Although pelvic health and addressing these issues is becoming more commonly talked about in the medical and physical therapy realm, it's often still a topic that seems to fly under the radar. Unfortunately, this may be even more true for female fitness athletes.
Learn about the importance of pelvic health in female CrossFit athletes in our blog post here.
I've been participating in CrossFit for multiple years now and have met some pretty inspirational female athletes. They go hard in their workouts and give everything they have during competition. But one common barrier I am starting to recognize during my time with these ladies is that they are struggling with pelvic health dysfunction.
As a private practice owner, I've been working with CrossFit athletes for quite some time now. But as I see that pelvic health issues are more common than one might realize, I've shifted my focus to helping women deal with issues like peeing their pants and pelvic pain. In this post, I want to dive into some of the common pelvic health issues, as well as how a pelvic health physical therapist can help you to reach your fitness goals.
The Pelvic Floor's Role in CrossFit
To make things simple, the pelvic floor plays a few roles in our body -- support our organs, stabilize the core, and maintain urinary and bowel control. And when put under high-stress activities, like CrossFit, if it hasn't been trained properly, things go south real quick.
With that being said, many of the female athletes I've met in the gym and worked with in my practice struggle with common issues such as peeing their pants or pelvic pain in general. Oftentimes, they don't realize there is help out there for them and that is is possible to cure their pelvic floor problems. Insert a pelvic health physical therapist!
Incontinence: The Silent Struggle
Probably the most common pelvic dysfunction out of them all is some form of urinary incontinence. Whether it be due to stress or overactivity of the bladder, this condition affects many female athletes.
I know the issue of leaking urine is often associated with older women or even those females who have given birth, but in reality it can affect pretty much anyone - especially female CrossFitters, even if you haven’t had a baby or any history of a problem.
To break things down, there are two common forms of urinary incontinence that I see in the gym setting:
Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI): This type of leakage occurs when stress or pressure is placed on the bladder. Activities likes running, jumping, heavy lifting, etc. are common culprits. With that being said, these movements are very common for the CrossFit athlete, making them more prone to dealing with stress incontinence.
Urge Incontinence: On the other hand, the other type of urinary incontinence is called urge incontinence. This type of leakage is when someone feels a strong urge to have to go to the bathroom more often than normal or when put into certain environmental situations such as pulling the driveway to their home, unlocking their house door, or hearing running water. Even though this form of urinary leakage isn't necessarily due to the high-power activities of CrossFit, it's still possible for these female athletes to experience urge incontinence.
Experiencing leakage during workout can be very frustrating and even embarrassing for these athletes. When you go to the gym your focus is on your workout and challenging your body. But when dealing with something like peeing your pants when participating in these activities, it can be quite disheartening.
Pelvic Pain: More Than Just Discomfort
The next common issue I see in the gym setting is pelvic pain. Women can experience pelvic pain in many different forms, from a dull ache to sharp pain in the pelvic region, to shooting pain that extends into the hips or back.
Having pelvic pain when you're trying to workout is not ideal and can often be very limiting. This problem can often be a result of what's called an overactive or tight pelvic floor. This dysfunction can happen over time from improper postures, poor body mechanics during workouts, or mental and emotional stress.
This type of pain, just like any pain, can not only affect these women's workouts, but also trickle into everyday activities leading to frustration. Many women report pain with vaginal penetration, which can significantly impact their intimacy and overall quality of life. This discomfort often stems from tension in the pelvic floor muscles, making it difficult to relax during intimate moments. By focusing on pelvic floor relaxation techniques, we can help alleviate this pain, allowing for a more comfortable and fulfilling experience.
Diastasis Recti: More Than Just a Postpartum Issue
The third pelvic health issue I see, and maybe less common in my practice, is diastasis recti. Put simply, diastasis recti is the separation of the abdominal muscles. This can commonly be due to pregnancy but also can be caused by repetitive, high-intensity abdominal stress such as CrossFit. It's often a result of improper breathing mechanics with movement, leading to outward pressure on the abdomen.
This separation of the abdominals can not only lead to core weakness, but can also impact pelvic floor stability. When the pelvic floor is affected secondary to diastasis recti, it can result in some of the issues mentioned before such as peeing your pants, pelvic pain, or pelvic "heaviness."
Addressing Pelvic Health in Female Athletes
The good news is that you don't have to "live with" pelvic health issues. You also don't have to stop working out or participating in the activities you love. Connecting with a pelvic health physical therapist, like myself, is a great starting point to resolving these issues and puts you on the path to getting back to the activities you love.
When working with a pelvic health physical therapist, you should expect them to perform and evaluation of your movement, strength, mobility, and many other things to get a baseline of your current function, strengths, and deficits. From there, they are able to develop an individualized treatment plan based on your goals to address your pelvic floor dysfunction.
A few common strategies to address your pelvic floor issues may include the following:
Breath work: Focusing on proper breath mechanics is foundational for any type of pelvic dysfunction. Your therapist will train you on proper breathing mechanics at rest and progress you to breathing with movement and exercise to reduce unwanted pressure on the core and pelvic floor.
Basic education: Understanding the function of the pelvic floor, along with lifestyle modifications to support the pelvic floor can be a game-changer for many females. Simple steps like reducing bladder irritants in your diet or breathing with everyday movements such as getting up out of a chair can be critical to your improved symptoms.
Pelvic floor exercise: Lastly, you wouldn't expect to work with a pelvic floor therapist without performing some type of exercise. Activities like core stabilization, mobility work, muscle coordination, etc. are examples of exercise activities you may perform during physical therapy. Afterall, as a CrossFit athlete if your goal is to return to sport, our goal is to progressively train your pelvic floor to support you in the movements you wish to perform.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, I'm here to tell you that if you're a female CrossFit athlete dealing with peeing your pants or pelvic pain, there is hope. Understanding the common conditions that many of these athletes face, as well as how a pelvic health physical therapist can help is the first step to seeking the care you deserve.
By addressing these problems head-on, you can continue to push your physical boundaries, stay competitive, and perform at your very best without being held back.
If you or someone you know is struggling with peeing their pants or pelvic pain during workouts, send them my direction. You can book a free consultation call with me here where we will discuss your symptoms, goals, and what your next best steps would be.
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