When you hear the words pelvic floor, you might immediately start to feel uncomfortable thinking about “down there”.
The pelvic floor has a much bigger role to play than just bladder control.
The pelvic floor is a group of muscles that sits at the base of the pelvis. Together with the abdominal muscles, diaphragm and muscles around the spine and pelvis, it forms part of the body’s deep support system.
And like all muscles, the pelvic floor needs to be able to contract, relax and respond to movement.
Your pelvic floor is part of your core.
The word “core” is often used to describe the abdominal muscles, particularly the muscles you can see.
But your core is much more than the abs.
It includes all the muscles surrounding the trunk and pelvis, including the pelvic floor and the breathing diaphragm.
These muscles work together to provide support and stability as you move.
Think about picking up something heavy like weights, coughing or sneezing.
Your body needs to respond to changes in movement with something called intra-abdominal pressure.
The pelvic floor plays a crucial part in this response.
The original pilates method places an emphasis on developing postural integrity and functional movement.
Rather than isolating individual muscles, it teaches the body to coordinate movement through integration.
This is particularly relevant to the pelvic floor.
The goal isn’t to keep the pelvic floor “switched on” or contracted all the time.
In functional movement, muscles need to be able to activate when required and release when they are no longer needed.
Learning this coordination takes awareness and practice.
Breathing matters too
Breath and the pelvic floor are also closely connected.
The diaphragm is the main muscle of respiration and sits at the top of the abdominal cavity, while the pelvic floor sits at the bottom.
As you breathe, pressure within the trunk changes. The pelvic floor needs to respond to these changes as part of the body’s overall system of support.
This is why there is so much emphasis on breathing in pilates. It’s part of how coordination of movement is trained and developed.
One of the biggest misconceptions about pelvic floor training is that stronger means tighter.
But a healthy, functional muscle needs both strength and the ability to relax. Constantly holding or gripping the pelvic floor isn’t necessarily functional.
Awareness of the relationship between the pelvic floor, breath, abdominal muscles, spine and pelvis is the goal.
As we move through different stages of life, the demands placed on the body change.
Pregnancy, childbirth, hormonal changes, ageing, changes in activity and different types of exercise can all influence pelvic floor function.
But pelvic floor awareness isn’t just something to think about when there’s a problem.
It’s part of understanding your body and how it supports you through everyday movement.
The pelvic floor doesn’t work on its own.
It’s one part of an interconnected system that allows us to breathe, stabilise, move and respond to the physical demands of life.
Understanding how the pelvic floor works, and it’s relationship with the rest of your body is one of the basics of functional movement.
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