To keep it simple, good pelvic health is to have a happy healthy pelvis as the connector between the trunk and lower body. When we think of pelvic health, most often, it is synonymous with the pelvic floor or your “kegel” muscles. The pelvic floor muscles (PFM) have four major roles: sexual function and arousal, support to the bladder, uterus, and rectum, prevention of urinary and fecal leakage, and to coordinate with the other core muscles for a strong healthy back and core!
Do you ever pee when you cough, sneeze, or exercise??? Have pain or difficulty enjoying sexual intimacy??? Suffering from low back, pelvic or hip pain??? Feel like your bladder is going to fall out??! If you answer yes to any of these then there is a good chance your pelvic health is in trouble!
The benefits of a well-functioning pelvic floor and happy healthy pelvis include increased blood flow to the vagina, penis, rectum and perineum, better bladder and bowel control, decreased incontinence after childbirth, improved bowel health and less constipation, improved sexual function, arousal and orgasm, increased support to the pelvic and abdominal organs, stronger core, and prevention and reduction in low back pain.
You should be able to contract and relax the PFM in different positions, during various functional activities, and anytime anywhere throughout the day. You may be asking yourself, “Do I know how to do a ‘kegel’?” A correct contraction of the pelvic floor muscles is a “squeeze and lift up and in” of the vaginal and rectal muscles, as if you are closing the vagina and anus, imagining that you are trying to not pass gas or pee.
Stay tuned for more to come on how the PFM works together with the other core muscles, coordinate synergistically with breathing and during movement, and what a pelvic floor muscle exercise program looks like!
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