Is it really a pelvic floor?
I hate the way they call our pelvic floor a floor. It’s not a floor – it’s not hard, it’s not uniform and it’s got holes!
The pelvic floor is a soft, supple hammock that must be held evenly in place by the fasteners of the pelvic bones.
A few points to note: –
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Incontinence and/or pelvic pain do NOT necessarily mean that you have a weak pelvic floor and need to strengthen it.
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Incontinence and/or pelvic pain can also result from tension or overactivity in your pelvic floor muscles.
We often hear that the pelvic floor is weak, so we assume that only strengthening is necessary – Kegels will only make the problem worse, not better!
We need to consider the whole approach: creating balance in the pelvis to ensure that the pelvic floor hammock is uniform with distributed tension that works in harmony. This involves making sure that all the muscles that penetrate the pelvic fascia are activated or lengthened to ensure that the body’s domes – arch, pelvic floor, diaphragm – are activated and synchronized. Learn to lift rather than press.
You guessed it, that’s exactly what Pilates does.
We work from the foot upwards and ensure that your breathing deepens the lifting of your pelvic floor. The Pilates method ensures that your body is balanced and your pelvis stable, so that the pelvic floor is maintained in an optimal position. Simple Pilates exercises will help you feel the differences that can cause you unnecessary pain. Pilates restores balance.
So, if you suffer from pelvic pain, incontinence – even if it’s a leak when you sneeze or cough, come to One Pilates where we can teach you to balance your pelvis and lift your pelvic floor.