What is your pelvic floor?
As explained by Pelvic Floor First, your pelvic floor includes the muscles that “stretch like a hammock from the pubic bone (at the front) to the coccyx or tail-bone (at the back) and from side to side.” Two video diagrams are included in the article that pinpoint exactly where it is for both women and men to get a better understanding.
Why is it important for cammers to maintain their pelvic floor?
An imbalance in the pelvis makes it difficult to relax and coordinate the muscles as discussed by the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. So much of a cammer’s job is related to how well this area works so if it not functioning properly, it will affect your shows and your life.
Further, issues with the pelvic floor can occur at any age and keeping this part of your body healthy now is great preventative medicine for the future.
What problems occur with an unbalanced pelvic floor?
Better Health tells us that when that area has instability you can look forward to incontinence, constipation, passing gas when bending over, lower back pain, recurrent urinary tract infections, pain with sex, inability to orgasm, reduced feeling in the vagina, erectile disfunction, and a host of other icky complications you don’t want to face.
What causes problems with your pelvic floor?
For women imbalance can be caused by pregnancy, painful periods, endometriosis, and lower levels of estrogen after menopause, for men as discussed by the Continence Foundation of Australia it can occur with “persistent heavy lifting, high impact exercise, and surgery for bladder or bowel problems.” Both sexes can experience pelvic floor instability due to aging, obesity, constipation and straining in the bathroom, constant coughing (like a smoker’s cough), and stress and anxiety, to name a few causes.
How can you achieve pelvic floor health?
Exercises abound across the Internet so do a search to find the ones that speak to you. One great program to check out is Dr. Bri’s Vibrant Pelvic Health YouTube channel which has a ton of information and a variety of workouts that both sexes can do.
Disclaimer
If you already have pelvic floor problems, you need to determine before starting any program if your muscles are too tight or too weak. Women can read about symptoms of both in this article by Expecting and Empowered, and men can check out this article for issues with tightness by Cathy Watson Physiotherapy and weakness in Hims.
However, the best and safest way to determine what your issue may be is to see a licensed pelvic floor physical therapist – this article is not meant to take the place of medical advice.
Main photo credit: iStock.com/7activestudio
First photo credit: iStock.com/ABTOP
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Alyssa Collins hails from Minnesota, where snowy days were the perfect excuse to stay warm inside and write. Over the years, she turned that joy into a career and has authored numerous articles for various publications (under pen names). Email Alyssa via alyssa@ynot.com.
