Calibration helps Perifit Care(+) measure your current pelvic floor strength and adjust the games accordingly. This allows you to train at an intensity that challenges your muscles without making the exercises unnecessarily difficult.
There are two types of calibration: initial calibration, which takes place at the beginning of a training session, and dynamic calibration, which adjusts the game while you play.
Why is calibration important?
Pelvic floor training works by repeatedly contracting and relaxing your muscles to help improve their strength and endurance.
For your muscles to improve, they need to be challenged slightly beyond their comfort zone. However, the intensity should remain manageable so you can maintain good technique and avoid excessive fatigue or discomfort.
Here's how different levels of intensity affect your training:
Too easy: Your muscles aren't challenged enough to make progress.
Comfortable: Helps maintain your current strength.
Slightly challenging: Provides the stimulus needed for improvement.
Too intense: Can lead to fatigue, discomfort, poor technique or injury.
During calibration, aim for a contraction that feels slightly challenging but remains controlled. You shouldn't need to strain, push down or hold your breath.
Both types of calibration help adapt the training intensity to your physical condition on that particular day.
1. Initial calibration
Initial calibration takes place at the beginning of a training session. It asks you to relax and contract your pelvic floor muscles three times in a row to estimate your current strength.
Based on these readings, the app adjusts the difficulty of the games.
For example, if your maximum contraction strength during calibration is 200g, the highest target on the screen will be positioned so that it requires 200g of pressure to reach.
If your maximum contraction strength is 800g, the game will adjust accordingly.
The goal is to make the game challenging enough to encourage progress while keeping it achievable.
How to get an accurate initial calibration
Positioning
For accurate readings, it's important to calibrate in the same body position you'll use throughout your training session. Changing position can affect the readings and make the game appear incorrectly calibrated.
We recommend the following training positions:
Perifit Care: Lie down on your back with your legs bent.
Perifit Care+: Sit upright on a firm chair.
Also, make sure your probe is correctly positioned, with both pebble-shaped sensors inserted into the vagina.
Playing by the rules
During calibration, follow the instructions on the screen and complete all three relaxation and contraction attempts.
Try to:
Relax your pelvic floor completely when asked to relax.
Contract your pelvic floor muscles when asked to squeeze.
Keep each contraction controlled and avoid pushing down or holding your breath.
What if calibration fails?
If the app displays the message "We were unable to calibrate your probe", it means the probe hasn't registered a sufficient contraction during the calibration attempts.
Calibration will fail if all three contractions are below 10g. If at least one of the three contractions is above 10g, calibration will succeed and you'll be able to access the games.
If calibration fails:
Check your body position: Make sure you're using the recommended training position for your probe (lying down with your legs bent for Perifit Care, or sitting upright on a firm chair for Perifit Care+).
Reposition your probe: Make sure both pebble-shaped sensors are inserted into the vagina and the probe is properly positioned.
Tap "Retry" to start calibration again.
If calibration repeatedly fails, please contact our Support team via the ? button of the app's main screen. We'll be happy to investigate the issue with our Tech team.
2. Dynamic calibration
Your pelvic floor strength and relaxation readings may change throughout a training session. This can happen for several reasons, including:
Muscle fatigue: Your muscles become tired as you train.
Repositioning: Small changes in your body or probe position can affect the readings.
That's where dynamic calibration comes in.
It works in the background during games, monitoring changes in your relaxation and contraction values. If it detects a change, it adjusts the intensity required to complete the game.
This helps keep the game achievable while still providing an appropriate challenge as your muscles respond to the exercises.
Important: Follow the game's contraction and relaxation patterns
Dynamic calibration relies on the readings it receives while you play. To ensure it works correctly, you need to follow the contraction patterns displayed in each game and respect their timing.
Contract when the game asks you to contract.
Relax when the game asks you to relax.
Don't contract too early or too late.
Don't squeeze during a relaxation phase.
If you contract your pelvic floor muscles during a relaxation phase, dynamic calibration may interpret this as a change in your muscle readings and adjust the game accordingly. This can make the game more difficult than intended.
Following the game's instructions and timing helps ensure that your readings remain accurate and that the game adapts appropriately to your training.
3. Troubleshooting calibration and game difficulty
The games are too difficult
If you're struggling to reach the higher targets, you can make the game easier by contracting less strongly during the initial calibration.
For example, if you give approximately 50% of your maximum effort instead of 100%, the highest target will require less pressure to reach.
You can also recalibrate in the middle of a game if needed:
Pause > Recalibrate
Remember to perform the calibration in the same position you'll use to continue playing.
The games are too easy
If the games feel too easy, try to:
Relax your pelvic floor more completely during calibration.
Contract more strongly during all three contraction attempts, while keeping the contractions controlled.
Make sure you're following the game's contraction and relaxation patterns at the correct times.
The positions of the higher targets are based on the average difference between your relaxed and contracted readings. A more complete relaxation and a stronger controlled contraction can therefore result in a more challenging calibration.