#30 Pelvic floor health for competitive athletes with Strength coach and Pelvic Floor Specialise Rachel Smith

There’s an unspoken problem within the lifting community - pelvic floor health. Many lifters, specifically powerlifters, are unaware that their pelvic floor health is dysfunctional and impacting their training. 

My friend, Rachel Smith, is a pelvic floor specialist, powerlifter, coach, and gym owner. Rachel joins us on today’s episode to educate us on the importance of pelvic floor health. 

In this episode, Rachel recounts the signs she saw in her training that indicated her pelvic floor might be dysfunctional. Her personal journey with her own pelvic floor health inspired her to create a dialogue within the female fitness community around pelvic floor health. She shares her research around pelvic floors, training techniques she recommends, and what her vision is for the future education of pelvic floor health in the fitness community. Outside of her specialty, Rachel also tells us about the community she has built through starting her gym and shares advice she has for other coaches. 

Listen to Episode 30 of Fitness Unfiltered to learn more! 

Some Questions I Ask:

• How did you start gaining your pelvic floor expertise and where are you with it now? (02:49)
• What was the feeling for you when you noticed your pelvic floor issues in training? (9:18)
• You went from 1-1+ on one side and 2-3-3+ on the other, what did that look like? (12:24)
• Do you feel that part of people not wanting to do this is because of the pause that it will put on their training right now? (17:33)
• What would you recommend when speaking to people for the first time around breathing and strengthening your TVA? (23:32)
• What is your hope in the work that you’re doing moving forward? (33:18)
• Tell me about the gym building process? (49:39)
• What would you advise other coaches looking to learn more? (59:54)

In This Episode You Will Learn

• The basic mechanics of a pelvic floor (4:21)
• Rachel’s personal pelvic floor health research and applying it to training (4:57) 
• Rachel’s training techniques to improve her pelvic floor health (12:35)
• Why Rachel thinks it’s a mindset switch from short term to long term when people take control of their pelvic floor health (17:53) 
• The importance of relaxing your pelvic floor (21:55)
• Specific breathing techniques that Rachel recommends while training (23:57)
• Rachel’s vision for the future of pelvic floor health education (33:28)
• The importance of coaches and athletes creating a dialogue about taking into account menstrual cycles with training (38:26)
• What to do if you think your pelvic floor is dysfunctional (42:46)
• How the different phases of the menstrual cycles apply to training (45:23)
• The process of creating Rachel’s gym and the community she’s built (49:56)
• How Rachel goes above and beyond for her community (57:18)

Connect with Rachel 

• Instagram