Brace Yourself: lifting heavy and your pelvic floor

🏋🏾‍♀️ You’ve probably heard “exhale on effort” to protect your pelvic floor during exercise. And that’s not wrong…

But when you’re lifting heavy weights, exhaling mid-lift could leave you folding in half like a suitcase (and injuring your back whilst you’re at it) 🙂

Protecting your pelvic floor and lifting heavy aren’t mutually exclusive—you can do both

Enter: bracing (also known as valsava)

Bracing traps air inside the ‘canister’, creating pressure that stabilises your core and protects your spine during heavy lifts. But to brace properly, your pelvic floor needs to be strong and supportive enough to handle the pressure—otherwise, you risk straining your pelvic floor, and losing tension in your brace

Questions? Shoot me an email or book a free 15min consultation!