Strong Foundations: Why Pelvic and Musculoskeletal Health Matter for Longevity

Move aside, supplements and social media diets. Social media is full of lifestyle recommendations to improve our healthspan or living many years in good health. When it comes to maximizing longevity, look no further than your musculoskeletal (MSK) system. 

When we talk about longevity, we're not just referring to how many years you live (your lifespan), but the quality of those years: your healthspan. Healthspan is the period of life you spend in good health, with mobility, independence, and vitality. For women especially, the goal isn't simply to add more years to life, but to add more life to those years.

The pelvic floor fulfils a large variety of functions. It is part of our deep core working to provide stability and alignment to our spine in everyday activities like walking, and it even supports breathing.

The MSK system acts as both your engine and your armor, and it is one of the most effective remedies for healthy aging. Maintaining your muscle mass maintains metabolic health, insulin sensitivity or how well you utilize and metabolize sugar. Keeping your bones strong will reduce frailty that can lead to fractures later in life.

As early as your mid 30s, changing levels of reproductive hormones contribute to declining bone mineral density. Women are particularly vulnerable to losing muscle and bone strength.

Together, your pelvic and MSK systems protect the foundation of what matters most later in life:

• Mobility: staying fit so you can get around your community and live life without fear of falls.
• Independent Living: a healthy pelvic floor will prevent urinary and fecal leakage which are top reasons for nursing home admissions. 
• Sexual Health: sustaining intimacy, confidence, and pelvic comfort to enjoy sexual activity, whether independently or with a partner.

Pelvic and MSK health are not “nice-to-haves” for female longevity; they are core pillars on which your healthspan is built.

Optimizing healthspan vs. lifespan for female bodies

For women, the distinction between lifespan (your total years lived) and healthspan (the years you will live in good health) is critical. Although women live longer than men, many women spend these additional years in a nursing home with reduced quality of life, like decreased mobility, pelvic floor dysfunction, or chronic musculoskeletal conditions.

Sport science research shows that targeted exercise such as resistance training and weight-bearing exercise like we practice at Origin, can extend your healthspan reducing the risk of osteoporosis and maintaining mobility more effectively than any other single medical therapy. 

This holistic approach maintains muscle quality, preserves bone mineral density, and even improves conditions like urinary incontinence, all of which allow you to live a full life free from discomfort and pain. 

Recent studies emphasize that the physical health interventions you begin in midlife have outsized positive effects on your later decades. Protecting your pelvic and MSK health, and doing so early in midlife, is one of the most effective levers you can pull to ensure that you don’t just add years to life, but add life to years.

How can your body help you age well? 

Pelvic floor muscles affect your breathing

The pelvic floor doesn’t just hold up your bladder and uterus: it actually moves in rhythm with your diaphragm. On each inhale, the diaphragm contracts and moves downward while the pelvic floor lengthens and lowers to maintain balanced internal pressure. On each exhale, the pelvic floor and the diaphragm return to their original baseline. 

When this interplay is disrupted, it can lead to shallow breathing, poor spinal stability, and even overuse of the upper chest and neck muscles. 

Since the early 2000s, scientists have recognized skeletal muscle as an endocrine organ. When you contract muscles during exercise, they release chemical messengers (proteins called myokines) into your bloodstream. These proteins travel through your bloodstream and communicate with other parts of your body, affecting things like: 

• Metabolism - helping regulate blood sugar and fat burning
• Inflammation - reducing chronic inflammation throughout your body
• Brain function - potentially improving mood and cognitive health
• Bone health - signaling to your bones to stay strong
• Immune function - influencing how your immune system works to keep you healthy
• Other organs - communicating with your liver, fat tissue, heart, and more

Think of strength training during midlife as a different kind of “hormone therapy,” where maintaining muscle helps you stock your internal “pharmacy" to support healthy aging.

Your bones respond to impact to make your skeleton stronger

You may already know how important calcium and vitamin D are for bone metabolism, but another potent trigger for new bone growth is loading. When you jump and bound, or lift heavy, the strain signals your bones to activate cells (osteoblasts) that build stronger tissue. Applying these forces safely is more effective for improving bone mineral density than just using supplements. Impact, when performed within your abilities, is the “nutrient” that your bones crave.

How your hormonal life stages affect your long-term healthspan

The female body endures many hormonal changes throughout life, and each has an effect on how we are going to age. When your hormonal make-up shifts, it affects your pelvic floor and MSK health. 

How do pregnancy and postpartum affect our longevity?

Believe it or not, your chronological age (what the calendar says) can be different from your biological age (a reflection of your overall health and how well your cells, tissues, and organs are functioning). Many factors determine the rate at which your body ages. Pregnancy puts your body under a lot of stress which can temporarily accelerate the biological aging process. 

