How to Lift Weights Without Leaking Urine

Do you leak urine when you lift weights? Have you been told this is normal? Maybe even a badge of honor that you are lifting so much weight that your urine squirts out?

Do you bring a change of clothes for after the gym? Do you wear dark leggings when you work out so it will hide the urine leakage? Are you afraid others can smell the urine on you?

You can learn to lift weights without having urine leakage.

I have taught many women who are experienced and competitive weight lifters how to lift without leaking.

And kegels aren’t it.

Kegels:

If you can lift heavy weights I can almost guarantee that your pelvic floor muscles are not weak and you don’t need to do more kegels!

The pelvic floor muscles are part of our core muscles, so they are activating and getting stronger with each lift.

I have yet to have a patient who lifts heavy, is a crossfitter or competitive weightlifter who has weak pelvic floor muscles. So you can stop with the kegels.

If not kegels then what do I do?

It probably has more to do with your set up and lift strategy than any weakness of your pelvic floor muscles.

Here are my two pieces of advice:

1. Breathe.

Unless you are doing a 1 rep max or approaching your 1 RM, you likely don’t need to hold your breath and brace using that strategy. Save that for your heaviest lifts.

Exhale as you lift. This means on a squat exhale as you stand up. On a deadlift exhale as you lift the weight off the ground. On a bench press, exhale as you press the weight away from your body.

So many people can stop peeing themselves if they just employ this strategy.

2. If you do need to hold your breath, brace around not down

If you are approaching a max lift and you do need to breath hold and brace, often what I see my lifters doing is pushing down through their abdomen into their pelvic floor when they brace. If we can teach them to brace around their spine and ribs instead of down into the ground and their pelvic floor, then they can lift without leaking. Yes, it is possible. I have seen it happen many times.

Can I lift heavier weights without leaking?

There is a theory that if you are leaking when you lift there is a weakness in the system. If we can make the weakest part stronger, then the overall lift should get stronger.

I believe this theory and I’ve seen it in the athletes I have worked with. Once we get them to lift without leaking, they often go on to lift more weight in a very short amount of time. Many of my clients have had PRs soon after going through pelvic floor therapy.

You can get stronger and lift even more weight, all without peeing yourself.

Want to know more?

Check out my online course on bladder retraining where we go over all bladder habits and techniques to stop bladder leakage in every scenario.

You can also schedule an in person or virtual consult with me here.