The pelvic floor muscles are the seat of your core muscles. They are extremely important, often overlooked and can cause some very unpleasant side effects if there is dysfunction with them. Have you ever been lifting weights, jumping, or even coughing and felt a little urine come out? Trust us, you’re not the only one! Most people don’t like to talk about it but we do because incontinence with exercise does not have to happen.
What do the Pelvic Floor muscles do?
Stabilize the spine
Support the organs in the pelvis
Control the retention and release of urine
What can cause Pelvic Floor dysfunction?
Stretching of the connective tissue or weak, which most commonly occurs after pregnancy.
Tightness or the inability of people to turn the muscles off! It’s not always about weakness. When this happens, the pelvic floor cannot contract quickly or strongly enough when we work out. Seems like the opposite of what most people think, especially when the advice you will get from most people is to do strengthen, contract and do "kegel” exercises.
Weakness or inappropriate timing activation and motor control.
If you’re lifting with a lifting belt, this can also contribute to pelvic floor dysfunction to occur. Not because belts are bad, but because if you were taught to push out against the belt when lifting to stabilize your back and abdomen, it creates massive amounts of intra abdominal pressure. That pressure has to go somewhere and it will choose the weak point, which can be the pelvic floor muscles because they are the smallest of your core muscles.
Why is this more common in women and why does it happen?
The main reason why this problem is more prevalent in women than men is due to anatomical differences in the genitourinary system.
What are the solutions?
Pelvic Health Physical Therapists work on this for both women and men every day! Depending on where the dysfunction is coming from, we help you improve the control and coordination of your pelvic floor muscles before a heavy lift by squeezing and bracing together.