The Healthy Post Natal Body Podcast
The Healthy Post Natal Body Podcast
Pelvic Floor Recovery: Why Online Programs Won't Work
On this week's "from the vault" episode;
A relatively short podcast. I mainly talk about why a program to heal your pelvic floor can not really be done/purchased online where as a program to heal Diastasis Recti can.
There are some excellent pelvic floor specialists on Instagram and a lot of the information they give is very useful however I personally wouldn't recommend you invest in any of their programs without a physical examination first.
In the news this week I briefly talk about an article one of my clients sent me. This article from the BBC about safety levels for PFAS, ( Perfluoroalkyl substances), of UK drinking water. I am trying to find someone to come onto the podcast and talk about householdchemicals, PFAs included, but still thought I'd mention it.
The article is based on this episode of the, excellent, "Costing the Earth" program on BBC Radio4. Do check it out if you're UK based,
Reminder; HPNB still only has 5 billing cycles.
So this means that you not only get 3 months FREE access, no obligation!
BUT, if you decide you want to do the rest of the program, after only 5 months of paying $10/£8 a month you now get FREE LIFE TIME ACCESS! That's $50 max spend, in case you were wondering.
Though I'm not terribly active on Instagram and Facebook you can follow us there. I am however active on Threads so find me there!
And, of course, you can always find us on our YouTube channel if you like your podcast in video form :)
Visit healthypostnatalbody.com and get 3 months completely FREE access. No sales, no commitment, no BS.
Email peter@healthypostnatalbody.com if you have any questions, comments or want to suggest a guest.
If you could rate the podcast on your favourite platform that would be a big help.
Hey, welcome to the Healthy Postnatal Body Podcast with your postnatal expert, peter Lap. That, as always, would be me. This is the podcast. For what is it? The 28th of September 2025. That means from the vault.
Peter:Last week I did an episode about fertility with Dr Aumatma Simmons, which was absolutely wonderful. I really enjoyed talking to her this week from the vault. Next week I'll do another interview and then I'm from the vault and then we'll do a Q&A. So get your questions in Peter at HealthyPostnatalBodycom. I know I'll only do a Q&A, like once every two months or so now, but you know we're covering loads of ground anyways. Anywho, this is a From the Vault episode where I speak about the importance of getting a pelvic floor exam done and why you cannot buy a pelvic floor recovery program online. It cannot be done on the internets and on social media and all that sort of stuff, and hardly any of them actually sell pelvic floor recovery programs because it's just too complex. So long story short don't buy a pelvic floor program online because the pelvic floor is too complex and it's too individualized. It's not like diastasis rectum, where everything is kind of falls into three or four categories. Pelvic floor issues can be many, many, many, many, many, many, many. Anyways, I promise you there's more to this episode than that, but that's what we're talking about pelvic floor. So, without further ado, here we go. Hey, welcome to the Healthy Postnatal Body Podcast for the 20th of March 2022.
Peter:Time flies, doesn't it? I mean, school holiday is about to start. How much fun is that going to be? You can tell I'm in a good mood and I'll tell you why that is Because you really care. A it's sunny outside, which really helps improve my mood. B Kitty is absolutely crushing it. Little Kitty is really crushing her recovery from being a puppy farm dog and is now a good walking, beautiful little, teezy, weezy, right Friendly with all other puppies, still scared of people, but she's doing really, really well and she had her first ever long, long walk with me yesterday. My dogs get long, long walks, uh, and it was one hour 40 minutes and the poor thing is still recovering from it. One hour 40 minutes in the sun, on the beach you can't beat that. Um, I hope you're well. I hope you're doing okay. Oh, another reason I'm in a good mood. I have a new chair, so there should be less creaking, which is nice, and it means my bum bum hurts less if I sit on the chair for a few hours, which I tend to do. So you know why would I not be in a good mood? Like I said, I hope you're well. I hope you're taking care of yourself.
