We have discussed, in depth, how important the transversus abdominus (TA) is to a maximum pelvic floor contraction.  These lower abdominal fibers that begin below our ribs and funnel down into our pelviscontract in coordination with the levator ani muscle of our pelvic floor.  The muscle fibers of our TA act like a corset as they wrap around our abdomen and pelvis instead of running up and down or at a diagonal like our other abdominal muscles.  Much like a corset, these fibers tighten, forcing the air within our abdomen and pelvis up under our ribs as we draw our … Continue Reading

I recently read through two different sites with the bloggers writing about how Kegels are worthless.  If I could delete these entries just as quick as I read them, I would so that it didn’t cause any more confusion for all of you searching for answers.  Do I agree that pelvic floor strengthening has been over-simplified – YES!  But to say that you don’t have to do another Kegel is simply not correct.  Our pelvic floor is a muscular area with the ability to tighten on the urethra (the pathway from the bladder to our urethral opening in our pelvic … Continue Reading

Let’s talk abs for a bit. Did you know that you have different kinds of abs that perform very different actions? There is the rectus abdominus, which are our 6-pack abs, that start just below our sternum and run down to our pubic bone. It is the rectus abdominus (RA) that people are talking about when they say, “check out his/her abs!” The true function of our RA is to curl our spine forward, bringing our ribs closer to our pelvis. Everytime we contract our RA, we compress our abdominal and pelvic cavities, increasing our … Continue Reading