Originally published on May 2, 2022 by Vital Physiotherapy & Wellness, now part of the Bravella Health network. Original author: Nathalie.
What is your Inner Core?
What is your inner core? Why on earth is it so important? Good Question! First, let’s try and paint a picture of what your inner core exactly is. Imagine your inner core as a barrel which is made up of 4 main muscle groups:[1,2]
Pelvic floor muscles at the bottom
Diaphragm, which is your breathing muscle, at the top
Multifidus, which is your deep spine muscles, at the back
Transversus abdominis, which is your deep ab muscle, in the front
Imagine this barrel holds pressure and, just like a pressure cooker you’d use in your kitchen, we want all these surfaces to work properly so none of it is able to get out. Your inner core is a dynamic system that is constantly working together. When your inner core is working properly, taking a deep breath makes our diaphragm contract and drop downwards towards the floor. At the same time our pelvic floor muscles will relax and move downwards as well. When we exhale the diaphragm relaxes and recoils back up towards the sky and our pelvic floor will contract and go back up.[4] Your deep spinal muscles contract to give your spine stability and help give us proper posture. Our deep abdominal muscles will fire before our limbs even move as a way of stabilizing the spine and pelvis before we move.[3]
So why is this important to know? Well, when one of these systems stops working optimally, the others kick in and work overtime to pick up the slack. Pelvic floor dysfunctions can happen when our bodies can’t manage the internal pressure system (think of the pressure cooker!).[1] When we have poor posture all day everyday this can cause muscle imbalance and your inner core might not be able to work optimally![5] When one or more of your inner core units stops doing its job this puts a lot of stress on the remaining units. When our systems can’t handle this increase in pressure anymore, that’s when we start having trouble with bladder leaking, urinary frequency, constipation, uncontrollably passing gas, pain with intercourse, abdominal separation, pelvic pain, low back pain and even hip pain.
The good news is these symptoms aren’t something you have to live with! Want to know more? Contact us with your questions or book an appointment here or email
References
- Hodges PW, Sapsford R, Pengel LHM. Postural and respiratory functions of the pelvic floor muscles. Neurourol Urodyn. 2007;26(3):362-371. doi:10.1002/nau.20232
- Sapsford RR, Hodges PW, Richardson CA, Cooper DH, Markwell SJ, Jull GA. Co-activation of the abdominal and pelvic floor muscles during voluntary exercises. Neurourol Urodyn. 2001;20(1):31-42. doi:10.1002/1520-6777(2001)20:1<31::AID-NAU5>3.0.CO;2-P
- Hodges PW, Richardson CA. Feedforward contraction of transversus abdominis is not influenced by the direction of arm movement. Exp Brain Res. 1997;114(2):362-370. doi:10.1007/PL00005644
- Talasz H, Kremser C, Kofler M, Kalchschmid E, Lechleitner M, Rudisch A. Phase-locked parallel movement of diaphragm and pelvic floor during breathing and coughing—a dynamic MRI investigation in healthy females. Int Urogynecol J. 2011;22(1):61-68. doi:10.1007/s00192-010-1240-z
- Sapsford RR, Richardson CA, Maher CF, Hodges PW. Pelvic floor muscle activity in different sitting postures in continent and incontinent women. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2008;89(9):1741-1747. doi:10.1016/j.apmr.2008.01.029
Let’s Book Your First Appointment
You can relax knowing that you have options. Instead, you can stop feeling like it is your fault and get ready for a life-changing experience.