Peter:I had an email this week because this is what we're talking about. I had an email this week about someone got in touch saying hey, pete, I have some issues with my pelvic floor. I've never really recovered from it. Can you recommend an online pelvic floor program? Because at HPMB, at HealthyPosnatalBodycom, obviously I don't really do much on the pelvic floor other than you know. See if a women's health specialist or women's pelvic floor physio, do your kegel exercises and use a core breath which obviously comes from straight up the pelvic floor, rather than diaphragmatic breathing and all that sort of stuff which doesn't.
Peter:Um, I still believe my way is better. By the way, I'm still to come across anyone that has managed to convince me otherwise. So to recommend the pelvic floor program is tricky. I know I did an episode on the pelvic floor quite a while ago where I explained just how complex the pelvic floor quite a while ago, where I explained just how complex the pelvic floor is, and this is why you can do a recovery program for almost all areas of the body, except for an online recovery program, except for the pelvic floor and potentially lower back and all that sort of thing without a physical examination.
Peter:You know, of course, at Healthy Postnatal Body we have in the program there's a standard disclaimer mainly for Americans, so you guys don't sue me, right the standard disclaimer that it would help if you get checked out by a GP or a specialist before you start any sort of exercise program. Now, that is not just so that my insurance company still likes me, that is, to pick up on any bits and bobs that you have missed. Likes me, that is to pick up on any bits and bobs that you have missed. Right, you could have one or two injuries you're not really aware of. That might impact your recovery. Now, like I said, that is usually just a statement that's in there to keep you from suing people.
Peter:However, when it comes to the pelvic floor and lower back, that to some extent, when it comes to the pelvic floor, that really, really matters, because the pelvic floor is such a complex area and most people don't really know how it should feel like if you have, um, if you have diastasis recti. Right to stick to. Uh, stick to the subject. If you have diastasis recti, you kind of know whether your core is working or not and you know which bits of your core are working or not. You either have muscle engagement or you don't. You have diastasis recti. The gap appears in certain places or it's everywhere, so it's above navel or below navel or it's completely open. You'll feel better. The muscles are working when you place your hand on it. So it's fairly easy to diagnose.
Peter:The problem with the pelvic floor is, first of all, it's a complex area of the body, much more complex than the core is much more complex. And secondly, most people are not aware how it should feel. Most people will feel most women, especially guys, are screwed with the pelvic floor. They have no idea how it should feel, but it's. Most women can sense something is different postpartum, but they can't quite put their finger on it, so to speak. And because there aren't that many areas to the pelvic floor that could be causing a problem, it becomes a bit trickier to self-diagnose. And this is why, unless you know what the dysfunction is, you can't really repair the problem, as I always, always, always talk about.
Peter:As I always say if you don't know what a is, you can't plan the route to b. Right, and I know those of you listening who've listened before and who listen regularly will be aware that I always say this If you travel to Manchester, it matters whether you start from Glasgow or you start from Edinburgh, but for Americans out there, if you go to New York, it matters whether you start from Chicago or San Francisco. And the Sartnav plots a different route and I know all you Americans are thinking Jesus, you jackass. You didn't need to specify that. We understood what you meant. You didn't have to bring American cities into it. But you know, I'm that kind of guy, I'm inclusive. So unless you know what your A is, you don't know how to get to B.
Peter:And for diastasis recta, a is very obvious. The solution is also very obvious. A well-designed postpartum program for diastasis recti kind of covers all the bases. It means that you have to put a little. The people creating the program have to put a bit more thought and effort into it, which is why you should only work with people that know what they're talking about and not that know how to plan these things, such as you know, me and one or two other people that I could mention, but I don't um. But you know a well-designed program for diastasis recti covers above navel, below navel and completely open, and we make sure that everything gets hit a little bit. We cover the muscle activation part so that everything above navel, below navel, activates properly, and that's where we start, and we make sure that after the first four to six weeks at least, everything is firing up the way it should. That's fairly straightforward to plan. That is not that difficult to do. It really really isn't.
