Pelvic Health Performance

Our tailored programs prioritise pelvic health as a cornerstone for optimising athletic performance, mitigating long-term health risks, and fostering a supportive environment for both athletes and their performance and conditioning teams.

Pelvic Floor Dysfunction (PFD) in athletes refers to the impaired strength, coordination, or control of pelvic floor muscles, often resulting in symptoms such as incontinence, pelvic pain, or pressure that can negatively impact performance and quality of life. The muscles can also impact recovery from back and lower limb injuries such as hip, groin and back pain.
Menstrual health in athletes involves the regularity, symptoms, and hormonal balance of the menstrual cycle.
Tracking, education and providing supervised modification for training can optimise performance across the cycle.
Monitoring menstrual health is critical for availability due to illness, REDs and reducing risk of injury.
Breast health in athletes focuses on managing discomfort, supporting breast tissue during high-impact activities, and ensuring proper bra fit to optimize performance and reduce the risk of musculoskeletal strain or long-term complications.
Pelvic floor assessment during pregnancy is crucial for athletes to address changes in muscle strength, support, and control, helping to prevent complications such as incontinence or pelvic pain while promoting a safe return to sport postpartum.

87.8% of athletes perceived a negative impact from their menstrual cycle on performance. (Hayward 2024)

At least 30% of athletes report urinary incontinence; rates up to 80% in high-impact sports. (Dakic 2023)

Why Focus on Pelvic Health in Performance?

For athletes, the pelvic floor is foundational; it supports biomechanical efficiency, prevents injuries, and enhances performance.

We work with organisations, teams and individual players to provide team profiling, monitoring, education and treatment programs.

Pelvic health encompasses the optimal functioning of the pelvic floor muscles, ligaments, and organs, which play a role in core stability, continence, and overall well-being.

Ignoring it can lead to issues like urinary incontinence or pelvic pain, which has been shown to affect an athlete's performance, concentration and training capacity.

Treatment can include specific exercise programs, collaborative modification of training and dietary factors, containment or support devices including bra measurement.

For Athletes

Early Action: Reach out to address symptoms like urinary incontinence to prevent impact on performance.

Education: Learn about pelvic health and recognise symptoms of dysfunction.

Strengthening Exercises: Integrate pelvic floor muscle training into a full conditioning program.

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For Coaches and Conditioning

Open Dialogue: Create a safe environment for athletes to discuss health issues.

Make it a Priority: Integrate pelvic health as a standard part of athlete development.

Team specific: Provide individualised education and screening that integrates pelvic health as part of standard performance health.

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Learning Materials

Educate: Review resources of the Female Performance and Health Initiative Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) and Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)

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Gender Matters

Gender-specific training programs and support systems significantly improve outcomes for athletes, especially the rise of the female elite sportsperson.
Exploring factors beyond sports that may affect pelvic health, such as genetics, hormonal changes, and childbirth.
Inclusivity

The emphasis should always be on inclusivity and creating safe spaces to address these concerns.
For female athletes, hormonal fluctuations and anatomical structure often predispose them to conditions like urinary incontinence or pelvic organ prolapse as well as differences in injury risk profiles (ACL injury, concussion and bone stress).
Gender-diverse athletes might have unique needs based on hormonal therapy or surgical history, requiring personalized interventions.
Image: Dakic JG, Hay-Smith EJC, Lin K, et al. Women’s preferences for pelvic floor screening in sport and exercise: a mixed-methods study integrating survey and interview data in Australian women. British Journal of Sports Medicine 2023;57:1539-1549.
Pregnancy and Return-to-play

Preparation starts pre-conception. A strong and well-conditioned pelvic floor can significantly ease the physical demands of pregnancy and labor while expediting postpartum recovery. Athletes with good baseline pelvic health often experience fewer complications, allowing a smoother return to their sport.
Understanding the hormonal cycle and its role in preparing for optimal health prior to pregnancy.
Image (with permission): Donnelly GM, Moore IS, Brockwell E, et al. Reframing return-to-sport postpartum: the 6 Rs framework. British Journal of Sports Medicine 2022;56:244-245.
Goal Attainment

An athlete can perform better and to their best ability, at whatever level when their full health and well-being is considered.
Reducing stigma around pelvic health can enable greater achievements.
Pelvic floor programs have been shown to reduce symptoms by over 50%.

Pelviology is Performance.

Sporting teams addressing stigma and managing pelvic health.

Presenting Pelvic Health for High Performance

Podcast
Understanding the critical role of Pelvic Health performance starts early. Promoting understanding for parents, players and coaches.
The symposium outlined evidence-informed assessment and management of athletes once referred to physiotherapists with pelvic floor knowledge so that health and training professionals can understand the process and feel confident to refer athletes.
Return to Play
Providing a framework and case study for return to elite sport following c-section.