Got pain? Got urge? Got checked? When was the last time you checked in with your body and noticed that the way you position your posture could be contributing to your pain? At Motivate, we commonly see men develop abnormal posture due to the demands of their job such as prolonged sitting and/or hunching over. These demands put strain on the body which presents as a posterior pelvic tilt (PPT) or a tucked tailbone. Over time the body learns to “cheat” or overwork the butt muscles due to weakness in other core muscles such as the hip flexors or abs. This “butt gripping,” coined by a PT named Diane Lee, can lead to pelvic floor tightness, weakness, pain and dysfunction.
Postural issues will continue to develop such as shoulder rounding and forward head protrusion from being hunching over. This will affect your center of mass, most often shifting it too far forward causing more weight through the balls of the feet instead of over the center of your arches. Overall, this posture, when left unchecked, can cause unhealthy spinal positioning, imbalanced core muscle use, ongoing pain, and worsen your pelvic floor issues such as urinary urge. So what should you do about it?
STEP ONE: CHECK-IN
Take a moment to just check-in and look in a mirror to become aware of your posture and how you are positioning your body in space. This is self-care 101.
STEP TWO: RELAX
Try to relax your glutes to help take pressure off the pelvic floor and low back.
STEP THREE: RETRACT
Pull back or retract your shoulders to establish an upright posture through the upper back and neck.
These three steps can start you on your journey of living a more pain-free, stress-free, and pelvic floor issue-free life!
If you have tried all of these things and feel like nothing helps, pelvic floor therapy works! Free consults are available.
Change Starts Here.