Training The Pelvic Floor

Jena Walther, MS, CSCS

While there is no shortage in media discussion about the core, we seldom discuss the importance of its neighbor, the pelvic floor. The pelvic floor is a group of muscles that line the bottom of the pelvic (hip) bone; they serve as structural support for lower abdominal organs, such as the bladder, bowel, and uterus (in women).

In function, a weakening of these muscles can cause incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse (dropping of the lower abdominal organs), as well as child delivery complications. Additionally, a weak pelvic floor can lead to hip instability, causing a person to feel unbalanced and more likely to sustain injury during normal daily activity, or during sport.

Kegel exercises are a typical prescription for strengthening the muscles of the pelvic floor; however, these exercises do not relate to how we truly function. Kegels are what we call “concentric,” or muscle shortening exercises, whereas movements we perform every day are both eccentric and concentric (muscle lengthening and shortening). Thus, it makes more sense to strengthen the pelvic floor by engaging those muscles in ways that mimic how our bodies actually move:

a) Dynamically (shortening and lengthening)
b) In multiple planes (3-Dimensional)
c) Involving multiple joints at once (e.g. ankles, knees, hips, torso)

Please follow the link below to view some of the exercises we recommend for strengthening the muscles of the pelvic floor: http://bit.ly/ABdWwv