From the Training Room to the Pelvic Floor: How Athletics Sparked My Passion for Pelvic Health
If you had told me years ago that my career would lead me into the world of pelvic health, I might have raised an eyebrow. Like many physical therapists, my journey started in a typical way—an athlete sidelined by an injury that abruptly ended my sport. During my own rehab, I was fortunate to work with two incredibly motivating and compassionate physical therapists who not only helped me heal physically but also inspired me to want to help others reclaim their own strength and return to what they love. That experience sparked my passion for physical therapy and led me into my bachelor’s degree in athletic training. During my time in the athletic training room—taping ankles, rehabbing ACLs, and helping collegiate athletes return to peak performance I was drawn to the challenge of uncovering the “why” behind pain and dysfunction. I was constantly thinking about why one athlete kept straining the same muscle, or why another would struggle to regain stability after injury. That same curiosity—to look deeper, beyond the obvious—eventually led me to an area of physical therapy that many people don’t talk about enough: pelvic floor rehabilitation.
The Overlooked Core of Human Movement
In athletics, we talk about “core strength” all the time. But for years, even in high-level sports settings, the pelvic floor was never part of the conversation. It wasn’t until I started working with patients experiencing pelvic pain, incontinence, and postpartum challenges that I realized just how interconnected the pelvis is to the rest of the body.
The pelvic floor muscles work in harmony with the diaphragm, deep abdominals, and hip muscles. When one part of that system is out of sync such as from pregnancy, childbirth, injury, or years of compensatory movement patterns, it can create a ripple effect throughout the body.
Bridging Athletics and Pelvic Health
My background as an athletic trainer gave me a unique lens for evaluating movement. I’m always looking at biomechanics: how someone walks, how they squat, how their hips and spine move. All of the patients who have some type of pelvic floor dysfunction or impairment, benefit from that whole-body perspective. Sometimes pelvic pain isn’t just “a pelvic issue” and rather it can be influenced by hip mobility, posture, breathing mechanics, or even how someone stabilizes during daily movement.
It’s incredibly rewarding to help someone connect those dots. For example, a postpartum runner dealing with leakage might discover that her pelvic floor is overactive, not weak or a patient with chronic pelvic pain might actually be compensating for hip or back stiffness. When we address those underlying impairments—through manual therapy, movement retraining, and education, healing is able to happen.
Why Pelvic Floor Therapy Matters
Pelvic floor therapy is so much more than Kegels. It’s about restoring confidence, function, and quality of life. It’s for the athlete who wants to return to sport without fear of leaking. For the new mom learning to trust her body again. For anyone who’s been told “it’s just part of getting older” and deserves better answers.
What keeps me passionate is that no two pelvic health patients are the same. Each person brings a unique history, set of goals, and story—and I love helping them uncover what their body needs to move and feel better.
Looking at the Whole Person
Pelvic health has taught me that healing is never one-dimensional. The body is beautifully complex, and when we take the time to look at the whole person—their movement patterns, their breathing, and their lifestyle so we can make lasting changes that go beyond symptom relief.
That’s what drives me every day: combining my love for biomechanics and human performance with my dedication to helping people move freely and live confidently.
About the Author
Jenna Carter, PT, DPT, ATC
I graduated from the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences and have been working in outpatient orthopedics ever since.
