What is the Pelvic Floor?

The pelvic floor is a group of muscles and connective tissue inside the pelvis. The muscles stretch from the pubic bone in front of the pelvis to the coccyx in the back, and from either side of the pelvis, creating a diamond shape. The pelvic floor muscles support function for the bladder and bowels by constricting the urethra and anal canal. It also supports the uterus and sexual function – constriction of the PF muscles help sex become more pleasurable. These muscles and connective tissue also keep internal organs inside the body! That sounds crazy right – yes, there is a dysfunction called pelvic organ prolapse – if you want to know more, please read my article on this. But how amazing are the pelvic floor muscles that they literally keep our bladder in place!

Main parts of the pelvic floor: 

• Levator ani – a broad sheet of muscles containing pubococcygeus, puborectalis, and iliococcygeus.

• Coccygeus muscle

• Fascia covering muscles (connective tissue)

Pelvic Wall Muscles:

• Obturator internus – a muscles that externally rotates the hip can often cause hip, deep vaginal or rectal pain.

• Piriformis – this muscle is positioned close to the pelvic wall and rotates the hip externally, when irritated, it can cause sciatica or deep pelvic pain

Diaphragmatic Breathing and Deeper Core Engagement

You will notice throughout my program, I don’t only focus on the pelvic floor muscles, breathing and core are essential to the pelvic floor. That is where the transverse abdominals and diaphragm come into play. We can’t have one without the other. Studies have shown that the respiratory diaphragm, deep abdominal muscles, spine stabilizers (multifidi muscles) and the pelvic floor muscles all need to work together to achieve optimal function. My program takes you way beyond Kegels, which are only a small portion of the exercise – we go deeper!

Other muscles that support the pelvis and may overcompensate for pelvic floor muscles are the gluteus maximus and the adductor magnus. Some women have reported crossing their legs to avoid urinary leakage (which activates the adductor muscles). Some women also find it challenging to relax their glutes when activating their pelvic floor muscles. My program guides you through this, so keep in mind that it is important to know when you are activating these muscles vs. your pelvic floor muscles. It is also important to note that the adductors have shown to decrease pelvic pain when combined with exercises such as bridges. It is essential to know how to relax overactivated muscles but strengthen them as well. Just because a muscle is overactivated – does not mean that it is strong.