Elvie Pelvic Floor Trainer — Test & Review
Isabelle Uren
Isabelle Uren
| : | 32 |
| : | Experienced |
| : | Female |
| : | Heterosexual |
| : | Doxy Die Cast |
- Have been given a training program by a medical professional
- Want to develop a better connection to your pelvic floor
- Love being able to track your exercise progress
- Have pelvic floor related issues but have not seen a medical professional
- Are unlikely to stick to using it
- Are on a budget
- Don't know if you need to pelvic floor exercises
The Elvie Trainer is an app-enabled pelvic floor trainer that lets you play games by flexing your pelvic floor muscles. As well as being a fun way to improve pelvic floor health, the app is designed to help you learn how to actually perform the exercises the correct way by giving you feedback. It also comes up with a training plan and tracks your progress as you develop your strength.
Elvie do recommend checking with a healthcare professional first if you have any pelvic floor or related issues and I would highly recommend doing that before jumping in with pelvic floor exercises as they can exacerbate some problems, especially if you aren’t doing them correctly.
Getting Set Up
The Elvie was incredibly easy to connect to my phone, and the device itself is very small and easy to insert. To begin with, you get some trial exercises to see if you can successfully relax and contract your pelvic floor muscles. I was a little disappointed that there wasn’t more educational content or guidance on how to actually engage your pelvic floor here, as it’s easy to mistake tensing other muscles for pelvic floor activation. There are instructions for how to do a correct tense and release sequence but you have to hunt them out in help section of the app.The Games
The games themselves are moderately entertaining, much more entertaining than simply doing Kegels, anyway, and the visual feedback is very useful. I have to say I found it quite amusing in the beginning. However, not quite amusing enough to keep it up long term. For the most part, the app registered my movements quite well. One thing I did find that was a bit disappointing is that I could also squeezing other muscles aside from just my pelvic floor and it was registered as a successful exercise. This shows how important it is to learn how to properly engage and relax your pelvic floor muscles before using a device like this.The Gains
Pilates for your pussy, CrossFit for your coochie, whatever you want to call it, the big question is did it make any difference? I did see some improvements on my scores, and I did notice I was getting more used to performing the pulse actions. Aside from that, the other benefit I noticed was more general awareness of my pelvic floor muscles. I have a tendency to squeeze my butt checks and pelvic floor (thanks anxiety), so it was helpful to be more aware of when I was doing this! I also experienced my first coregasm around the time I was using the Elvie, but I had also started working out more, so I can’t say if that’s causation or correlation!
I love the design of the Elvie! It's cute, minimalistic and non-intimidating, which is exactly what you would want in a pelvic floor trainer! The device itself is pretty small and solid but covered in lovely soft silicone. The tail sits nicely outside of your body and didn't feel uncomfortable at all for me. It also makes removing the Elvie Trainer really easy. You also get a small silicone cover for the device to make it a little larger and easier to grip. I also really love the charging/storage case as you can leave it out to charge while still being discreet and keeping the device from getting dusty.
The Elvie Trainer was incredibly easy to connect to the app and it took just a few minutes to get started with the training exercises. Once in the app, you have the option to put in some more information to customise the training to your needs. You can select your age, whether you have children, and your reasons for using the Elvie Trainer — I selected better sex because what better reason to do anything! I would have liked more information and instruction about pelvic floor exercises though.
I would say this is a quality device that performs very well and picks up the movements quite well. You do have to keep your phone relatively close to maintain bluetooth connection but that's not really a problem as you are holding to see the screen anyway. The device feels very well-made as does the charging case.
The Elvie is quite the investment, and as such, I would only recommend it to those who have been advised to do pelvic floor exercises for a specific purpose and have been given a training plan.
I would say the Elvie overall lived up to my expectations, the only thing that really lets it down is that it sometimes cannot tell if you are performing the exercise correctly. I would say it does a better job than just using kegel balls but you can still end up doing a whole lot of work using the wrong muscles if you don't know what you are doing.
The Elvie Trainer packaging was very clean, fresh and elegant, with just the name and a picture on the front. It's a nice sturdy box and the product is presented nicely inside. It would make a great storage box if you want to keep all the bits together.
The Elvie Trainer is completely waterproof and covered in body safe silicone, so it's nice and easy to clean! Simply use some warm water and fragrance-free soap to give it a thorough clean before and after each use. You should only use water-based lube with the Elvie Trainer to protect the silicone.
| Length | 3 inches |
| Diameter | 1.3 inches |
| Waterproof | Yes |
| Materials | Silicone |
| Rechargeable | Yes |
| Remote Controls | App |
| Storage Bag Included | Charging case |
The main draw of the Elvie is that it connects to an app and allows to visualise your workout by playing games. As you tense your pelvic floor muscles, you move a gem up on the screen, and you relax them, it moves down. In each game you must hit certain targets that focus on 6 different skills to train your pelvic floor: strength, lift, pulse, hold, speed, and step. You can choose between three different goals: maintain fitness, build strength, or challenge yourself, and this dictates whether you train once, three times, or five times a week. You also have the option to set yourself reminders to train. It also allows to track your progress across sessions and see where you are making improvements and areas to work on.
- More fun than regular pelvic floor exercises
- Able to track progress
- Range of different exercises
- Easy to use
- Discreet, stylish charging case
- Expensive
- Doesn't always pick up incorrect movements
I have mixed feelings about the Elvie. I think it could be very useful for those who have been diagnosed with a pelvic floor problem that requires this type of exercise as the visualisation and ability to track your sessions does make it more fun and motivating. I also think it's useful for getting more in touch with your pelvic floor, but I would say it's too expensive purely for that purpose, especially if you don't have any need to perform pelvic floor exercises.
