Hey Reader,

Have you been following along this week as we step through the 4 points of my pelvic floor assessment for runners?

If so, you know 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.

Over the past few days, we’ve been going beyond isolating the pelvic floor action to how it integrates with movement (strength training, running and jumping) and the rest of the body.

1- On Monday, we looked at how the pelvic floor works as part of your pressure management system and how the other pieces in this system can influence the pelvic floor.

2 - On Tuesday, we saw how a responsive pelvic floor works through length. We need to go beyond lifting and squeezing and learn to load through length.

3 - Today, we are going to look at rotation and how the pelvic floor loads through stance phase side to side.

Don’t forget, you just can get it all in one shot -- experiencing, seeing and feeling it in real time through The Pelvic Floor Audit. It’s a FREE virtual workshop for female runners who want to enjoy running without worrying about their pelvic floor all the time. The visuals, interaction, and live feedback during the workshop make the process much clearer.

The Pelvic Floor Audit will be held live this coming Sunday, March 22 at 12pm EST.

​Click here to learn more now. ​

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3 - Hip Rotation: The Pelvic Floor Has Four Quadrants

Another key concept in the Pelvic Floor Audit is that the pelvic floor isn’t just one uniform structure. It functions more like four quadrants:

• Front
• Back
• Left
• Right

Imagine drawing a circle and placing a cross inside it. Each section represents a quadrant.

Because running involves reciprocal rotation through the pelvis, these quadrants must coordinate with each other dynamically. Internal and external rotation of the hips requires different areas of the pelvic floor to respond at different times.

When the front of the pelvic floor shortens and the back lengthens, that corresponds with external rotation. This is the phase of the stride where you’re propelling forward, moving toward toe-off.

When the front of the pelvic floor narrows and the back opens, like what you might feel during a hinge movement or when you create length in your back pocket, that corresponds with internal rotation. This is the phase where you’re absorbing force and putting energy into the ground.

These patterns happen reciprocally from side to side while running. As you load one leg, the pelvis rotates and the pelvic floor responds dynamically in each quadrant.

As we already saw in yesterday’s email, if you can’t lengthen the back of the pelvic floor effectively, the system struggles to move into internal rotation. That makes it harder to absorb force properly and prevents that natural lift through length from occurring.

This is why you can do all the breathing exercises and Kegels in the world, but if those exercises aren’t coordinated with your stride mechanics and rotational patterns, the improvements often don’t transfer into running.

When we translate this to our running stride it requires the body to shift weight side to side, loading the right leg, then the left, then back again. The pelvic floor must be able to reciprocally find length in one back pocket and then the other.

Hip Rotation Assessment:

The third point of the Pelvic Floor Audit evaluates hip rotation.

This assessment gives insight into how well your hips move through internal and external rotation, which directly relates to how the pelvic floor quadrants coordinate during running.

This test is easiest to perform lying on your back.

1. Lie on the floor with your feet on the wall, as if you were standing on the wall while lying down.
2. Bend one leg so the hip and knee are at about 90 degrees.
3. Your thigh should remain vertical, while your lower leg stays parallel to the floor.
4. Without moving the thigh, rotate the hip so that your foot swings inward, and then rotate so your foot swings outward.

These two movements represent the two rotational directions:

• Foot swings inward → External rotation
  • More length in the front of the pelvic floor
  • Shortening in the back of the pelvic floor
• Foot swings outward → Internal rotation
  • More length in the back of the pelvic floor
  • Shortening/lifting in the front of the pelvic floor

During this assessment, many people notice that one side rotates differently than the other. One hip may struggle more with internal rotation, while the other struggles with external rotation.

This asymmetry can help us understand how the four quadrants of the pelvic floor are functioning. In some cases, the entire system may struggle to find length. In other cases, the issue may be more side-specific, which can guide how you approach training or treatment.

Stay tuned for tomorrow as we look all the way down at the feet. Yes, feet! This can be the missing piece for those who have tried it all!

Again, you just can get it all in one shot -- experiencing, seeing and feeling it in real time through The Pelvic Floor Audit. It’s a FREE virtual workshop for female runners who want to enjoy running without worrying about their pelvic floor all the time. The visuals, interaction, and live feedback during the workshop make the process much clearer.

The Pelvic Floor Audit will be held live this coming Sunday, March 22 at 12pm EST.

​Click here to learn more now. ​

Your Coach,
Alison

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