This pelvic floor exercise is done lying on your back with your knees bent and a small towel between them. You breathe in and let your belly rise, then as you breathe out you gently lift and squeeze your pelvic floor and let your lower stomach draw in gently. On the next breath in, everything lets go. Many people learn the squeeze lying down like this before they try it sitting or standing.

How to do the pelvic floor exercise lying down

Lie face up on a mat with your legs out straight and a small rolled towel within reach.
Slide one heel up along the mat to bend that knee, then do the same with the other, so both feet sit flat about hip width apart. Tuck the towel between your knees and let it rest there without squeezing it.
Place your hands lightly on your stomach. Take a slow, deep breath in, letting the air reach your lower stomach so your belly swells up under your hands.
As you breathe out, gently lift and squeeze the muscles around your back passage and bladder opening, as though you were holding back gas and urine at the same time. Let your lower tummy draw in gently with it, without pulling it in hard. The feeling is an upward lift: never push down or strain.
Breathe in and relax fully. Let the squeeze go and feel your belly rise again before the next breath out.
When you have finished, take the towel away and straighten your legs one at a time.

What you should feel

A gentle lift and tightening deep inside your pelvis as you breathe out, with your lower tummy drawing in gently under your hands. Your buttocks, thighs and back stay soft.

Common mistakes

Bearing down or pushing out, as if straining on the toilet, instead of lifting in.
Holding your breath, or squeezing on the breath in rather than the breath out.
Gripping hard with your buttocks or inner thighs, which can hide what the pelvic floor itself is doing.
Skipping the relax, so the muscles never fully let go between squeezes.

How often

Many programs start with 8 to 10 slow breaths, lifting on each breath out and relaxing on each breath in, three times a day. Your physio will adjust this.

Stop and check with your physio if

Pain in your pelvis or pelvic floor, or a feeling of heaviness, dragging or bulging low down in the pelvis. Stop and tell your physio.
Your lower back or hips start to ache and it builds as you carry on.
You are pregnant and notice bleeding or fluid leaking from your vagina, regular painful tightenings, tummy pain that does not settle when you rest or comes with lower back pain, or a change in your baby's usual movements, such as moving less than usual. Stop and contact your midwife or maternity unit straight away. Do the same for a severe headache, problems with your vision such as blurring or flashing lights, pain just below your ribs, or sudden swelling of your face, hands or feet, which can be signs of pre-eclampsia. Call emergency services if the bleeding is heavy, the tummy pain is severe, bleeding or tummy pain comes with pain in your shoulder or feeling sick, faint or dizzy, or a headache comes on suddenly and is very severe.

From the clinic

Give the relax as much attention as the squeeze. On each breath in, feel your belly soften and the lift inside the pelvis drop away before you begin the next one. Many pelvic floor programs later add longer holds and a set of quick squeezes, but the video and voice guide do not show either, so leave those until your physio adds them. If you still cannot feel anything happening after a couple of weeks of practice, a physio who works with the pelvic floor can check it with you. The same gentle lift sits underneath transverse abdominis activation and hands and knees core activation.

Talk to your doctor or physio before you start if you leak urine, have a heavy or dragging feeling in the pelvis, or have pain in the pelvis. See your doctor first if you have blood in your urine or it hurts or burns when you pee. After surgery on your bladder, prostate, womb or pelvic floor, start when your surgical team says so.

If you are pregnant or have given birth in the last few months, check with your physio or midwife first, so the exercise can be checked and adapted for you. If you are pregnant and past the first three months, check with your physio before exercising flat on your back. Your physio can show you the same squeeze sitting up or lying on your side.

If you suddenly cannot pee or cannot control your bladder or bowels, or you get numbness around your genitals or bottom, stop these exercises and call emergency services or go to an emergency department straight away. These can be signs of pressure on the nerves at the base of the spine (cauda equina syndrome).

Written and checked by the PocketPhysio editorial team. Last updated 2026-09-28.

This page is general education, not a diagnosis or a personal treatment plan. If you have pain, an injury or a health condition, see a physiotherapist or doctor before starting new exercises.

Pelvic floor exercise lying down