Do you sit on the loo for more than 5 minutes?! (Don't read whilst eating!)

It can be a taboo subject to even start talking about the pelvic floor, but your bowel habits are extremely personal and something not likely to bring up in discussion, but maintaining healthy bowel habits will help prevent pelvic floor weakness.

Being constipated and pushing or straining to empty your bowels is known to cause weakness of the muscles of the pelvic floor. People commonly think about how often they open their bowels, but it is just as important to think about how easily you are able to pass a motion. With this in mind, you should not need to spend more than 5 minutes on the loo passing a motion. If you spend longer than 5 minutes, you would be wise to consider some lifestyle changes to help look after your pelvic floor.

Would you believe it? There is actually a chart to determine if your bowel movement is of the right consistency to make it easy to pass. To make life easy and have the least amount of strain on your pelvic floor you need to have a motion like type 4. Are you a type 4?