Why Strengthening Your Pelvis Is A Really Good Idea.
What do you think would happen to your house if your foundation was fragile and out of place? Everything above it would also fall. Your entire house would come tumbling down upon itself. To have a proper house you need a good foundation so that it doesn’t come tumbling down.
Then why wouldn’t you treat your body the same way? Why would you ignore your pelvic floor? The answer to this rhetorical question is that your should not ignore it. If you have any desire to have a balanced strong body then training your pelvic floor is A MUST!
Unfortunately there is information out there that says it is not that important. I whole-heartedly disagree. Take a look at the picture of a woman’s pelvis. I am using a women’s because it is even more important for them to make sure their pelvis is balanced and strong.
Where it says “pubic symphysis” is the front of the body. And where it says Sacral Promontory this is the back of the body. You are looking from above down. Look at all the important contents in there. Gynecological system(part pictured part not), rectum, Bladder (not pictured). All these things are within the pelvis and need to be in the proper place to work correctly. If for example the pelvis is out of balance and the bladder gets twisted this could lead to the inability to fully expel all the urine and lead to a bladder infection.
What you don’t see is the contents above. GI tract, Liver, Stomach, Spleen Heart lungs bla bla bla… A lot! They all depend on the pelvic floor being in a good place and strong so as to not allow everything to fall down and in some cases out. Its called a prolapse and it does not sound fun.
So How Do You Train The Pelvic Floor?
The first and easiest thing you can do is to do Kegel exercises throughout the day. Simply contract your perineum (like your holding you pee for women and men like your taking in a suppository) hold for a couple of beats then release. Do this as much as you can throughout the day.
Problem is this is where most programs stop. This is the incy wincy beginning of your program. This exercise will bring you good awareness and a little bit of strength to your perineum. This won’t develop a lot of strength, it won’t allow you to differentiate it with all the different muscles that work with it, it won’t strengthen the other muscles that are part of the pelvic floor and it won’t keep it balanced.
What else works with the pelvic floor
The obturator internus and the Piriformis are both part of the pelvic floor and need to be strengthened as well. The 10 adductors muscles (inner thigh), 3 glutes, 4 layers of abs, the 4 different parts of the Psosas, and the diaphragm all have symbiotic relationships to the pelvic floor. They need to be trained to able to work in harmony with the pelvic floor. ALL OF IT needs to have the proper amount of stretching so that they stay balanced and mobile.
Here are a couple of images to get you an idea of all the other muscles (not all pictured) that ALSO need to be trained:
If this sounds complex that is because the body is complex. There is no “do these 3 things and all is fixed.” But keep it simple at the start and do the kegels. Then start to contract the muscles listed above that have a symbiotic relationship with it in sequence with the perineum. Learn to work the perineum independently of them. And learn what each feels like.
The main action point here is to realize that it is important and to start doing something about. You want your pelvic floor to be a floor not open like a door.
Remember it’s not just working out. It’s building the foundation for a better life.