Pelvic Floor Muscles - Why You Should Care About Them!
This blog is super duper important, not because understanding these muscles will make you look good at the beach… but because these muscles help you perform healthy EVERYDAY life functions, like peeing, pooping, sexual intercourse (healthy erections and orgasms), and for females - childbirth!
These are the pelvic floor muscles.
What are the pelvic floor muscles?
As shown above, the pelvic floor consists of connective tissues as well as muscles that support vital internal organs like in your pelvis such as your large intestine, bladder, and reproductive organs. Your pelvic floor muscles assist in holding these organs in place alongside helping you to pee, poo, and have sex.
If you look above again, you will see that the pelvic floor muscles encapsulate the bottom of the “core” and also work alongside the other key muscle groups (diaphragm, TVA, back muscles, obliques) to manage core pressure, protect your spine/organs, and move in ways you were designed to... without chronic pain!
Who should care about their pelvic floor?
YOU - and everyone!
Even though pelvic floor talk is often considered taboo, men too have pelvic floors and their pelvic health matters! However, women, specifically postpartum women, are at the highest risk for issues and the risk increases with the number of pregnancies they’ve had.
Now, why does it matter?
Think about building a house. The foundation is essential to the overall longevity and stability of the house. Without a solid foundation, the entire thing can crumble. While an entire house crumbling is rare, it is common for problems to pop up related to a faulty foundation. Leaks in a basement, cracks in the walls, uneven floors, windows and doors that don’t close properly.
The body is not too different. Your entire body will not collapse because of a faulty foundation (or faulty pelvic floor), but problems can arise as a result. If your pelvic floor is not working properly (excessively tight muscles or weak muscles), it can create:
difficulty holding or letting go of body fluids like pee, poop, gas
leaks, constipation
it can impact our breathing and core management, leading to pain
sexual health and function (erections, orgasms, blood flow)
hip and pelvic pain
it can contribute to pressure management issues like hemorrhoids, diastasis recti, and hernias
organ prolapse
We want to have a STRONG and SUPPLE pelvic floor. What can we do about it?
Here are a few videos that outline some basics about pelvic floor health, and some exercises you can work on!
1. Pelvic Floor Overview
2. Should You Do Kegels?
3. Hip and Pelvic Floor Massage for Pain or Release
Looking for more info?
This is a topic that we’ve been passionate about for many years and have coached many thousands members through. In our Limitless and Hypermobility programs, we cover the entire body- as well as 8 pelvic health lessons/videos.
Below is a comprehensive overview of our Limitless Program, and Hypermobility shares the same structure!