The giggle test is a quick and easy test that we do during our assessments to see how the core muscles are firing together. It shows us how the body is dealing with any pressure changes inside the abdomen and pelvis.
Ideally, when there is an increase in pressure (such as with a laugh, cough or sneeze), we want the core muscles to switch on in such a way that the pressure is controlled and doesn’t overwhelm our pelvic floor muscles resulting in leaks.
This is how you can do the test
Step 1: Remove clothing from lower abdomen/ pelvic area so that you can see the tummy move
Step 2: Do a fake laugh
Step 3: Observe how your lower belly moves; does it move in when you laugh or does it move out?
A positive giggle test is when your tummy moves out and this indicates that your core is not firing optimally.
But no need to stress or freak out. Knowledge is power! If you do have a positive giggle test it just means to need to spend some time on your core.
Here is a video of me doing the giggle test
Its not perfect because I still have work to do on letting go of holding my tummy in; but you get the general idea.
Take some time this weekend to do the giggle test on yourself and get an idea of how your core is working.