Remember how your mum nagged you about sitting up straight? She was right on the ball as researchers tell us our posture muscles shut down when we slump. So when your chest drops your posture muscles are switched off. This is a problem in the long term as when we sit, stand and walk, these muscles are meant to be continuously switched on. In the long term, chronically poor posture will weaken their ability to hold you upright.

The core muscles switch on and hold us upright for long periods of time when we grow tall through the crown of our heads and teach our brain this is the ‘normal’ posture. Our inner cylinder of core muscles is made up of the domed diaphragm above, the transversus abdominis around, spinal multifidus at the back and the pelvic floor underneath. The pelvic floor is the Queen of the core muscles as researchers tell us it’s the FIRST muscle in the body to tension when we move (milliseconds before our movement muscles). The other core muscles should automatically tension along with the pelvic floor so they work as an effective inner cylinder of protective muscle for the pelvic floor and spine.

These core muscles coordinate smoothly in a body without any dysfunction. In the clinic, I find my clients with pelvic floor  and lumbar dysfunction have delayed core muscle activation, or it’s uncoordinated with outer abdominal muscles which are too dominant. Clinically we find different types of pelvic floor muscle problem and I will write about the different types of pelvic floors next time.

The most important life time exercise for your pelvic floor is to continually grow tall through the crown of your head when ever you are upright against gravity. Notice how your pelvic floor muscles draw up more effectively when you are  ’Crowning’.