Fortunately, this temporary “speeding up” of aging during pregnancy appears to at least partially reverse after delivery. However, pregnancy and delivery still affect your long-term health in some important ways:

1. Bone density changes: Pregnancy and breast milk production temporarily increase calcium demand. Your body meets this demand by borrowing calcium from your bones, so your bone mineral density (BMD) is temporarily reduced. This decrease in BMD gradually recovers after weaning, but it is unclear when exactly and how fully this recovery occurs. 
2. Pelvic floor & connective tissue: Pregnancy and childbirth change the structure of your pelvic floor muscles and the connective tissue (fascia) surrounding them. These changes can affect your core stability and the way you move. Rehabilitating these tissues appropriately after birth is important to ensuring you stay strong and mobile over time.

Pregnancy and breastfeeding temporarily accelerate biological aging, but this isn’t necessarily a cause for panic!. A strong, mobile body will be better prepared for the physical demands of carrying and birthing a baby.

The postpartum period is equally important: it’s an opportunity to address the impact of pregnancy and rebuild your strength. Pelvic floor therapy can help you recalibrate your body to avoid lasting negative impacts.

How is the menopause transition connected to pelvic and MSK health?

In perimenopause, bone mineral density begins to decline rapidly, often starting in your late 30s. Your body composition changes too, which can cause you to lose 0.6% of your muscle mass per year if you don’t take any action to counter it. Meanwhile, hormonal decline alters tissue elasticity impacting how effectively you can control your pelvic floor muscles. This can often show up as leaking during exercise or everyday activities, difficulty or discomfort with sexual function, and a feeling of heaviness or pressure (a sign of pelvic organ prolapse). 

During perimenopause, estrogen and progesterone fluctuate dramatically before eventually stabilizing at lower levels in post-menopause. Perimenopause is a biological turning point, and a critical window for incorporating resistance training and mobility work, but it's never too late to start! 

What can we learn about aging well from female athletes? 

Professional female athletes offer a useful model for aging well. They train not just for performance, but also to prevent injuries before they happen. Their routines typically include strength work, mobility drills, and agility training designed to keep them healthy for the long term. This same preventative, consistent approach can support longevity for all women.

Bone and Muscle: The same training principles that shield athletes from injuries can support your bone density and muscle as you age. 

Pelvic Health: Athletes incorporate pelvic floor exercises as a part of core stability training, especially during pregnancy and the postpartum period. It is equally vital throughout your reproductive stages and as you age.

The takeaway? Aging well  means building strength and resilience now. Consistent strength training and pelvic floor work can help you feel good today while protecting your mobility and function for decades to come. And remember it’s never too late to start, no matter where you are in your journey.

Here are three exercises that support your longevity through movement:

1. Squats with Pelvic Floor Engagement

Why: Squats build lower-body strength and adding intentional pelvic floor contraction (“lift” on exertion) can improve continence and core stability. Adding a weight makes this a full body exercise.

How:

1. Using both hands, hold a weight close to your chest and stand with your feet slightly wider than hip distance apart with toes slightly turned out.
2. Pull your belly button in towards your spine to activate your core.
3. Keeping your core engaged, push your hips back and bend your knees to slowly lower into a deep squat position Tip: Try to keep your spine straight and chest facing forward throughout.
4. Squeeze your glutes and push down through your feet to straighten your legs and return to standing.

2. Farmer’s Carry (Loaded Carry)

Why: Walking with weights challenges grip, core stability, and postural alignment.

How: Hold dumbbells or kettlebells at your sides, walk slowly with tall posture, engaging your pelvic floor lightly as you stabilize. Start with 50% of your bodyweight distributed between two dumbbells for 20-30 secs and do 3 sets with 60 seconds rest. Your goal should be to get to 75% of your bodyweight for the same amount of sets and duration.

3. Climbing Stairs

Why: Strengthens your glutes and core, and activates your pelvic floor muscles while also supporting your cardio-vascular health. Climbing stairs strengthens those muscles by combining incline and movement. 

How: Maintain posture and breathe normally while stepping heavy through your heel. Don’t rush and focus on distributing your weight evenly between your right and left leg.The impact from supporting your body weight and loading your bones with every step creates a response that strengthens them and supports maintaining and improving bone density. 

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Your pelvic floor and musculoskeletal system are the basis of your longevity. They determine how confidently you move, how independently you age, and how fully you engage in the parts of life that matter most to you. By prioritizing strength, bone health, posture, and pelvic function in midlife, you’re simultaneously adapting to changes and shaping your future. 

With the right support and a proactive care approach, you can protect your mobility, maintain intimacy, reduce pain and pelvic floor dysfunction, and continue doing the activities that bring you joy for decades to come. Ready to invest in your longevity? Book a visit with an Origin clinician to create a personalized plan that supports your pelvic health, strength, and long-term health.

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