Hey Reader,

Before we get into the details, I want to remind you that all of this and more will be part of my live virtual workshop, The Pelvic Floor Audit. Which will take place on March 22nd.

During this workshop, we’ll walk through my four-point assessment designed to help you determine the primary contributing factors behind your pelvic floor symptoms. All so that you can run freely and confidently without worrying about your pelvic floor symptoms.

In this email, begin by defining what normal pelvic floor function looks like in everyday life. Then we’ll discuss common red flags that may indicate dysfunction, look at some surprising statistics about how often these issues occur, and explore how pelvic floor function connects directly to your running stride. Then in my next email, early next week, I’m going to talk to walk you through the framework of that four-point assessment.

However, if I’m honest, this material is even better when you can see it and experience it in real time. The visuals, interaction, and live feedback during the workshop make the process much clearer.

​Click here to learn more and register now….. Did I mention it's FREE?

Still, this email will give you a solid overview of how the pelvic floor integrates with the rest of your body and how pelvic floor health connects with your movement, strength training, and running mechanics. This is not about lying on the floor doing isolated breathing exercises. It’s about understanding how the pelvic floor works as part of a whole-body movement system.

Understanding Pelvic Floor Function

What Normal Pelvic Floor Function Looks Like

Let’s start with the basics. In daily life, normal pelvic floor function generally includes the following:

• You urinate every two to four hours, not more frequently.
• You wake to urinate zero to one time per night.
• Sexual activity is comfortable and pleasurable.
• There is no leaking of urine or stool.
• Bowel movements occur without straining or forcing.

This may sound straightforward, but it’s common for these norms to get disrupted.

As a middle school teacher, I actually end up discussing this topic with my students during our on human body systems, specifically when we talk about the urinary system. Some of my middle school girls ask to use the bathroom every single class period. That means they’re trying to go about once every hour.

Realistically, they’re probably not actually peeing every time. Sometimes they just want a break from class or a few minutes on their phone (I’ve gotten really good at recognizing the quick slip of the phone from the backpack to a pocket or tucked under a sweatshirt!). But going to the bathroom more often than needed can train the bladder to empty more frequently than necessary, which can create problems later on.

While that’s a bit of a funny classroom anecdote, it highlights something important: our habits and patterns can train our pelvic floor system, for better or worse.

But pelvic floor health isn’t only about bladder and bowel function. It’s about how you move.

Runners with well-functioning pelvic floors tend to have a stride that looks smooth, elastic, and almost effortless. Their movement flows.

This is something people rarely consider: pelvic floor symptoms are more than just an annoying and embarrassing, they are a clue that you’re also probably losing energy somewhere in your stride.

Red Flags of Pelvic Floor Dysfunction

Pelvic floor dysfunction can show up in a variety of ways. Some of the most common red flags include:

• Needing to urinate more often than every two hours
• Pain in the pelvic floor or surrounding joints (Low back pain is extremely common with pelvic floor dysfunction)
• Urinary or fecal leakage
• Hemorrhoids
• Painful intercourse
• Constipation or straining during bowel movements
• A stride that feels clunky or inefficient

Many people only think of pelvic floor issues in terms of leaking, but the pelvic floor is deeply integrated with the rest of your movement system. When something is off, the effects often show up elsewhere in the body.

The Statistics Behind Pelvic Floor Dysfunction

The numbers surrounding pelvic floor disfunction tell us that if you are experiencing symptoms, you are not alone (pssst, we all just need to get more comfortable talking about it so no one feels that way.)

Take these statistics from a 2008 study (1). Among nulliparous women, women who have never had children, about 12.8% experience pelvic floor dysfunction.

That percentage increases with childbirth:

• 18.4% of women who have had one child
• 24.6% of women who have had two children
• 32.4% of women who have had three or more children

But here’s the statistic that tends to be more surprising…

Among collegiate athletes, about 33% experience pelvic floor dysfunction, and the average age in this group is under 24 years old.

This means one out of three high-level athletes—many of whom have never had children—are experiencing symptoms like leaking when they jump, sneeze, or run.

Heck, I’ve been told one more than one occasion that some of you used to “wear peeing at the finish line in a cross country meet as a badge of honor. It meant you left everything out there on the course.”

Leaking Isn’t Just Embarrassing—It’s a Power Problem

This is the important piece you need to understand!

Leaking isn’t just embarrassing.

It’s a power problem.

Symptoms like leaking are clues that something in your system isn’t working efficiently. Peeing during a run may be a sign that your body isn’t managing forces well as you move.

That has both enjoyment and performance implications. If your body can’t manage those forces well, you’re probably not producing as much power in your stride as you could be.

Many runners cope with symptoms by:

• Always wearing black running shorts
• Using pads during runs
• Planning routes around bathrooms
• Holding back during hard efforts or race finishes

Those workarounds might feel easier than trying to solve the problem. Putting time and effort into something uncertain can feel frustrating.

But the key insight here is that leaking is a symptom, not the root problem.

And often that symptom is telling you that your movement system isn’t capturing and using energy as effectively as it could.

Reducing pelvic floor symptoms often goes hand-in-hand with improving how efficiently you load into mid-stance and propel forward during running.

The pelvic floor is intimately connected to how your body absorbs and produces power with each stride.

The Pelvic Floor Fundamentals Framework

Inside my full Pelvic Floor Fundamentals course, I teach seven core principles that explain how the pelvic floor functions within the body:

1. The pelvic floor is part of the whole system.
2. The pelvic floor works through length, not just squeezing.
3. The pelvic floor has four quadrants.
4. The adductors and glutes are windows into pelvic floor function.
5. The foot is also a window into the pelvic floor.
6. The pelvic floor is dynamic, not static.
7. Overall strength supports pelvic floor health.

These ideas help us understand that building pelvic floor function isn’t about isolating a single muscle. It’s about creating a dynamic, coordinated system.

The Pelvic Floor Audit is designed to help you identify which pieces of that system might need the most attention.

The Four Points of the Pelvic Floor Audit

In the next email (coming Monday) we’ll relate these 7 fundamentals to the following four-point assessment that forms the backbone of the Pelvic Floor Audit.​

1. Stack and pressure management
2. Length in the posterior chain
3. Hip rotational capacity
4. Foot rotational capacity

Go beyond breathing, squeezing and isolated pelvic floor strengthening and identify the root cause so that you can run freely, without worry!

My 4 point assessment goes beyond isolating the pelvic floor action to how it integrates with movement (strength training, running and jumping) and the rest of the body.

​Register for the FREE Pelvic Floor Audit here.​

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Until Monday....

Your Coach,
Alison

References:

1- Nygaard I, Barber MD, Burgio KL, Kenton K, Meikle S, Schaffer J, Spino C, Whitehead WE, Wu J, Brody DJ; Pelvic Floor Disorders Network. Prevalence of symptomatic pelvic floor disorders in US women. JAMA. 2008 Sep 17;300(11):1311-6. doi: 10.1001/jama.300.11.1311. PMID: 18799443; PMCID: PMC2918416.

Alison Marie Helms, PhD Certified Personal Trainer and Running Coach Unlock your full running potential through physics and physiology. ​Work with me.​