor trainers help you to perform accurate Kegel exercises which can be difficult to master on your own. In fact, many women report being unable to do manual Kegels correctly.
Many of the latest pelvic floor trainers are interactive and offer useful biofeedback in real time as they’re connected to a mobile phone or a tablet. They offer the option of playing online games, setting workouts (with short and long squeezes) and tracking your progress. Some brands come with a gentle electrical muscle stimulation (EMS) mode that gently contracts and strengthens the pelvic floor muscles without you having to perform manual Kegels yourself.
Pelvic floor trainers can be useful in your postpartum recovery journey as they help to speed up healing after childbirth (provided you’ve been given the all-clear by your healthcare professional), prevent both stress and urinary incontinence as well as reduce the risk of pelvic prolapse. Better yet, they can help to increase sexual sensation as the pelvic floor relaxes and contracts during an orgasm. Need we say more?
In a bid to find the best pelvic floor trainers out there, we trawled the Mumsnet forums, read plenty of expert reviews and did a host of independent research to compile our top 10 list.
Is it too late to strengthen my pelvic floor?
It’s never too late to strengthen your pelvic floor because it’s essentially a group of muscles that will always benefit from being ‘worked’ or exercised correctly.
Studies show that pelvic floor muscle training is an effective treatment option for urinary incontinence amongst women aged between 40 and 85 years old. Committing to just five minutes of pelvic floor exercises a day can make a huge difference.
How to train your pelvic floor muscles
When it comes to toning and strengthening your pelvic floor muscles, performing regular Kegel exercises is your best bet. The Mayo Clinic outlines a few simple steps to perform a manual Kegel exercise:
Start by stopping your urination midstream. This will help to identify your pelvic floor muscles.
Once you’re confident that you know where your pelvic floor muscles are, find a comfortable position. Most people find it easiest to lie down.
To master a Kegel (pull up and hold), imagine that you’re sitting on a marble. Then, tighten your pelvic muscles as if you’re trying to lift the marble up. Hold for three seconds, then relax for three seconds.
Focus on tightening your pelvic floor muscles without flexing the muscles in your thighs, buttocks or tummy. Also avoid holding your breath. Try to breathe freely throughout the exercises.
Ideally you want to repeat these exercises three times a day. Aim for three sets of 10 to 15 repetitions per day.
You could also imagine that your pelvic floor is a lift that goes up and down. Start by contracting just a little (20 percent) to reach the first floor, then contract a little more (40 percent) to reach the second floor, and finally, contract even more until you reach the top floor. Then, come back down, stopping gently contracting again at each floor.
It’s also worth trying pelvic floor contractions. Here’s how:
Sit or lie down flat on your back.
Inhale and allow your ribs to expand and your belly and pelvic floor to relax and stretch out gently.
Now, as you exhale, activate the pelvic floor and lower abdomen.
Inhale and relax the pelvic floor, then exhale and tighten the pelvic floor.
This is the simplest way to make a pelvic floor contraction more dynamic while incorporating surrounding structures into the move. All the pelvic floor trainers on our list are designed to help you master Kegels without much effort.
Do pelvic floor trainers really work?
While there aren’t many conclusive studies on the subject, some smaller studies show that pelvic floor trainers help up to 50 percent of women who find pelvic floor exercises or Kegels difficult to master with written instructions alone.
Other studies have also found that women who were given verbal cues or biofeedback on their pelvic floor regimen showed significant improvement with urinary incontinence issues than those who did manual Kegels without it.
Before trying a pelvic floor trainer, it’s important to see a gynaecologist or healthcare professional who can assess the extent of your pelvic floor weakness, in order to determine the best routine to follow.
Which pelvic floor trainer is best?
According to our research, the best pelvic floor trainer is the Kegel8 Tight and Tone Electronic Pelvic Toner. It’s shown fast, promising results for most users, is simple to use and good value for money. It delivers targeted exercises to treat a range of pelvic floor problems and has been proven to restore pelvic muscle function even if they’re too weak to do traditional 'squeeze and release' Kegel exercises.
How we chose our recommendations
We scoured Mumsnet forums to find out which pelvic floor trainers our users rate highly - and which ones they weren’t impressed by. We also consulted independent review sites and took note of what they looked for in pelvic floor trainers and which brands they were recommending to their readers.
Finally, we collated all that information and then looked at other online reviews to see which pelvic floor trainers had received the best recommendations.
Why you should trust us
We work hard to provide unbiased, independent advice you can trust. We do sometimes earn revenue through affiliate (click-to-buy) links in our articles. This helps us fund more helpful articles like this one.
About the authors
Mum-of-one Tammy Jacks has 15+ years' experience in the publishing industry, enjoying a long and fruitful career as Managing Editor and Health & Beauty Editor for Woman & Home magazine in South Africa. She later went on to become Assistant Editor of popular South African parenting title Living and Loving, and has written for numerous lifestyle publications including Oprah Mag SA, Health Intelligence, Your Family, Longevity and pharmaceutical company Clicks Clubcard Magazine, as well as edited books for popular fitness influencers and health professionals.
Jenny Wonnacott has been working as a Content Editor for Mumsnet since 2022 with a particular focus on pregnancy, child and baby care product guides, articles and reviews. As a mum of three, Jenny has extensive hands-on experience in all of the Mumsnet content she writes about. She is passionate about sourcing, testing and thoroughly researching the products which make every stage of parenting easier, from the best pregnancy pillow to the most reassuring baby monitor as well as top kids' toys, games and tech.