The Well HQ has teamed up with pelvic floor and bladder health specialist, Jude, to offer a pelvic floor strengthening programme to complement a bladder health supplement launch.

Although pelvic floor weakness affects 14 million people in the UK alone, it is often cloaked in shame and rarely discussed.

Research commissioned by Jude – which questioned 2,000 UK women aged 40 and above – revealed that 58 per cent of women never or rarely train their pelvic floor, even though 94 per cent experience accidental leaks. 

Forty two per cent say leaks occur at least once a week, while 12 per cent are burdened by it almost every day, underscoring the urgent need for better, evidence-based solutions. This is a major barrier for women lacking the confidence to take part in physical activity, especially when high impact exercises are involved.

Newly launched (3 February) Pelvitone is a daily powder supplement developed to support the strength, endurance and resilience of muscles, with the formulation specifically designed for the pelvic floor. 

Developed by Jude’s principal scientist in cell biology and molecular pharmacology, Dr Zena Wehbe, alongside researchers and clinicians at the University of Brighton, the supplement targets the muscles, connective tissues and signalling network of the pelvic floor.

To complement the launch, Jude has collaborated with The Well HQ to design a pelvic floor strengthening programme called The Strength Method.

Research shows that integrated, functional movement patterns can be up to 56 per cent more effective at activating pelvic floor muscles than Kegel exercises, which have been the go-to for decades. 

Many people struggle to perform Kegels correctly, and bladder support often requires coordination, relaxation and strength across multiple muscle groups. 

The protocol includes a series of short educational videos, including exercises led by Baz Moffat, co-founder of The Well HQ, to train the pelvic floor in coordination with the core, glutes and breath.

The programme focuses on relearning connection, coordination and timing – the skills that allow the pelvic floor to respond when in times of stress, such as laughing, coughing and lifting and to relax at other times.

Moffat explains that the pelvic floor doesn’t work in isolation: “It coordinates with the breath, diaphragm, deep core, hips and nervous system. In everyday life, pelvic control depends on how all of those systems work together – particularly under load or stress.

“When you lift shopping, sprint for a bus, cough, laugh or brace suddenly, your pelvic floor has to respond with the rest of your body. Training it on its own doesn’t prepare it for that.

“Pelvic health underpins bowel function, sexual function, core stability, posture and movement efficiency, not just bladder control. It’s involved in far more than most women realise. This isn’t something you wait to address once things go wrong. It’s something women should understand. From a young age, when habits are formed and bodies are adapting to load.”

By using the Pelvitone supplement along with the Strength Method, women are expected to feel more connected to their pelvic floor within four weeks and experience improvements to leaks within 12, providing a life-changing solution.

Former GB rower, Moffat, told HCM: “Pelvic health is still a big taboo in female health. Not only is the research underfunded, but it's a topic that few women feel comfortable even talking about, although a large portion of them suffer from symptoms such as leaking at some stage in their lives. 

“The Well HQ partnered with Jude in the Strength Method because we believe that pelvic health needs to be accessible, with habits that are easy to incorporate into a routine. Just a few minutes every day to work on your pelvic strength can be a game-changer.

“The team at Jude is committed to supporting the millions of women who struggle with their pelvic health in an evidence-based and innovative way.

"They're a terrific, professional team who have been a joy to work with. Together we've developed a programme that meets women where they're at and guides them towards a fully functioning pelvic floor that they no longer need to worry about."

It’s not just older women who experience issues with their pelvic floor, sometimes when muscles are always switched on they lose their ability to respond. This is why some women who do Kegels still experience leaks, pelvic pain or sudden urgency – the muscles are tight, but poorly coordinated.

“The solution isn’t just more squeezes,” says Moffat. “It’s learning timing, coordination and control. Strength without relaxation isn’t strength at all. Squeezes are only a small part – roughly 30 per cent – of the picture. Equally, a genuinely weak pelvic floor doesn’t just need brute force. It needs structured guidance to relearn how to engage, respond and coordinate again.”

Peony Li, who founded Jude to change the narrative around pelvic health, says: “At Jude, our mission is to empower women to feel confident and in control of their bodies. Pelvitone brings sports science into pelvic health, combining evidence-based nutrition with smarter movement so women can reclaim everyday freedom, whether that’s running, laughing or moving through life confidently.”

Jude is now the UK’s best-selling bladder health and pelvic floor supplement brand, its CoreCTRL supplement is used by more than 150,000 women and the SleepTHRU range has been shown in consumer trials to reduce nighttime bathroom visits, with 66 per cent of users reporting improvements after just two weeks. It also sells leak-proof underwear.

The Strength Method is available here https://strength.wearejude.com

The pelvic floor is made up of 14 muscles, including the  levator ani and the coccygeus.  These are typically comprised of 70 per cent slow-twitch fibres and thirty per cent fast-twitch A and B fibres.

Slow-twitch fibers provide continuous, low-level support for the pelvic organs, while fast-twitch fibres activate rapidly to manage sudden increases in abdominal pressure. Each responds to different exercise stimuli.