Signs You Have a Tight Pelvic Floor
I know far too many people with tight backs, tight necks, tight shoulders, tight calves.. But what’s interesting is a lot of people don’t realize they also have a tight pelvic floor. To start, let’s go over what the pelvic floor is. It’s a set of muscles that sit in the bottom of your pelvis & supports your internal organs, supports sexual function, controls the release of urine and feces (continence), and contributes to breathing and intrabdominal pressure management.
So the pelvic floor is really important, yet many people are afraid to talk about it or don’t know anything about it.
One of the most important things you need to know about the pelvic floor is that, like any other muscle in the body, it can be weak and/or tight.
This blog post is specifically about having a tight pelvic floor & how you might be able to tell. Here are some common signs that you have a tight pelvic floor (then we’ll talk about what to do about it).
you have tailbone pain - your pelvic floor attaches to your tailbone. If you have tailbone pain, it’s a good sign you have some pelvic muscles pulling on it.
you clench your glutes - next time you’re at the park with your kids or doing dishes, check in with your butt. Are you squeezing your glutes & pushing your hips forward? If you’re clamping down on your glutes, you’re also clamping down on your pelvic floor/tailbone.
you clench your jaw - if you clench your jaw, there’s a good chance your clenching other parts. see “do you clench your glutes” above.
you’re high anxiety / high stress person - the pelvic floor is a very “emotional” muscle. If you’re high stress/anxiety (me!!), then you’re probably holding tension throughout your body, including your pelvic floor.
you struggle with continence - people often blame incontinence (leaking urine, gas, or feces) on a weak pelvic floor, but often it is also a result of a tight pelvic floor. Also - a tight pelvic floor often equals a weak pelvic floor.
you have pain with penetration - if you have a hard time inserting a tampon or cup/disc or deep penetrative sex is painful, it’s a good sign you have a tense pelvic floor & should see a pelvic PT! You do NOT have to live like this.
So you have a tight pelvic floor.. now what to do about it?
Here are my top 4 tips for improving pelvic floor tightness
Learn how to breathe & relax / lengthen your pelvic floor - On the inhale, your pelvic floor should naturally lengthen / relax and on the exhale it should return to resting position (or on a more forceful exhale, contract). Learn to feel the difference between a contracted pelvic floor and a lengthened/relaxed pelvic floor. Check out this video to see if you’re lengthening your pelvic floor on the inhale.
Manual release of your pelvic floor - the best way to do this would be to see a pelvic PT. They can perform the best form of manual release, check your pelvic floor contraction and relaxation, and help you with a personalized approach. But you can also do this on your own. You can do this externally by sitting on a lacrosse or tennis ball (think about trying to get in the area between your sits bones) or internally with a pelvic wand (like this intimate rose pelvic wand).
Work on hip internal rotation - When you externally rotate your hips (think feet pointed out, knees tracking out wide), you shorten your pelvic floor muscles. When you internally rotate your hips (think knees in, ankles out), you lengthen your pelvic floor muscles. Improving hip mobility & hip internal rotation will help you find more mobility in your pelvic floor. =
Increase glute strength - the glutes are the pelvic floor’s best friend. When the glutes are strong, they do the heavy lifting (no pun intended) so your pelvic floor doesn’t have to. So lift heavy and grow your buns. For an added benefit, add internal rotation to your glute exercises (like this rotational RDL). This allows you to maximize glute length, which will in turn allow you to maximize glute strength (a muscles needs to lengthen before it can contract).
So what do you think? Do you have a tight pelvic floor? If you do, you should check out my free “How to Optimize Your Core Training” e-book at the link below. It will help you understand your core & pelvic floor better.