Peter:Once you know what you're talking about, you can just get that done. Any pelvic floor specialist will tell you that that is also the case with the pelvic floor. But you need a physical examination first to determine what works and what functions and what doesn't, let me put it that way. So you need someone who knows what they're talking about, to have a look, so to speak, to check under the bonnet and say, okay, is this muscle doing what it's supposed to do? You know that interview I did with Jessica Marie, the running interview that I did with her about the psoas and all that sort of stuff.
Peter:Most people don't really have a clue how their psoas should feel. They kind of just know that this is Jessica Marie Rose. Yeah, they kind of just know that they should be able to do certain things, but they don't know that it's a psoas Within the pelvic floor. Most women, most people in general, but most women don't really know how it should feel at the best of times, let alone postpartum, and then if you don't know how it should feel, you still don't really know which muscle does what and which muscle should do what. It's a fair.
Peter:Like I said, it's a complex bit, so you really need an expert to have a look at this, and an expert any pelvic floor physio, pelvic health physio, a women's health physio will say okay, I know where we are and I know how now to get to be, I know what the issue is and I know how to fix it. You can't do that online because you can't self-diagnose and the people who try to sell you this stuff online and I've seen a few recently they just give you a generic program, as in this will help, and that is just not really how the pelvic floor works. A generic apologies, generic apologies. A generic program just has you wasting your time, and that is usually the biggest concern that I come across for any sort of professionals.
Peter:If you are, say, three, four, five, six months postpartum, you're still very much in that recovery stage where your body is really quite keen to get back to functionality and all that sort of stuff and dysfunction. So muscles not working properly, that's what I mean when I say dysfunction. Um, dysfunction isn't like built into the system yet. Uh, other muscles aren't overcompensating and all that sort of thing, whereas if you're 10 years down the line and then you try to get this thing fixed, a lot of muscle, you have a bit of muscle wastage. So not only dysfunction, but muscles. If you don't use them, you lose them, so to speak, or kind of they get a lot weaker anyways and other muscles really start to compensate and then you're building a lot of dysfunction and imbalance into the system, which will need an awful lot more work, right? So if you don't know what's wrong at the beginning, then all the exercises you're doing afterwards you're kind of just getting your way from A to B and chances are you're missing something because it's so complex. So please don't waste your time.
Peter:On online pelvic floor systems Interview I did a long, long, long time ago with Bio something or other. I will link to it. I will link to it in the podcast description as well. If you're watching this on YouTube, I'll have one of those little pop-up-y things with the link to the podcast episode. I just can't remember the tears, the pelvic floor exit thing we did. That stuff works, but it only works after an examination, right, and that's also what the lady and this really annoys me now that I didn't look that up. It's because I'm a jackass, I know this that I didn't like. I said that I didn't look it up. But the lady also said and she really knows what she's talking about get the, get the examination done first before you buy these products, because you might be buying the wrong thing, and that is kind of how you need to view these things.
Peter:So don't buy any online programs for pelvic floor. Just see a specialist and have them write you out a program. They're not that expensive. Pelvic floor programs online. I've seen them go from 60 to 150 pounds or from what is that? 90 to 200 bucks, um, and it's usually just as cheap, so to speak, to make an appointment with a pelvic floor specialist. Um, it's actually most pelvic floor specialists are nowhere near that expensive. Get a little program from them and then have a a follow-up visit a month or two down the line, during which you get new exercises and all that sort of stuff. Um, that is how how I would do it. There is just no point in buying an online program.
Peter:With regards to if you want to follow people on the internet and all that sort of stuff, claire Bourne is obviously one of those people who's phenomenal. She's a pelvic floor physio and she really knows what she's talking about and she doesn't do it in an oversimplified way, right she? Because it's so complex, it's very tempting to fall into black and white solutions and only present those. Claire doesn't do that and she's really, like I said, she's excellent at that sort of stuff. In fact, I should invite her onto the podcast at some stage of proceeding. Anyways, don't waste your money. That's all I'm saying on that particular subject.
