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TUNING THE ATHLETE PELVIC FLOOR HEALTH The pelvic floor anatomy should indeed be considered a crucial part of breathing function. When studying the various core muscles that make up the top of the abdominal cavity, one must not forget the pelvic floor that constitutes the bottom of this cylinder. As a client takes a deep inhalation, the client to take a full breath while intentionally attempting to extend the sacrum down into your hand. This allows the client to assess the strength and tone of the pelvic diaphragm. The therapist may add finger and/ or thumb pressure into the soft tissue of the levator ani muscle group (just medial to ischial tuberosity) to provide manual therapist to develop creative therapeutic programs to help our clients better enjoy sporting endeavors. The presence of side stitches, low- back fatigue, and aberrant gait allow unique insights into what is really going on in the body. We must all seek to engage our inner creative processes and enhance our skills to the sacrum should counter nutate and move inferiorly allowing the spine to lengthen. Recall that you get taller as you breathe in. Any obstruction in the breathing process from above may create a stopping point for the pelvic diaphragm as it drops down. The myoskeletal technique seeks to solve this problem by stimulating tone in the levator ani muscles of the pelvic floor while restoring balance to all pelvic ligaments and coccygeal structures. A highly effective treatment that helped maximize deeper diaphragmatic breathing for Farah was to ask for a big inhalation effort (all the way down to the pelvic floor) against resistance (image 5). When applying this technique, the therapist should apply palm pressure at the sacrococcygeal junction pushing gently headward. Ask resistance and kinesthetic cueing. This pelvic floor tissue must be able to drop down upon full inhalation, allowing the abdominal contents to move anterior and inferior, thus creating space for the breathing diaphragm to tug inferior on the lungs. The lower abdominal cavity is also activated during this maneuver which encourages bladder, prostate, digestive, and reproductive health. CREATIVE THERAPIES We're all aware of the presence of aberrant postural and functional breathing patterns that affect our recreational and elite athletes. Hopefully, these simple observations concerning the relationship of the lumbar spine to the breathing process will encourage today's encourage people to continue with effective and fun exercise programs. And as for Farah: he went on to qualify as part of the British Olympic team. At the 2008 Olympics he finished sixth in his 5,000 meter qualifying heat, so he did not make the finals. However, he achieved some personal bests at altitude and left pain-free, which, to me, is an indicator of a properly functioning myoskcletal spring system. Myoskeletal therapist and instructor with Erik Dalton's Freedom From Pain Institute. In Sedona, Arizona, Bishop instructs Myoskeletal Techniques as part of the core curriculum at Northern Arizona Massage Therapy Institute. He is CEO of Stay Tuned Therapeutics, a pain management and teaching clinic. He can be reached at staytunedaz@gmail.com. Geoffrey Bishop is an Advanced visit massageandbodywork.com to access your digital magazine 69