Many of us have been told to “squeeze,” “tighten,” or “brace” to protect our core and pelvic floor. But here’s the truth: a muscle that’s always tight isn’t a strong muscle — it’s an exhausted one.

In pelvic health, this distinction is crucial. Function doesn’t come from gripping harder; it comes from teaching the body to release, respond, and move with adaptability.

Just like your nervous system, the pelvic floor needs to find its Goldilocks point — not too tight, not too lax, but adaptable and responsive to what life asks of it.

Tight vs Functional: What’s the Difference?

Imagine making a fist and holding it for hours. Your hand would ache, circulation would slow, and the muscles would fatigue. That’s exactly what happens when the pelvic floor, glutes, or upper abs are clenched all the time.

Tight muscles are locked in contraction, shortening fibres and limiting blood flow. They can’t easily release, and over time they become less coordinated.
Functional muscles are responsive — they contract when needed, relax when not, and move through their full range. Function is about adaptability, not constant tension.

This is the “Goldilocks principle” at play in the body: the sweet spot between gripping and collapse, where your muscles can do their job without strain.

Where Gripping Shows Up in the Body

1. Pelvic floor

Instead of a springy hammock, an overactive pelvic floor feels more like a clenched jaw. This can create pain, urgency, leaks, or heaviness. Ironically, many women with prolapse or leakage have overactive floors, not weak ones.

2. Glutes

Squeezing your bum as a way to support your pelvic floor or during daily tasks locks the pelvis under. This habit restricts natural movement, reduces pelvic floor adaptability, and creates low back or hip tension. It can also contribute to jaw pain and headaches.

3. Upper ribs and abs

Bracing the stomach or holding the ribs down reduces 360° breathing. The diaphragm loses its mobility, which stresses posture and the nervous system. This can also start to create a kyphotic spine and can come from poor posture mechanics as well as being an unconscious stregety the body sometimes uses to support the pelvic floor from above.

Why It Matters: Breath, Posture, and Gut Health

Breath: Tight ribs and abs restrict diaphragmatic breathing. Without rib expansion, oxygen delivery is limited, and the nervous system stays stuck in “fight or flight.”
Posture: A tucked pelvis or braced core alters spinal curves, creating stiffness and compensations further up the chain.
Gut health: The diaphragm’s natural movement massages the digestive organs. Without it, motility slows, bloating increases, and digestion suffers.

Try This Now: Tight vs Functional

Here’s a quick way to feel the difference in your own body:

Make a fist and hold it tight.
Notice how not just your hand, but your arm and shoulder tense too. That’s “tight” — one area gripping pulls the whole system into tension.
Now open and close your hand gently a few times.
Notice how much freer your arm feels. That’s “functional” — movement and release allow coordination, not just contraction.
Now take that awareness to your breath.
Gently brace your belly or clench your glutes. Feel how your thoracic diaphragm tightens and how your pelvic floor follows suit — both lose their natural adaptability.
Then, allow your glutes to release and let your abdominal wall rest in neutral. Take a wide rib breath. Notice how your diaphragm can move again, and how the pelvic floor releases with it.

👉 Your pelvic floor works just like your fist: gripping creates fatigue and restriction, while release and movement create function.

Image of a tight fist above the image of a pelvic floor being pushed down - next to this the image of an ope hand and a functional pelvic floor

How Hypopressives Help

Hypopressives work by using posture, breath, and decompression to retrain reflexive function rather than teaching you to consciously “squeeze.”