Peter:Briefly, in the news this week, I said 15 minutes for the pelvic floor. I think that's long enough considering how little I have to say about it. In the news this week, briefly, an article that one of my clients sent me, an article from the BBC about safety levels for PFAs in UK drinking water. Now I'm trying to get somebody on the podcast to talk about household chemicals and PFAs and all that sort of stuff. There are a lot of.
Peter:It turns out that those crazy people you know that we laughed at five, six, seven, eight years ago the crunchy people that you only use like apple vinegar to clean with turns out they were right. It's insane. My clients who I see regularly, send me this thing, and you know the PFA levels in the UK are significantly higher, especially in certain areas. I'm trying to get in touch with the BBC journalist that wrote about this, liana Hosea. I might be mispronouncing that. She presented an excellent bit with another journalist called Rachel Salvage on BBC's Costing the Earth, which is a phenomenal program, if you don't mind being utterly, utterly depressed. A phenomenal program, an environmental program on BBC Radio 4. And I'm middle class and middle-aged enough to be listening to BBC Radio 4, right In between the old podcast episode.
Peter:Because I'm still relatively lowbrow. I don't want you thinking that all of a sudden I've gone all sophisticated and cultured. So are PFA's a problem? Yeah, apparently so. Especially in the UK the safety levels are, I've said, quite high, which is a bit of a pickle. One of the ways around that, according to, like I said, the person in the know who told me, is get one of those quicker things and those filtration systems installed. Apparently, that works against them. If you're concerned about that sort of stuff, that might be where you want to spend some of your money.
Peter:I'm trying to get someone on it. Wouldn't that be nice, right, if I could just get the perfect guest that combines everything. I don't necessarily want to do half an hour on safety of drinking water. I want to cover a bit more than that, but I promise you I'm working on it. I will get it done Next week. I'm back to having an interview. I I think I've got a couple of really really super cool ones lined up. I'm doing an interview on the 28th. I've got one lined up for the 23rd about stress management. The 28th will be about it's a weight loss thing, with someone who really, really, really, really really knows what they're talking about, and I've got one or two interesting things to say on the matter. Um, like I said, I've got a ton coming up.
Peter:Unfortunately, I'm also really, really busy, and that means that today I don't quite have as much time as I usually do to make the podcast last half an hour, and I could waffle for another what is it? 10 minutes or so. But know, you've got a busy day, You've got kids to take care of and, like I said, school holidays to prep and, you know, summer camps to sort out and all that sort of thing. I know you're busier than I am, as always. Though, right, peter at HealthyPostnatalBodycom, if you have any questions yourself and you're like, hey, could you touch on this? I had one or two emails in this week, but there were mainly things that I'd already covered on the podcast, so I'm not really going to go in depth in any of them.
Peter:That's podcast for today. Here's a new bit of music. You have a tremendous week. Like I said, give us a like and subscribe. By the way, right, tell your friends all that sort of fun stuff. That's how we roll, that's how you get a few more listeners and that's my friends. There's that for the week. Have a tremendous week and I'll check in on you next week. I'll be back next week, right, take care. Bye now.
Speaker 3:What did I come here for? Was it just to see through Like a dusty window? What's on the other side? We've been living our best lives Falling in love in the last hour. Looking back in the same time, we've been living our best lives. I think that I lost my shoes. I'm certain that they're gone, but I will carry on now.
Speaker 2:But I will carry on. I love you. I was looking all around me For a love that I could learn, but it left me on the levee. I took a drink out of the darkness. I saw a shadow on the corner. He was drinking Coca-Cola, calling a bluff on Dionysus. Well, he's cool somehow stayed ice cold. Why are you here in this desert, tied to a mask, like me, holding a purse of seven spirits, sweating diamonds on your brow?
Speaker 3:It's all around you. It's all around you, baby. It's all around you, mary. It's all around you. It's all around you, mary. Let's play the magic chord that sounds like a dancing sky, the sun together, the full moon, like horses on the ride on a mushroom. When I stride, I'm the Like horses running wild on a mushroom. When I strike, I'm magical, dancing up in the air. Like a sailor to a gale, I'm falling, like horses running wild on a mushroom. Let's play the magical Dance up in the sea. Thank you.