Pelvic floor training typically is not top of mind UNTIL there is an issue. But, did you know that we can use a proactive approach towards preventing pelvic floor disorders from occurring
Pelvic floor dysfunction can range from severe symptoms that keep women from participating in everyday activities to a minor nucence that is often normalized. The key word in that last sentence is, normalized. A mentor once told me, "there is no amount of urine leakage that is normal".
My first experience with pelvic floor dysfunction came after I had the boys. I was completely uninformed about what to expect my body to feel like. I had never experienced leakage not did I realize that I would feel like there was literally a watermelon size hole in my abdomen. The first time I went for a run, I was completely unprepared for the way that my body would feel after giving birth to twins.
I had no way to train which is a main form of stress relief and helps me just feel normal. Everything was HARD, my back hurt, my body felt twisted and I had terrible urge incontinence. My OB told me, "you just need to start slow and beging walking and doing those crunches again." He said, "your abdominal wall is split and if it does not close at one year, you will have a diastasis forever."
All I knew was how to train a fully intact body, not recover from pregnancy. At this point, I had been a trainer for 12 years and never been introduced to postpartum recovery strategies.
When the boys were 3 I started using Pelvicore Pro and studying the mecahnics of the female chain reaction. This was about the time when Diane Lee's work started coming into practice and fitness pros were able to deliver proper training to women. I learned about ribcage and breath mechanics. SLOWLY, my body began to change and I started to learn how to relax my core and fully load my abdominal wall and pelvic floor. The medical doctors were still talking kegel, but I was learning way more. Even better, I could actually workout and feel like I was doing more than just laying on the ground contracting my vagina.
If you have been with me for a while, you will recognize these gems from the old days when I was preganant with my second set of twins. The boys were 4 so there was little downtime, unlike the first pregnancy. But I trained my core in an integrated way! What a massive difference that made for my recovery!
Recovery was better, not nearly as much leakage despite a vaginal birth but I absolutely remember struggling on our walks and timing hydration so I did not have to stop and find a secluded bush to go potty. YUP!! That definitely happened.
I had two infants, and two 4 year olds, so NOT exercising was never an option!! But, what that exercsie looked like, took a while. My diastasis was HUGE, ten fingers, sternum to pubis. I closed it to 5 when standing and reduced depth to less than 1 inch but I was still struggling to maintain pelvic stability which meant my back took the hit!
When the girls were 4 and the boys were 8, I decied to go in for a full abdominoplasty to correct my diastasis. At least, superficially. The posterior abdominal wall is still split, so rehab was long and incremental. You can see below, one week before surgery that my contracted picture was a very strained posture where I could hold it and breathe but that would cause more pelvic tension.
At rest, by the end of the day, I had no control over my abdominal wall. It was exhausting! So, I moved forward with surgery! You can find the entire recovery series on my blog. I even documented nutrition strategy as tissue healing demands smart nutrition.
So, now let's fast forward 5 years and continue this journey of training the core and pelvic floor in an integrated way!
Do not ever let anyone tell you that pelvic floor dysfunction is NORMAL and that you simply have to live with it! Even more important, train your body now to prepare for the shifts that we experience as we age! The foot changes which changes the load to the hips which impacts the load to the pelvic floor and core.
The density, elasticity and extensibility of our connective tissue changes as well which affects how well we are able to load into a movement and then come back out. Breath mechanics are altered and we have to intentionally engage in training strategies that trigger deep, full breaths which affects the diaphragm.
Integrated pelvic floor and core training are foundational to all of my one on one coaching programs! If we experience dysfunction in the pelvic floor and core, it literally impacts all areas of health from how much water we want to drink to our ability to have consistent bowel movements. It also affects our exercise choices.
Today, I would love to share an oldie but goodie! This is a live integrated session I filmed two years ago when I broke my foot. I intentionally filmed it when I broke my foot because I wanted to show that even in a boot, you can still exercise!!
I hope you enjoy this session and it inspires you to keep exploring training strategies that build up your movement arsenal!!
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