So You Think You Want a Strong Pelvic Floor...

You might be surprised to know that, as a pelvic PT, my ultimate goal for people is NOT a “strong” pelvic floor.

I want everybody to have a mobile and coordinated pelvic floor. That means I want the muscles to have appropriate length and coordination.

My goal is that your muscles can contract and relax when necessary. You shouldn’t have to think about it, but sometimes this takes a little bit of reeducation. We talked about how the pelvic muscles contract slightly (aka shorten) to hold in urine and relax (aka lengthen) to empty. They should also lengthen and lower slightly as we inhale, and elevate and activate slightly when we exhale- in coordination with the diaphragm’s movement. Your pelvic muscles contract with other movements as well. They contract as you walk, run, jump, etc.

Sometimes muscles can be overactive which can result in tight and shortened muscles. If a muscle is tight or short it doesn’t have the full range of motion to perform it’s job. Other times, there can be an injury to a muscle (often after giving birth) which results in it being lengthened, and in that case it also is not functioning optimally.

My goal is that the muscles have that full range of motion to perform these functions and also have the appropriate coordination to do it on demand.

If a muscle is lacking in length and/or coordination it will not function properly and THAT is when people have dysfunction. If you think you are having pelvic floor muscle dysfunction, seek out a pelvic PT or OT. We can help!