Pelvic Floor Health: Hack these Muscles at True40

Today we’re going to go into an important topic, especially for women: pelvic floor strength. We will discuss what it is, why it’s important, and how we incorporate it into our True40 workouts!

These muscles are located between your tailbone (technically called the coccyx) and the pubic bone within the pelvis. This group of muscles supports the bowel and bladder (and for women, your uterus)! When the pelvic floor muscles contract, they lift and support the internal organs. They are also responsible for the function of urination, bowel movements, sex, pregnancy, and birth! And plays a huge role in postpartum recovery. 

What happens if your pelvic floor is weak?

On the flip side, a weak pelvic floor can impact many muscles in the body, like a loss in bladder control, which can cause bladder infections. Strong pelvic muscles help to prevent incontinence and prolapse of the bladder, uterus, and bowel. 

Your pelvic floor muscles constantly work in harmony with your back and abdominal muscles. Just like with any other muscle group, if you have weaker muscles in one area, other muscles are forced to pick up the slack, which can result overworked muscles and injury.

Strong versus Tight

Strong pelvic floor muscles will help keep your pregnancy smooth and comfortable, and help women recover from childbirth faster. However, we want to avoid tightness in the area, which can cause other issues. Many people do not realize that in order to push a baby through the birth canal, the pelvic floor must be able to relax and stretch. That’s why for our pregnant clients, we offer options like removing the ball between the thighs or encouraging them to let the pelvis fully relax between reps. 

How do we strengthen and relax the pelvic floor?

It’s important we identify where these muscles are and feel them in our body. Lay flat and start to think about relaxing your abdominal muscles, but make sure not to hold your breath. Gradually lift and squeeze your pelvic floor muscles as if you are stopping the flow of urine, or stopping wind from escaping. Release gently and slowly. This feeling is your pelvic floor muscles relaxing and contracting.

We strengthen this muscle group frequently in class through postures like:

• Glute bridges
• Ball squeezes
• Squats
• Bird dogs
• Tabletop dead bugs
• Planks

You may see a pattern here – a lot of core exercises help to strengthen your pelvic floor. Having a strong core can support this as well! Think about exercises that feel like they’re getting deep into your core, specifically your transverse abdominals (that very deep layer). These are great for strengthening! 

More on Pregnancy

A strong pelvic floor is of utmost importance for expecting women. During pregnancy, these muscles stretche to make room for the growing baby. Over time, the muscles become weak from being weighed down. Recovering from muscle weakness isn’t as easy in this specific muscle group as it is in others. Weak pelvic floor muscles can make you miserable. Beginning your pregnancy with strength in this area helps decrease the damage these muscles experience under the strain of carrying a child. Also remember that a pelvic floor that’s also able to relax makes labor and delivery safer, smoother, and less stressful.

No matter which way you birth your child (whether it’s a C-section or a vaginal birth) these muscles are impacted. A healthy pelvis going into birth means a quicker recovery afterwards. Pelvic floor health has only recently become a topic in women who are either pregnant or have had multiple children. In the past, women have not really considered the importance of these muscles until after they’ve had a couple of babies and they begin to experience problems.

It’s so important to begin preparing these muscles for delivery early – it impacts how you feel during your whole pregnancy. We also strongly recommend seeing a physical therapist who focuses specifically on this area, like Thrive PT in Birmingham, before and after birth!

How True40 Workouts Can Help

Our workout is low impact, high intensity, and designed to strengthen the entire body and boost endurance. True40 workouts are a great place to begin strengthening your pelvic floor muscles and bonus, they’re safe during pregnancy and postpartum! Book a class at your local studio now, or join us on demand if there’s not a True40 in your city yet.

Here’s to focusing on a healthy and strong pelvic floor!