We asked a GP everything you could want to know about the new trend of 'vagina weightlifting'.

There are some videos that have the ability to stop you in your tracks…

And call us old-fashioned, but a woman lifting a surfboard from a piece of string tied to something in her vagina is one of them.

Yep.

If you don’t believe us cast your vision below and stare in wonder.

The video was made by Kim Anami who works as a holistic sex and relationship expert and travels the world posting photos of her lifting things with her hoo-ha… Moroccan water flasks, coconuts, sea shells, lutes, you name it.

Anami does this by tying a piece of string to a jade egg that she inserts into her lady parts and says that doing so has allowed her to train her vagina wall muscles for better orgasms, eliminate urinary incontinence, and even replace botox and cure depression.

LISTEN: Be nice to your lady parts and don’t put soap on your pink bits. Jessie is going to tell you what to do instead. Post continues after audio.

However, a lot of these claims haven’t been proven by scientific research.

Either way, we were left with a lot questions, and thought you might be too, so we asked Dr Ginni Mansberg, for some straight-up facts.

So firstly… how does one lift a surfboard with their lady parts?

The answer is apparently quite simple, says Dr Ginni, who describes the process as “leveraging the power of her core and core abdominal muscles.”

Despite this, Dr Ginni is dubious of Anami’s claims, stating that while there are numerous benefits to weight training and doing pelvic floor exercises like kegels, strictly training your ‘vagina wall muscles’ and not the pelvic floor as a whole is “not particularly useful.”

“The bigger issue is why?” says Dr Ginni.

“It could make your orgasms more powerful, because a part of your orgasm is vaginal wall muscle contractions.

“But can we just suggest that orgasming through sex or masturbation will be a far more pleasant training regime, with far better outcomes.

“I can’t see any value of that at all.”

Ok… so vagina weightlifting might not be the errr… best use of our time, but what about kegels?

If you are concerned about issues like incontinence and strengthening your pelvic floor (which all women should) or just want to up your orgasm ante, kegels can definitely help with that.

It’s important to note that leakage can affect women of all ages – not only those who have given birth – and Dr Ginni says that because we’re all spending more time sitting “we don’t stretch our pelvic floors or use them as much as we might have in the past.”

“All muscles get lax as you get older and with everyone it’s simply use it or lose it,” she says.

Despite this, she stresses that using a jade egg is not the solution.

While jade eggs were popularised by Gwyneth Paltrow and Goop (warning bells are going off), there are electronic devices that serve a similar purpose but can give you specific feedback to ensure you’re activating the correct areas. Essentially helping you to improve your ‘kegel technique’.

“I cannot imagine a pelvic floor physio or gynaecologist who specialises in pelvic floor stability recommending that as a regime,” says Dr Ginni.

“We’re looking at tightening and relaxing, and ideally what you want to do is stop urine while you’re running or ‘falling out’ when you don’t want it to.

“You don’t need to be able to lift a surfboard to have a good pelvic floor.”

And just exactly how does one ‘kegel’?

So now that we’ve debunked the need for weight training ‘down there,’ how does one master the kegel?

Well, we’re glad you asked…

1. 1. When doing a kegel, the movement you want to achieve is akin to stopping a wee mid-flow – “Imagine you’re in a supermarket queue and can’t get out of it,” she says. However don’t actually try and do that on your toilet break because it’s not actually possible, just try and recreate that sensation.
   2. Simply put Dr Ginni says “you need to tighten the bottom as if you’re going to hold back a wee and a poo,” and it’s the second part that most people forget.
   3. To start with hold the ‘pose’ for three seconds, then relax for three, repeating this motion for 10 repetitions. It’s important to both contract and release to not just strengthen, but also make the muscle flexible and agile in a sense.

Now you heard Dr Ginni’s advice, go fourth and lift, squeeze and relax from within (and with proper technique please). No surfboard necessary.

via GIPHY

LISTEN: We wear exercise clothes all weekend and sometimes even to work. Have we reached peak activewear? The Mamamia Out Loud team discuss.