When people talk about pelvic floor health, the focus is usually on the muscles themselves — strengthening with kegels, or stretching and releasing when there’s tightness. But what often gets overlooked is that the pelvic floor doesn’t operate on its own. It’s part of a pressure system that includes your diaphragm, ribcage, and deep core.

Every time you breathe in, your diaphragm should descend, your ribs should expand, and your pelvic floor should naturally yield downward. On the exhale, everything recoils and lifts together. It’s a built-in rhythm of expansion and release.

But if your ribs can’t move — maybe they’re stiff from posture, pregnancy, or gripping patterns — your diaphragm can’t fully descend. And when the diaphragm gets stuck, the pelvic floor never gets the signal to let go. Instead, it stays switched “on,” holding tension around the clock.

That’s why restoring rib mobility and reconnecting with a full breath pattern is so powerful. It creates space for the diaphragm to move, which in turn allows the pelvic floor to release. For many women postpartum (and beyond), this isn’t just about comfort — it’s the foundation for rebuilding strength, stability, and ease in movement.

Symptoms of Pelvic Floor Tension

Pelvic floor tension can show up in ways that don’t always point directly to the pelvic floor. Many women assume something is wrong with their hips or back before realizing the root is muscle tension in the pelvic floor. Common signs include:

• Bladder symptoms: difficulty starting a stream of urine, feeling like you can’t fully empty, or going to the bathroom frequently.
• Pain or pressure: discomfort with intimacy, pelvic pressure, or heaviness in the lower pelvis.
• Musculoskeletal pain: achiness or sharp pain through the hips, SI joint, tailbone, or low back.
• Core symptoms: doming, bulging, or an inability to control pressure when exercising.
• A sense of holding tension: feeling like your pelvic floor is always “on” or clenched, even at rest.

Recognizing these signals is the first step toward addressing the system as a whole, rather than only treating the muscles in isolation.

How Pelvic Floor Tension Affects Other Muscles

The pelvic floor is at the base of your core — so when it’s tight and unable to release, it affects the way the rest of your muscles function. This can create a ripple effect throughout the body:

• Glutes and hips: A tense pelvic floor can prevent the glutes from firing efficiently. Without this release, hip stability suffers, and you may feel compensations in the quads or low back.
• Abdominals and obliques: When the pelvic floor doesn’t coordinate with the diaphragm, the abs often take over by gripping. This creates patterns like upper ab tension, rib flare, or “coning.”
• Breathing muscles: The diaphragm is designed to work in rhythm with the pelvic floor. If the pelvic floor can’t yield, the diaphragm loses its full range, and you may feel stuck in shallow, chest-heavy breathing.
• Adductors and hamstrings: These muscles connect into pelvic control. If the pelvic floor is locked up, they may become tight or underactive, leaving you without a strong foundation for walking, running, or lifting.

Instead of thinking of the pelvic floor as a single muscle group to be strengthened, it helps to view it as part of a team. When one player stays rigid, the rest of the system can’t function at its best.

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How the Ribs and Pelvic Floor Are Linked

The ribcage and pelvic floor may seem far apart, but they’re directly connected through the diaphragm. Together, they form the top and bottom of your “canister,” with your core muscles wrapping around to support the sides.

• On inhale, the ribs should expand in all directions, the diaphragm descends, and the pelvic floor yields downward.
• On exhale, the ribs recoil, the diaphragm lifts, and the pelvic floor gently rises.

This rhythm creates pressure management for everything you do — from lifting weights, to running, to simply walking up the stairs.

When the ribs are stiff, flared, or stuck in one position, the diaphragm loses its ability to move freely. Without that signal, the pelvic floor remains clenched, unable to release with each breath. Over time, this can lead to constant tension, pressure symptoms, or pain.

By improving rib mobility, you restore expansion and give the diaphragm space to descend. That single change can “unlock” the pelvic floor, allowing it to respond the way it’s designed to — not by force, but by natural coordination with your breath.

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Exercises to Restore Rib Mobility and Release Pelvic Floor Tension

These drills are designed to improve rib expansion, restore diaphragm movement, and help your pelvic floor find its natural rhythm of release and recoil. You don’t need to force anything — the goal is to connect breath with rib movement so your pelvic floor can follow along.

