Shirt’s got her tongue.
World record holder Colleen Quigley, 31, took to Instagram on Tuesday to share the strangest part of her workout routine.
The steeplechase specialist, who represented the US at the 2016 Rio Olympics, can be seen readying herself for racing with a little round of tongue-pulling, which she maintains helps release the tension in her pelvic floor.
Quigley removes her tank top and uses it to grab her tongue and pull it straight out before moving it to the left, to the right, up and down, holding each pulled-out pose for a few seconds before moving on or out, as it were.
“Sometimes you drool on yourself — just try to relax into it,” she says in the clip, noting that the technique releases the muscles in the tongue and jaw, which is linked to the pelvis via the body’s myofascial system of connective tissues.
Quigley credits Dr. Noah Moos — a chiropractor specialist practicing in Texas, who has supported various members of Team USA — with introducing her to the tongue-out-of-cheek trick.
While Quigley admits the tongue stretch is uncomfortable and she looks “crazy doing it,” she says the results are well worth it. “It’s insane what it does for your whole body!” she exclaimed.
Cate Schaffer, a pelvic floor therapist based in South Carolina, told Well+Good this week that “everything we do with our mouth — eating, talking, yawning — can be linked to our pelvic floor.”
“On top of that, the vagus nerve also has connections to both the pelvic organs, tongue and our larynx of our voice box,” she continued. “So in short, everything is connected.”
Schaffer reports that a tight jaw or a change in breathing patterns can lead to pelvic floor tension, lack of coordination and pain.
For those who want to give the tongue-twister a go, Schaffer recommends starting with one to two minutes of pulling, experimenting with different directions, following each pull with relaxation, and finishing with a gentle massage of the cheek and/or temporal muscles that connect to the jaw.
While the connection between the jaw and the pelvis is undeniable, Schaffer is on the fence about the efficacy of the tongue-pulling technique. “Will it hurt to passively stretch your tongue? Most likely not,” she mused to Well+Good. “Is it the most effective way to improve one’s pelvic floor? Probably not.”
Weakened or tight pelvic floor muscles can put a serious damper on orgasms and even cause pain during sex — a problem reportedly experienced by 10% to 20% of American women.
A kegel exercise mimics the effort required to hold in gas or pee — give these sets a try for better sex.
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