Why Do I Leak When I Lift Weights, Jump, or Run? Understanding Urinary Incontinence During Training
- Yara Jabre
- Feb 14
- 5 min read
Updated: Mar 13
Peeing when lifting weights or during high-impact activities is something many women experience but rarely talk about. If you’ve ever had that moment where you hit a heavy squat, landed from a box jump, or sprinted to the finish line and felt a little leak, you’re not alone. The good news? You don’t have to just accept it.
Let’s break down what’s happening, why it happens, and what you can do about it.
What is Urinary Incontinence and How is it Diagnosed?
Urinary incontinence (UI) is the involuntary loss of urine, meaning you pee when you don’t intend to. While it’s common, especially among active women, it’s not something you just have to live with. UI is categorized into different types, each with distinct causes and treatment approaches.
Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI)
This happens when pressure on the bladder (from activities like coughing, sneezing, jumping, or lifting) exceeds the ability of the pelvic floor and urethral sphincter to keep urine in. SUI is particularly common during high-impact and high-intensity exercises.
Urge Urinary Incontinence
This is the “GOTTA GO RIGHT NOW” type of leakage. It’s caused by involuntary bladder contractions, making you feel an urgent need to urinate, sometimes without much warning.
Overflow Incontinence
This happens when the bladder doesn’t empty completely, leading to frequent dribbling of urine. It’s less common in athletes but can occur in cases of nerve damage or chronic bladder issues.
Athletic Incontinence
This is a subtype of SUI that occurs specifically during high-impact or high-intensity exercise. It’s more common than people think, with prevalence ranging from 10.88% to 80% depending on the type and intensity of training. It happens because the pressure generated inside the abdomen during activities like running, jumping, or lifting exceeds the pressure keeping the urethra closed. Many young female athletes don’t report it due to lack of awareness or embarrassment.
Why Do I Leak When I Lift Weights, Jump, or Run?
It’s important to differentiate between stress urinary incontinence (SUI) and athletic incontinence. While athletic incontinence is a specific form of SUI that occurs only during sport activities, SUI can also happen in day-to-day situations like sneezing or laughing. Understanding the type of incontinence you’re experiencing helps determine the best treatment approach because the problem is not always a weak pelvic floor and the answer is not always Kegels.
Leaking during workouts doesn’t just happen to women who have given birth. Many athletes and active women who have never been pregnant also experience it. Let’s explore some of the most common reasons why this happens.
Discoordination of Pelvic Floor Muscles
Your pelvic floor should contract automatically when you lift, jump, or land. But sometimes, it doesn’t fire at the right time or quickly enough to counteract the pressure. This is especially common in high-impact sports that require quick, reactive movements.
Example: Imagine you land from a box jump, and your pelvic floor is slow to engage. This split-second delay can lead to leaking.
Pressure Management Issues
How you brace your core matters. Proper bracing involves a coordinated contraction of the diaphragm, deep core, and pelvic floor. Poor bracing strategies can increase pressure on the bladder and pelvic floor.
Example: You take a deep breath before a deadlift but push your belly out instead of engaging your core and pelvic floor, leading to leaking.
Working Close to 1RM Loads
Like any muscle, your pelvic floor has a load limit. It’s common to experience leaking when lifting close to your max (e.g., during a powerlifting competition). If you leak only at max loads, it might be normal for your current strength level. However, if you’re leaking at lighter loads, your pelvic floor might not be keeping up with your progressive overload, and you may need to scale back or modify your training.
Example: You hit a new PR on your squat or you are participating in an Olympic lift competition and feel leakage at the bottom of the lift when approaching near-maximal effort.
Muscle Fatigue
Your pelvic floor can get tired, just like any other muscle. If you only leak toward the end of a run or during the last few reps of your workout, it might be due to fatigue. Knowing when this happen can help you gauge where your current limit is and adjust accordingly.
Example: You go for a long-distance run and notice that leakage happens only in the last couple of kilometers when your muscles are fatigued.
Hormones
Hormonal fluctuations affect pelvic floor function. During the menstrual cycle, estrogen levels fluctuate, impacting tissue elasticity and muscle coordination. Some women notice more leaking around ovulation or before their period. During menopause, lower estrogen levels can cause muscle loss, making urinary leakage more common.
Example: You notice you leak more right before your period due to lower estrogen levels, which can affect muscle function.
How Pelvic Floor Physiotherapy Can Help With Leaking During Training
Pelvic floor physiotherapy is the first-line treatment for incontinence, even for highly active women. A pelvic health physiotherapist can:
Take a thorough history to determine the cause of your leaking.
Assess your pelvic floor coordination, strength, and endurance with an internal exam.
Provide strategies and exercises to help manage intra-abdominal pressure during lifts and high-impact activities.
A physio might ask questions like:
When do you typically experience leaking? (During specific movements, certain times in your cycle?)
Do you notice a pattern, like leaking more when fatigued?
How do you brace when lifting? Do you hold your breath?
Have you had any pregnancies or pelvic surgeries?
Do you experience symptoms like pelvic heaviness or pain?
What does your training volume look like?
Examples of Treatment Approaches
Bracing Modifications – Learning to engage your pelvic floor correctly instead of bearing down. Some people benefit from exhaling on exertion, while others need a different cueing approach.
Progressive Pelvic Floor Strength Training – Just like any other muscle, your pelvic floor needs to be trained appropriately for your sport.
Adjusting Training Loads and Impact Progression – Gradual exposure to impact activities like running and jumping can help your pelvic floor adapt.
Breath and Pressure Management Drills – Teaching your core and pelvic floor to work together effectively.
Final Thoughts
Peeing during workouts is common, but it’s not something you have to accept as “just part of being a woman” or “what happens after having kids.” There are effective strategies to improve bladder control and pelvic floor function. If you’re experiencing leaking during training, working with a pelvic floor physiotherapist can help you address the root cause and get back to training confidently.
If you’ve been struggling with this, know that you’re not alone and there’s help available! Reach out to a pelvic health physiotherapist and take the first step toward leak-free training.
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