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I'm two weeks out of surgery. My doctor gave me pelvic floor exercises to do. His instructions say: two times per day, do an isotonic exercise of contracting the proper muscle (I have found the muscle) for 2 to 3 minutes each, continuous contraction.
When I read the Johns Hopkins pelvic floor exercise materials, it instructs you in a different way, i.e. 3-4 times a day do ten+ reps where you contract and release every 5 seconds.
Any advice. Of course, I am quite anxious to overcome the incontinence issues as quickly as a can.
You will find that the pelvic floor muscles will not stay contracted for 2 to 3 minutes. This time length is unrealistic. You will never be able to hold it that long. It is better to do repeats of ten for 5 seconds. In my case I did one repeat of 10 but held the muscles contracted for as long as I could which eventually reaching 20 to 30 seconds. I did not time it. I just kept the contraction the muscles for as long as I could hold it. It will take some time to strengthen them and doing it 2 to 3 times a day will help to speed up that stengthening process.
Agreed that 2-3 minutes is not possible for just about ANY muscle. Note that in my case the ten reps several times a day lead to muscle "tiredness" until strength was achieved and after that time flow control was improved. Proper muscle isolation, strength and control requires some time. Again, same as for ANY muscle in the body.
