Bladder Leaks while Exercising?
Are you working out more at home these days?
Have you noticed some leaking with high impact activity?
Have you always had this and thought it was normal?
Have you just accepted that after having children “certain changes are expected down there?”
Leaking with activity is NOT normal and can be changed!
Could it be that your timing is off?
There are many reasons why we leak: from torn muscles to weakness to overuse to tightness…
It is a common misconception that weakness is the most common issue. You may need to work with a pelvic health physiotherapist to sort out your specific cause. One common reason is timing. WHEN your pelvic floor engages or relaxes is important.
Think of jumping – you push off into a jump with your buttocks and quads, then relax these muscles to allow some hip and knee flexion to accept the force of landing. In a similar fashion, your pelvic floor needs to be dynamic as well. The easiest way to help your body to relearn how to do this is to tap into another automated function: your BREATHING.
In a nutshell, your diaphragm and pelvic floor move together. Changing your breathing pattern changes what your pelvic floor does. Breathing out engages the pelvic floor, while breathing in encourages lengthening. Think on that – it may not be what you expected. Applied to a jumping type movement:
- breathe out when you jump up
- breathe in when you land
- Jumping jacks are a little different. Because the pelvic floor is lengthened when your feet/hips are apart, this is the time to breathe in. Breathe out as you bring the feet back together. The general rule is “blow as you go”, meaning exhale with effort.
- It’s ok to experiment: Experiment to see if inhaling/exhaling before or during a particular stage works better for you.