I saw a post on social media this week from a lady asking if anyone else ‘leaked’ when they run. Within minutes there was a barrage of replies with people saying ’Me Too’ with laughing emojis and making jokes about only wearing black and that they daren’t go out without their ‘Running Nappy’ (their Tena Lady). I responded with a short answer similar to the next paragraph and advised the lady to seek advice from women's health physiotherapist. I was more than a little bit pi$$ed off that my response was promptly deleted. I contacted the administrators of the group by direct message and email and not had any response 🤬so this is how I'm going to get this very important message out to you.
Ladies! I NEED you to hear this.
I NEED you to digest this information and NOT dismiss it!
Leaking/Peeing while running (or at any time other than when you are intentionally peeing) is common, BUT IT IS NOT NORMAL!!! Seriously ladies, we seem to have accepted this when there is so much that we can do to resolve it. You do NOT NEED to SUFFER! This is pelvic floor dysfunction and for the majority of women it can be resolved with some simple and easy to implement exercises and lifestyle changes.
Stress incontinence is leaking of urine as a result of coughing, laughing, sneezing or running (i.e. stress). It affects 1 in 3 women over 60 and about ½ of all women over 65
Common Causes of stress incontinence:
• Pregnancy
• Childbirth
• Menopause
Leaking is not a problem reserved for those who have had children or older women.
Young women who haven’t had children can also have continence problems. A study in 2002 found that over 50% of elite athletes had experienced urine loss during sports or daily activities, but only 3.3% had discussed it with their doctor and only 4.6% had tried pelvic floor training. Note that these were young elite athletes that were suffering.
The peak prevalence of incontinence in women occurs around the time of the menopause. Estrogen maintains the thickness & strength of the vaginal wall & urethral lining. Declining estrogen levels associated with perimenopause and menopause leads to lining of the bladder and urinary tract and the pelvic floor can become weaker, and your bladder is more susceptible to dysfunction.
Common urinary symptoms due to lack of estrogen are:
• Urinary frequency
• Urinary urgency
• Urinary tract infections
• Urinary incontinence
Running is a high impact sport and places a great demand on the pelvic floor muscles. Running at 11km/h – ground reaction forces 1.6-2.5 x bodyweight. It is not known exactly how much of this force is absorbed through the lower limb on impact, but it is fair to assume that some, or all of those forces are transmitted to the pelvic floor. This highlights the importance of strength and speed of contraction in the pelvic floor muscles in order to carry out their role in pelvic organ support and continence during high impact activities such as running. Having weak pelvic floor muscles results in the individual being unable to prevent and control leakages but lack the full control or ability to release it.
What Can You Do about it?
• Pelvic Floor Exercises (Kegels)
- You need to train the slow twitch (endurance) fibres as well as the fast twitch (power) fibres.
• The ‘Knack’
- Tighten your pelvic floor muscles before any activity which increases your
intra-abdominal pressure (coughing, sneezing, laughing, lifting, bending
- By practicing this regularly, your ability to do the exercise will improve, and you will be able
to use ‘the knack’ technique to reduce the risk of leaking when you do cough/sneeze/laugh etc
Running Tips for Pelvic Health
• Good Running Posture – slight forward lean so that you can fully extend your hips and propel yourself forwards (rather than upwards).
• Increase your cadence – a well co-ordinated pelvic floor will contract and relax up to 3000 times in. 30 minute run. This happens automatically – DO NOT HOLD your pelvic floor while running.
• Shorten your stride length to bring your feet underneath you and slow down slightly
• Run softly - try and land lightly when your foot strikes the ground, think ‘Ninja’ not ‘elephant’
• Relax your abs & breathe – holding your abdominals prevents your from rotating through your whole torso, restricting your ability to propel forwards, which negatively impacts performance and causes downward pressure onto the pelvic organs and pelvic floor.
For more information and detailed explanation of how to do your pelvic floor exercises, download my FREE eBook:
'How NOT to Piss Yourself While Laughing and Running'
If you haven't done so already, join my highly supportive Facebook group of women just like you for support, advice, tips:
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