Pelvic Floor Dysfunction
Easily corrected by Denver Pain and Performance Solutions!
Do double-unders and heavy squats make you pee?
Recently, a video about female incontinence during CrossFit workouts has been circulating. While we embrace the idea that women have no need to be embarrassed by this, they should also know it's not something they have to deal with for the rest of their lives.
Urinating during a workout stems from dysfunction in the muscles of the pelvic floor. Often, women will try to combat this by strengthening those muscles with kegel exercises. If the pelvic floor is truly inhibited (not engaging), then this can often solve the problem. However, there are two things to consider: first, you have to ask why the pelvic floor is inhibited in the first place. The answer is that the brain's motor control center has bypassed the pelvic floor and begun activating other muscles in its place to accomplish certain tasks. So while kegels may help, the pelvic floor will not remain engaged adequately until the muscles that have taken over their workload are released. Second, you need to be certain that the problem is actually an inhibited pelvic floor. Urinary incontinence can also stem from an OVER-active pelvic floor. (The muscles engage when they shouldn't, placing pressure on the urethra.) In this case, performing kegel exercies will only make the problem worse.
The solution? A 10 minute correction by a qualified practitioner, capable of first determining the state of the pelvic floor, then determining which other muscles are either compensating for it or being compensated by it, and finally reprogramming the motor pattern by releasing the over-active muscles and engaging the inhibited muscles.