Urine leakage during workouts is common, but it’s not normal or OK. You don’t have to put up with it! Incontinence pad marketing may be dressed in gentler terms like ‘Oops moments’ or ‘little leaks’, but whilst pads will manage urine leakage during workouts, our goal is a pelvic floor that works.
Using pads for urine leakage during workouts
If you are regularly using a pad to catch leaks during exercise, please know that you don’t have to accept this as your new normal. A pad is absorbing (literally) the symptom of a lack of function, but it’s not treating the cause. Leaking is your body is telling you it is not ready to do that exercise right now. Leaking is a red flag, it’s your body letting you know that something is not okay, that it can’t cope with what you’re asking it to do. You need to back up and build the foundations first. So that you can. And if you keep asking it to do that thing regardless, before it’s ready, you will cause greater issues in the long term.
Doing more or harder exercises will not make your pelvic floor stronger. High impact activity like running or jumping creates a downward force through your pelvic organs and muscles. If those structures are not strong enough to cope with this pressure, you’ll get urine leakage during your workout. This could cause further problems such as pelvic organ prolapse.
The pad will stop your underwear from getting wet, but it does nothing to address the lack of optimal function and strength that is causing the issue.
For fitness professionals training women
Take care of the women in your class and be sure you’re not normalising leaking during exercise. If you’re a fitness instructor please seek additional and complementary resources for your clients like MUTU. Guidance on recovery and progressing training following childbirth or when dealing with pelvic issues is a specialist expertise. It’s OK if this isn’t your area, but be sure to seek evidence based information for them.
Trainer to Superstar Pink and many more A-List celebrity clients, The Hollywood Trainer Jeanette Jenkins recommends MUTU for her clients post-baby! Your clients will trust and respect you more when you offer credible information.
If you have women in your classes, you are dealing with pelvic floor dysfunction, prolapse issues, diastasis recti and more. Handing out pads at the start of class without educating them on solutions, is a disservice to the women that trust you. Starting the conversation may feel hard at first, but remember you don’t have to know all the answers. Ask questions and use credible sources of information like MUTU.
To the mother who has already accepted urine leakage during workouts
It is never too late to make a difference and address urine leakage during workouts. You really don’t need to put up with leaking. You can do exercises again, without the embarrassment and inconvenience of leaking. Even if you feel like it’s been too long, you can build connection and control with those muscles again. If your fitness instructor is giving you a pad before class or asking you to ‘empty your bladder first’, this may not be the class for you.
You can strengthen your core and pelvic floor, and feel confident and sexy again. Stop unwanted leaks, banish feelings of confusion or shame about your body, and regain control. You deserve confidence in how your body looks, works and feels.
