Urinary leakage & running

Did you know about 40% of female runners experience some urinary leakage when running?

And this number is likely an underestimate! Urinary incontinence - unintentional leakage of urine - is actually really COMMON in runners. But this doesn’t mean it’s something that SHOULD be happening.

We often think of post-partum and menopausal phases of life to be times when urinary incontinence is experienced, but it can (and is!) experienced by people who are young and who haven’t had a baby. In runners, whether they are post-partum or not, the incontinence they experience is usually what we call “stress urinary incontinence”. Basically, when we have an increase in pressure in our abdomen - like with coughing, sneezing, jumping, lifting something heavy etc - and our body can’t respond well or fast enough and the pressure exceeds what our muscles/sphincters can resist.

We know that physical activity can help strengthen the pelvic floor, but intense training can also lead to strain on the muscles and ligaments in the area - impacting function. We need our entire core to be functional to give us both stability in our movements and keep us from having leaks. Our “deep core” goes beyond our 6 pack muscles! Our diaphragm, pelvic floor, deep abdominals (transverse abdominus) and small supporting back muscles, are all part of the “core” and they all need to work in synchrony and coordination as we move. We breathe in? Our diaphragm descends and so does our pelvic floor! We breathe out? Our diaphragm rises and our pelvic floor recoils and provides additional support.

Sometimes we need to strengthen - think, kegels - and sometimes it’s more about coordinating with the breath and retraining how our core adapts to challenges. Running requires you to do a single leg squat with the force of about 3-5x your body weight with each step! That’s a huge amount of pressure being driven through the system - and for a continuous amount of time. Often those who experience leaks only notice at the end of a hard or very long workout. Have you noticed this? 

Thankfully, pelvic floor training - and, often, working on optimizing the biomechanics of running from the foot up to your head! - can make a massive impact on reducing leakage. It’s also important to note that you haven’t done long term damage through being a runner! When researchers compared former high-impact athletes to former low-impact athletes, they all had similar rates of urinary incontinence. We just need to support you so you feel your best while doing what you love!

Interested in learning more about how pelvic floor therapy can support you? Book an appointment with Dr. Fiona to get started!