Running is an activity that puts a lot of pressure on our pelvic floor, but not to worry, the pelvic floor muscles have natural give, and they absorb impact contracting and relaxing as needed each time your foot strikes the ground. The pelvic floor muscles automatically engage as part of our inner core (pelvic floor, diaphragm, abdominals and back muscles) to manage this increase in pressure, provide support for our trunk, and allow us to breath efficiently for optimal performance.
The pelvic floor is a set of muscles, ligaments, nerves and connective tissue that are shaped like a hammock and located within the pelvis at the base of the spine. They silently do their job to help control the opening of your bladder and rectum, provide support for our internal organs and are important for stability of our hips and back.
When your pelvic floor is too tight, too weak, uncoordinated, or experiencing other types of dysfunction it can lead to problems during your run like:
· Urinary incontinence (leakage)
· Urinary urgency (feeling like you need to pee)
· Heaviness or pressure in the pelvic area
· Hip or lower back pain &
· Coning or doming in the abdominal area
These symptoms may become more noticeable during your run, due to the added stress on impact and if ignored can lead to additional musculoskeletal problems or increased severity of your pelvic floor dysfunction.
5 Tips to Keep your Pelvic Floor Healthy During your Run
1. Don’t forget to breathe
Learning how to breathe throughout your run is key to managing intra-abdominal pressure and preventing those pesky pelvic floor dysfunctions. Breathing well helps you to activate your inner core appropriately (and relax it when needed), and it helps to supply the much-needed oxygen to your muscles during your run.
2. Stack your ribs over hips
When your ribcage is stacked over your hips, your diaphragm and pelvic floor are able to work together efficiently. A common problem we will see in women with leakage or low back and hip pain is that they tend to lean backwards during their runs, or they have a larger curvature in their lower back which does not allow the ribs and hips to be stacked. Think about slightly leaning forward when you run to help stack the ribs over your hips.
3. Stop over gripping through your tummy
Over gripping through your abdominal muscles prevents the natural rotation that should occur when you run, and it can also increase pressure down onto your pelvic floor. Remember to breathe, this will help you relax more through your abdominal area and allow your inner core to function properly – remember our muscles should have natural give to absorb impact by contracting and relaxing as needed.
4. Strength Train for your Runs:
Say it louder for the people in the back! Strength training specific to running is very important when it comes to management and prevention of pelvic floor dysfunction. It is important to provide gradual progressive load to your inner core and learn how to coordinate with larger muscle groups to increase your speed, power, and endurance without any pelvic symptoms. Think squats, single leg squats, lunges, heel raise, hops, chops, paloff press – a pelvic health physiotherapist can help you to develop a strength program specific to your running needs. You can also check out our recent blog on 5 Simple Lower Body Exercises to Prepare You for Outdoor Activity.
5. Seek out advice of a pelvic health physiotherapist:
A strong and adaptable pelvic floor allows you to manage pressure appropriately to meet the demands of your run for comfortable leak free or pain-free running. When you are looking for a pelvic health physiotherapist it is important to find someone that listens to your concerns and builds a treatment plan that is specific to your goals. There is no one-size-fits all program out there.
So, you want to run without leakage, run without pelvic pain or pressure, or run post-partum? Your treatment plan may involve doing exercises lying down or sitting, but these types of exercises alonemay not translate into improvements during your run. Running progressions should always be incorporated. Running is an exercise that requires large body movements, repetition, trunk rotation, different intensity levels, and so much more- therefore we must specifically train to meet this demand.