1. Deep Squat with Back Body Expansion

Sit into a supported deep squat (heels elevated if needed) and round slightly through your upper back. Wrap your arms lightly around your shins or a yoga block in front of you. As you inhale, think about sending breath into your mid- and upper-back ribs, expanding 360°.

Why it works: This position opens the backside of your ribcage, which is often restricted postpartum. Expanding here restores diaphragm motion and allows the pelvic floor to release downward with each breath.

2. All Fours Breathing with Posterior Expansion

Start on hands and knees, option to have a band around your mid back for feedback OR lower onto your forearms so your elbows are together in a “prayer” position if without a band. Allow your upper back to round gently as you press forearms into the floor. Inhale slowly, sending your breath into the space between your shoulder blades and the back of your ribcage. Exhale fully, letting your ribs close and your core gently engage without gripping.

Why it works: This position shifts load into the upper back and creates space for posterior rib expansion — an area that often gets restricted postpartum. By opening the back ribs with breath, the diaphragm can descend more fully, which signals the pelvic floor to release and restore its natural rhythm.

3. Tall Kneeling Dumbbell Press with Pulldown

Hold a light dumbbell overhead in a tall kneeling position while a band or cable provides downward resistance on the pull. Inhale into the ribs, then as you exhale and press, focus on letting the ribs close and stack over the pelvis.

Why it works: Combines load, breath, and rib control. The exhale with rib closure directly supports pelvic floor recoil, teaching you to manage pressure during strength movements.

4. Band-Resisted Open Book Stretch

Lie on your side with knees bent and a light band anchored in front of you. Hold the band with your top hand and extend arms straight out in front. As you inhale, begin opening your top arm in an arc across your body, letting your chest and ribs rotate open against the band’s resistance. Exhale to return slowly with rib closure.

Why it works: The band adds resistance that encourages rotation and expansion through the ribs, while also requiring control on the way back. This not only improves thoracic mobility but also integrates breath and rib movement with strength — helping the pelvic floor release in rhythm with each inhale.

5. Elevated Lateral Line Stretch

Come into a side plank position off a bench or elevated surface, bringing the top leg over the bottom. Drop your bottom hip to the ground, feeling a stretch across the side of your body. Push the ground away as you lift the hips. Reach the top arm overhead and lean gently away from the elevated leg, expanding the entire side body with your inhale.

Why it works: Opens space through the ribs, lats, and obliques — areas that often lock down and restrict full breathing mechanics. By restoring lateral expansion, you create room for the diaphragm to descend and the pelvic floor to release.

6. Supine Banded Pulldown

Lie on your back with knees bent, feet flat, and a light band anchored overhead. Hold the band with both hands, arms extended toward the ceiling. Inhale to expand your ribs into the floor and sides, then exhale as you pull the band down toward your hips, closing and stacking your ribs over your pelvis. Slowly return to start on inhale.

Why it works: Being on the floor provides tactile feedback to encourage rib closure and back expansion. The pulldown adds resistance, teaching you to connect breath, rib movement, and core control together — while giving the pelvic floor the signal to release and recoil in rhythm with your diaphragm.

7. Cable or Banded Chop with Breath Focus

Set up in half kneeling with a cable or band anchored high to one side. As you exhale, pull the cable diagonally across your body, focusing on rib closure and oblique engagement. Inhale to return slowly with rib expansion.

Why it works: Adds load to rib mobility work, teaching your core and pelvic floor to coordinate under resistance. The diagonal pull introduces rotation and lateral expansion while reinforcing rib–pelvis stacking on exhale.

Key Takeaway

Your pelvic floor needs a system that allows it to release. Rib mobility and breath are the missing links for many people dealing with tension. When your ribs expand and your diaphragm descends, your pelvic floor can finally do its job in rhythm with the rest of your body.

Ready to take the guesswork out of rebuilding your core? My 3-Phase Core Program gives you a clear, step by step path from foundations to advanced strength. Across three progressive phases, you’ll restore rib mobility, improve pelvic floor coordination, and build a stronger, more resilient core that supports yur pelvic floor, every lift, run, and daily movement.

Start today and feel the difference in how your body moves, breathes, and performs.

Join the 3-Phase Core Program