Guest Blog: 5 tips for a great poop!
I am excited to introduce you to pelvic health physiotherapist, Aliya Dhalla!
Aliya is a Pelvic Floor Physiotherapist with over 13 years of experience.
She enjoys treating + educating on: prenatal + postpartum pelvic health, birth prep + postpartum recovery, incontinence, painful intimacy, and pelvic pain, bowel health, postpartum return to high-impact activity, CrossFit, lifting, and running, pelvic floor changes during perimenopause and menopause (leaks, urgency, vaginal dryness, pain).
Today she will be sharing with you her 5 tips for a great poop!
5 tips for a great poop
Here are my top five tips for the most fabulous bowel movements. You'll see that many of these tips benefit many other aspects of your overall health + wellness!
1. FIBRE
Eat enough fibre throughout your day (good sources include whole grains, oats, avocado, berries, leafy greens, popcorn).
Fibre helps your poops get that soft + smooth texture that makes it truly great.β£
Fibre is also great for many other systems in your body including cardiovascular, hormonal, and brain health, too.
2. WATER
Get 2-3 litres of water every day to help your poops be more fluffy than rabbit pellets. Trust me on this one.
ππ°π―πΆπ΄: being hydrated helps with other things like fatigue, headaches, muscle cramps, irritability, lack of focus, and more.
3. MOVEMENT
Moving your body daily helps food + food waste physically move along in your gut.
ππ°π―πΆπ΄: movement is truly medicine and can help in many other areas of your life like mental + physical health, stress levels, and more. β£
4. DON'T STRAIN
Instead of holding your breath and bearing down, exhale into your closed fist for a little extra "help" to get the poop out.
Holding your breath to strain puts plenty of pressure down onto the pelvic floor muscles and can lead to weakness, hemorrhoids, anal fissures, and prolapse down the road.
If you're pregnant, this type of breathing can help you practice for birth!
5. GET A STOOL.
Find a stepstool and put your feet on it so that your knees are higher than your hips.
Then, open your knees wide and lean forward for the best pooping position for your pelvic floor.
When your body is in this position, the muscle that wraps around the rectum is nice and stretched out - making it easier for the poop to pass through.
Ultimately, this position can help you avoid straining and full empty your bowels with ease!
When it comes to having a happy + healthy pelvic floor, optimizing your poop is really important.
Having irregular bowel movements, straining to poop, never fully emptying, or pooping pellets truly impacts so much. Here are some surprising things that might show up in your body when your poops aren't that great:
increased leaks
increased frequency + urgency to pee
back pain
pain with sex
increased prolapse symptoms
If you're interested in learning more about this, check out Episode 9 of my podcast - it's all about why you need great poops for great pelvic health. Have a listen here or search for Episode 9 of the Not Your Mother's Pelvic Floor Podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
I hope you'll follow my tips and have the greatest poops ever! I'd love to hear if any of them helped - nothing is TMI (too much information) and I love reading your replies.
Other resources from Aliya:
Check out her website
Listen to her Podcast (listen on Spotify or on Apple Podcasts)
Follow her on Instagram
You can also find out more about Aliya and how having great poops can improve your pelvic health in my chat with her in this podcast episode!
