In my previous blog post, I touched on two important roles of the pelvic floor.
- Continence
- Supporting your pelvic organs
In this blog, I will go further in addressing some of the other roles of your pelvic floor. Remember there are five in total for us to get through!!
Provides stability for the pelvis and lower back
Your core muscles are categorised into 2 groups based on their location
1.) Outer/superficial core
The outer core includes your outer abdominal muscles and obliques. These muscles are integral for moving our body and trunk and providing torque and power e.g. after a hard sprint you may feel some abdominal DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness).
2.) Deep Core
The second group is the deep core muscles. Your pelvic floor works with three other muscles as part of this important group. Along with the pelvic floor, transversus abdominus, multifidus and the diaphragm are integral in supporting and stabilising the rest of your body. It helps to think of these muscles as the foundation in which a brick house is built on. This foundation is integral for supporting the house aka “the remainder of the body” in anything you do! This is backed up by research, where Hodges and Richardson, found that the deep core muscles consistently switch on BEFORE you even move your arm and leg.
Sexual Function
I appreciate that this can be a sensitive topic and one that can be difficult to talk about. The pelvic floor is crucial for sexual function and the roles vary depending on gender.
For males, the pelvic floor muscles is important in maintaining an erection. For females, the pelvic floor muscles contract during orgasm.
If you have any weaknesses in the pelvic floor, it can affect your orgasm and ability to experience sexual pleasure. On the other hand, overactivity in the pelvic floor can lead to painful sex and/or painful insertion of a tampon.
We know how this can put strain on your well being as well as your sexual relationships and if it is something that bothers you, a qualified womens/mens health professional can help you! I will be writing up another blog post on this as it is often a huge concern for many of my clients.
Circulation
Lastly, the pelvic floor aids with promoting blood flow to the pelvis integral for circulation. Remember part of the pelvic floor is muscle and like with any other muscle, the contract-relax motion of the muscle will allow blood flow to the region.
So now you know the 5 important roles of the pelvic floor
1.) Support of the pelvic organs
2.) Controlling your urine/stools - continence
3.) Stability of pelvis and lower back
4.) Sexual function
5.) Circulation
I hope that knowing a bit more about the pelvic floor and its five important functions will encourage you to train it! Especially if you feel that any of the above symptoms such as prolapse, incontinence, sexual dysfunction resonate with you. If you would like guidance with this or if you suspect that you have pelvic floor dysfunction, please do not hesitate to reach out to a womens/mens health professional.
