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From a young age, dancers are often taught to “lift their pelvic floors” – but how do you know you’re doing it right?
Common phrases you may have heard throughout your dance journey include “stand up tall”, “activate your core”, “suck your tummy in”, “brace your core”, “tighten your abs”, “pull up” or variations of these. All of these tasks require you to hold your pelvic floor, but are you getting this right? On the flip side, what happens when you do that all day?
Imagine clenching your fist all day. The muscles around your forearm are likely to tense and tighten. This is no different to your pelvic floor muscles. If these muscles tense and tighten and then you add numerous hours of dancing every week, you’re most likely going to experience some pelvic floor symptoms.
With this in mind, it is crucial for dancers to know more than just how to activate their core and pelvic floor. It is just as important for them to know how to relax their core to prevent dysfunction. Dancers and performing artists are at risk of pain related to the above dysfunction but are also at risk for associated urinary incontinence.
Research evidence shows that 75.6% of female volleyball players and 72.7% of trampolining athletes experience urinary incontinence. There is less research specifically on the dancing population, however, the repetitive high-impact activity that is involved in both volleyball and trampolining can be very similar to dancing, acrobatic sports, and performing arts. These athletes have to constantly produce enough force to push off the ground to jump and equally absorb the force of landing. They need to know how to activate and strengthen their pelvic floor to counteract these high-impact activities.
Dancing and acrobatics are certainly no different! If you do experience difficulty knowing how to use your core, urge incontinence, or slight leakage, it is recommended that you have this assessed.
A pelvic physiotherapist can assess and teach you how to strengthen and relax your core (and pelvic floor) to be in optimal form to dance.
~ Zeba Haroon