Sex efficiency through exercises : special physical culture for women / by Th. H. van de Velde ; [photos, by E. Steinemann].
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Having contracted the anus and perineum to the maximum degree, pupils should retain the muscles taut for a short time, then relax and rest. This will suffice in exercise after child-birth, for the pelvic floor, stretched and relaxed by the effort of birth, needs " toning up " before anything else in these circumstances. But, when " anal retraction " is prescribed before child-birth, as a preparation for confinement or for general physical efficiency, there must be a furtnef and complementary phase ; active relaxation, that is, conscious dilation at the conclusion of the exercise. It is not easy to give directions to novices in these matters as to how they should set about this dilation. They must consciously cease and, in fact, reverse Vie previous muscular contraction; they must not only return to the normal muscular condition, but go beyond it ; they must consciously expand the parts previously drawn tight. And it may confi- dently be said that this conscious and deliberate muscular relaxation and dilation neither involves any vehement exertion nor any insuperable difficulty ; especially when there is already a certain degree of general training in muscular co-ordination. Unfortunately, active dilation of the pelvic floor is, as a rule, wholly neglected in physical culture; but it is absolutely necessary and an integral part of any exercises of this region at other times and in other phases than after child-birth, and particularly before the first experience of maternity. Otherwise there is a risk of an increased muscular tonicity {without concomitant suppleness) which constitutes additional danger for both mother and baby. Kirchberg(18) has recommended a combined exercise, abdominal and perineal, including the direct movements of the pelvic floor detailed above, alternating with repeated " forward lunges and contractions of the abdomen," while the levator is still drawn taut. In my opinion, this combination has great value in preparing for the effort of giving birth, but I should like it to be supplemented by alternating the abdominal movements suggested by Kirchberg, with conscious dilation of the pelvic apertures. I consider this modification S.E. - K