For hypertonic (overactive) pelvic floors:
Hypopressives teach release. The breath pause and rib widening (apnoea) creates a gentle vacuum effect that draws the pelvic floor upward reflexively, without clenching. Over time, this helps the muscles lengthen, soften, and become more responsive.
For hypotonic (underactive) pelvic floors:
The same decompression gently re-engages the pelvic floor and deep core. Instead of forceful Kegels, the tissues learn to lift and support reflexively, building tone and strength through posture and breath.

two images of pelvic floors side by side one hypertonic and the other functional

A 3-Minute Reset Sequence

Try this simple flow once a day to help your body shift from tight to functional:

Side-lying Rib Breath (1 min)
- Lie on your side with a cushion between your knees and another under your head.
- Place a hand on your upper ribs.
- Inhale into the hand, exhale softly.
  This frees stiff ribs, restores 360° breath, and gives the pelvis a sense of safety so the pelvic floor can release.
Supported Child’s Pose (1 min)
- Come to kneeling and hug a cushion or pillow between your thighs and your chest/abdominal wall.
- Rest into it, allowing the back of your body to soften.
- Breathe wide into your ribs, feeling the back and sides expand.
  This helps release tension in the back of the body, helps reduce rib flare, and encourages pelvic floor release.
Mini Hip Shake (30–60 sec)
- Stand with soft knees.
- Gently shake or jiggle your hips side to side.
- Let your arms and jaw loosen too.
  This signals safety to your nervous system, helping muscles let go reflexively.
Standing Rib Lift Breath (30 sec)
- Stand tall and let your abdominal wall rest in neutral (not braced in, not over-extended).
- Inhale to expand your ribs outwards and upwards.
- Exhale, allowing the ribs to glide back down.
  This creates space for functional pelvic floor reflexes and integrates breath with posture.

Habit Shifts for Function

Stop bum-tucking: Let your pelvis find neutral when standing or walking instead of squeezing your glutes.
Neutral abdominal wall: Not sucked in, not pushed out — this lets your diaphragm and pelvic floor move with ease.
Check your sitting posture: Swap slumping or gripping for supported, upright sitting where ribs can expand.
Move often: Static positions (even “perfect posture”) create stiffness. Small shifts keep tissues adaptable.
Reset with breath: Practice one or two moments a day of wide rib breathing to bring balance back.

A Quick Guide: Your Thoracic Diaphragm & the Nervous System

What is the thoracic diaphragm?

The thoracic diaphragm is a dome-shaped sheet of muscle under your ribcage. It’s your primary breathing muscle, separating your chest cavity (lungs and heart) from your abdominal cavity (digestive organs). When you inhale, it moves downward, creating space for your lungs to fill. When you exhale, it rises back up.

It also has a direct relationship with the pelvic floor — they move in rhythm. If the diaphragm is restricted or held tight, the pelvic floor often mirrors that tightness.

Nervous system states in simple terms

Your body’s autonomic nervous system controls how safe or stressed you feel, and the diaphragm plays a big role in shifting between these states:

Fight or Flight – A survival mode. Muscles tense, breathing becomes shallow, heart rate rises. Useful for emergencies, but harmful if stuck here long term.
Freeze – The body shuts down or becomes immobile when the system feels overwhelmed. Think “playing dead.”
Fawn – A lesser-known response, where you please or appease others to feel safe, often at the expense of your own needs.
Rest & Relaxation (also called “Rest & Digest”) – The state of safety where breathing slows, digestion improves, and muscles release.

Why this matters

When the diaphragm is mobile and breathing is full and wide, your system naturally shifts towards social engagement — the state described in Stephen Porges’ Polyvagal Theory.

From here, your body can move fluidly between the different survival states — rest & relaxation, fight/flight — and then find its way back to homeostasis. This adaptability is exactly what we need for both a healthy nervous system and a functional pelvic floor.

Just like the pelvic floor isn’t meant to stay clenched or floppy all the time, your nervous system isn’t meant to stay stuck in one state. Both are looking for that Goldilocks point: responsive, adaptable, and able to meet life’s demands without locking into rigidity.

The Bigger Picture

Tightness may feel like control, but true pelvic health comes from adaptability. Muscles that can contract, release, and respond to the body’s needs create a system that supports movement, breath, posture, and gut function.

Hypopressives offer a pathway back to that adaptability — helping both hypertonic and hypotonic pelvic floors find balance without force.

✨ Want to explore how Hypopressives can help you move from tight to functional? Join my beginner’s Hypopressives course

Tight vs Functional: Why Gripping Isn’t the Answer for Your Pelvic Floor

Tight vs Functional: What’s the Difference?