Unfortunately, busy as we are chasing six pack abs, glorious glutes or super shoulders, many of us do not even think about our pelvic floor until we experience a problem.  If you’ve ever suffered from back pain, incontinence, constipation or pain during sex it could be due to pelvic floor dysfunction.  But who wants to talk about that?

Because pelvic floor dysfunction is much more common in women it is often dismissed by men who fail to recognize the critical role the pelvic floor plays in athletics.  Because I’ve had a history of back pain, I had to be taught early on how to engage my pelvic floor in order to brace when lifting.  To this day some basic Kegels exercises are part of my warm up and cool down routine.  Every day.

We all know that core strength is essential but most of us don’t really understand what the core is.  Your core musculature is shaped like a drum.  When we talk about the core we often focus our attention on the sides of that drum like the transverse abdominis and the obliques but pay little attention to the critical roles played by the diaphragm at the top of that cylinder and the pelvic floor at the bottom.   And yet, if you want to lift a heavy weight, it is these muscles that play the critical role in creating the internal pressure necessary to stabilize and protect your spine.

Because the diaphragm and pelvic floor work together and are reflexively connected, practicing correct breathing is an important key for recruiting the pelvic floor.

Rocking is a quick and easy way to reflexively recruit the pelvic floor, it is one of the reasons why rocking plays such an important role in the Original Strength program and is so effective for back rehab.  Babies use a basic hands and knees rock to set the natural curvature of their spines and develop reflexive pelvic floor engagement.  I have used rocking successfully to relieve a grumpy back after I’ve overdone it in a workout.  

 

DU Pee?  It is the embarrassing secret of many CrossFit Games female athletes that they often wear adult diapers in preparation for double under events.  Kelly Starret points out that while peeing during double unders may be a symptom of pelvic floor weakness, this is not always the case.  It is possible that the pelvic floor muscles are not recruited because of poor posture.  Next time you’re doing double unders, check yourself.  Are you in a position which allows you to engage your glutes?  If not, adjust and see if correct posture during double unders helps you avoid the DU dribbles.

The Pelvic floor plays such an important role in your health and athletic performance, it is a shame that we are so shy to discuss it.  All of our Original Strength workouts address it whether you realize it or not and this is one of the reasons that regular resets have made so many of us healthier, stronger and helped us recover from and prevent injury.  From now on, when you think about the core, remember to also consider the top and bottom  of that drum-like cylinder, the diaphragm and pelvic floor.

 

Monday Make Up Day

1) Isabel
30 Snatches

2) 2 Rounds:
1 Mile Run
100 Sit Ups

3) 100 Hip & Back Extensions
Every pause or break complete 15 wall balls

4) 21.08.17
4 Rounds:
25/18 cal Row
25 Push Ups

5) Empower Reset #21
1 min Breathing on Back

30/30 sec Head Nods/Rotations
30 Cross touch Dead Bugs

10 Egg Rolls
30 Windshield Wipers

10 Rocking Chairs
30/30 sec Prone Head Nods/Rotations

1/1 min Upper/Lower Body Rolls

20 Judo Push Up Rock
30 Cross touch Bird Dogs

10 Sit Throughs
10 Cross touch Plank Bird Dogs

3 mins Shin Box Basic & with Hip Raises
1 min Leopard Box Crawl
1 min Crab Box Crawl

10 Full Body Rock
20 Cross Crawls

10 Cross Crawl Squats with head turn
10 Cross Crawl Lunges with head turn

Kung Fu Stick