Is it normal for female weightlifters to pee?
Urinary incontinence in women powerlifters is a common condition. Female powerlifters who know how to flex their pelvic floor muscles or have undergone a pelvic floor exam are less likely to experience severe urine leakage.
Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) is defined as the unintentional loss of urine that is prompted by a physical movement or activity such as heavy lifting that puts pressure (stress) on the bladder (SI – Mayo Clinic). While SUI is common in the lifting community, it is NOT necessarily normal.
If the belt is too wide or loose, it may move up and down and mechanically change the intra-abdominal pressure more than it already does as we move throughout the lift. This change in pressure, or physical push of the belt on the bladder, can cause the involuntary leakage urine.
The woman in question is Hunter Henderson, an athlete with many awards under her belt, but the video of her deadlifting has become a controversial topic.
Urinary incontinence is the unintentional loss of urine. Stress incontinence happens when physical movement or activity — such as coughing, laughing, sneezing, running or heavy lifting — puts pressure (stress) on your bladder, causing you to leak urine.
When attempting a squat, sometimes the muscles that regulate the flow of urine are unable to hold back a leak in a type of urinary incontinence called Stress Urinary Incontinence. Stress Urinary Incontinence is the light bladder leaks that occur whenever the bladder, urinary tract, or abdomen is put under pressure.
The effects of deadlifts are evidence-based, with several case studies supporting its benefits on strength training. They help you build more strength in key muscles like the quads, glutes, and abs, develop core strength, improve hip stability and mobility, enhance grip strength, and give your body more definition.
To strengthen your pelvic floor to relieve symptoms, replace high-impact exercise, such as jogging and aerobics, with strengthening exercise, such as pilates. Pilates strengthens your core muscles, which is beneficial for stress incontinence.
Weightlifting in general is a risk factor in itself for pelvic floor dysfunction in that an athlete is working to move heavy loads at “strenuous” levels over and over again. We know that chronic strenuous loads and activities that increase abdominal pressure over and over again can lead to PFD.
Urinary incontinence while you're exercising is pretty common, but that doesn't make it any less inconvenient or embarrassing. The good news is that there are treatments available to resolve incontinence. You can maintain the exercise program that's so crucial for maintaining good health.
Can lifting weights affect your bladder?
However, strenuous work and exercise such as weightlifting increases the intra-abdominal pressure [5] and has been listed as a possible risk factor for development of pelvic floor dysfunction (PFD) such as urinary incontinence (UI), anal incontinence, and pelvic organ prolapse (POP) in women [6–8].
Urinary incontinence while you're exercising is pretty common, but that doesn't make it any less inconvenient or embarrassing. The good news is that there are treatments available to resolve incontinence. You can maintain the exercise program that's so crucial for maintaining good health.

Long-term or repeated heavy lifting as a female can actually cause what is called a uterine prolapse. A uterine prolapse is when the pelvic floor muscles are weakened, which support the uterus, and the uterus descends downward.
Out of these the women 50% reported having urinary incontinence, 80% having anal incontinence and 23% dealing with pelvic organ prolapse. Out of the male group, 9% reported urinary incontinence during competition and 63% reported anal incontinence.
CHOOSE lower impact exercises, such as walking or Pilates. CHOOSE workout machines that don't exert pressure on the pelvis, such as a treadmill or elliptical. AVOID lifting heavy weights or performing body exercises, such as plunges, jumping jacks, and squats that bounce or push on the pelvis.
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How to exercise without wetting yourself
- running.
- jumping.
- star jumps.
- skipping.
- boxing.
- sit ups, curl ups or crunches.
- deep lunges or wide-legged squats.
- lifting or pressing heavy weights.