incontinence while lifting?

[oregonchick76]

So, the good news is, I hit a new PR on my deadlift today at 235lbs!

The bad news is, I more or less wet my pants doing it...

I have had a couple kids, and dealt with a little incontinence after both deliveries, but nothing like it in years. I'm wondering if this was a form issue? Or have I found the limits of my urethral-muscles?

Kind of embarrassed, but fortunately it wasn't really a gusher. But enough that I stopped working out.

[MrsClayMatthews]

I haven't experienced this while lifting, but I did notice it when I was kickboxing. I haven't had any kids but I know that a lot of the women who did had the same issues too.

[thehobbes]

Congrats on the PR!! Have never had this happen (kinda surprised as I drink water nonstop and already have to pee every 45min as it is, but also have not had kids.) I've seen this topic pop up from time to time over here, prob is somewhat normal as long as it isn't happening all the time. (If something's going to make that happen it would be maxing on deadlift.) If you start peeing your shorts on db curls then you know it's time to see a doctor.

Have had a couple close calls due to always taking PWOs that don't always agree with me. Carry some extra shorts and pray you never need em lol, srs though, then at least if an incident occurs you can finish your workout for the day, THAT would definitely not stop me.

[kimm4]

As long as I don't shi* my pants, it's all good...

Congrats on the PR!

[ilovethe80s]

You're not alone. It is one of those things that a lot of women suffer from and nobody talks about. But when you do talk about it, you find out everyone else has it. I have 2 friends who had surgery for it this year because it was happening all the time (not from pressure/jumping/exertion, just walking around).

As long as I don't shi* my pants, it's all good...

^^ words to live by

[oregonchick76]

LOL. Thanks everyone who chimed in... I thought it might just be me!

I remember stepping up to the bar thinking, "I hope I don't crap my pants"... I guess that would have been worse!

[wannabefit69]

It happens to me when i go up in weight quite a bit sometimes, after only having one kid.... It really sucks...My brother said it could be doing too much too soon or just my body

[kjake55]

It's happened to me also. I don't have kids but I have noticed as I get older it presents itself more (even when I sneeze sometimes ). A change of shorts and/or a sanitary napkin can keep you going heavy on your deadlifts without having to be to self conscience.

And Congrats on the PR! That's good stuff!

[toodlepip]

Was listening to a podcast recently (maybe Iron Radio?) and the guy was talking about how almost all of his female powerlifting clients had peed themselves while lifting...sounded common enough.

[geek23ka]

ultrathin overnight with wings before i go to the gym for deadlift day. just in case!

[Romina81]

Anybody bought those diapers for deadlifts?

[BEEvon]

*kegels



No program is complete without 'em.

[Artemisia510b]

I'm worried this will happen to me. Not a mom, but I seem to need to pee literally every 5 minutes while exercising, no matter the type of exercise.

[stephanielynn76]

Yup. I got two kids and a prolapsed bladder. I have only ever peed myself on a 6PPS leg press but not any of my other lifts. I have to wear a pad to Zumba and I soak that thing every class. Coughing, sneezing, jumping, and running are all very precarious for me. I did adult gymnastics for a while but stopped because of this very unfortunate problem. I really need to have it fixed but I don't want to take the time off.

... beware of trampolines!

[birdiefu]

LOL, what a great topic! One of those hush-hush things that are oh-so-common. I've had 2 kids, and generally have no issues with this. Except a 300 lb DL seemed to have been my bladder limit...I actually had vid of the moment. It was just a little leakage (ha-ha!), nothing anyone would notice outwardly, but I mentally had to say f*ck it and just finish the pull, it felt like it took forever! I purchased some ultra light poise pads just in case for my next meet

Me making a wee little tinkle at the lift starting 3:26 (I think the moment was right at 3:44, lol).

[rdferguson]

*kegels



No program is complete without 'em.

Every personal mentor I had as a PT from 2008 to 2010 actually gave this advice, and I've only seen it contradicted once (by someone who gave the alternative advice of doing 300 squats per day instead; probably not the most practical advice, and obviously you're already squatting so more squatting probably isn't the solution). I don't have any personal experience to support the effectiveness of kegel exercises, and in a very non-seedy way I'd like to know if anyone has found them effective, but worst case scenario it couldn't hurt.

[dreahere]

Every personal mentor I had as a PT from 2008 to 2010 actually gave this advice, and I've only seen it contradicted once (by someone who gave the alternative advice of doing 300 squats per day instead; probably not the most practical advice, and obviously you're already squatting so more squatting probably isn't the solution). I don't have any personal experience to support the effectiveness of kegel exercises, and in a very non-seedy way I'd like to know if anyone has found them effective, but worst case scenario it couldn't hurt.

I've been kegeling pretty religiously since my now-27 year old son was born, and I'm the only woman my age that I know, including my bff who never gave birth, who never leaks any pee under any circumstances (laughing, sneezing, coughing, max squatting ). My gyn has also praised my pelvic floor muscles, LOL. /anecdotal evidence

[ilovethe80s]

Every personal mentor I had as a PT from 2008 to 2010 actually gave this advice, and I've only seen it contradicted once (by someone who gave the alternative advice of doing 300 squats per day instead; probably not the most practical advice, and obviously you're already squatting so more squatting probably isn't the solution). I don't have any personal experience to support the effectiveness of kegel exercises, and in a very non-seedy way I'd like to know if anyone has found them effective, but worst case scenario it couldn't hurt.

I actually did a lot of research on this (had some issues for a while lol) and from experience - the squats actually did 1000x more good than kegels. Even my dr said kegels, I gave them more than a fair shot - but they did nothing.

However, I was starting a russian high volume squatting programs and noticed that within just one week of beginning that, there was a marked difference. and a few weeks in, NO INCIDENTS. I thought maybe it was just some very late postpartum recovery or something ( I had my babies back to back but had none of this going on with baby 1 and 2, #3 is just 2 years old so some recovery still going on is possible. ) and that this was no longer a problem, but after a deload and cutting down squat volume significantly, mild occurrences started up again. So that's my experience, squats seem to help me where kegels do not. Just like kegels, you have to keep up with them. I can't remember article links as it was some time ago, but here is a blog post that goes over the idea of why the squats work:
http://mamasweat.blogspot.com/2010/0...s-are-not.html

Needless to say, any program I do now has lots of squatting

edit: actually, I don't want to say kegels did 'nothing'. I feel like kegels helped train for what to do when you have to sneeze. I had to leave my son's soccer game one day because I sneezed :/ So I think it helped with that, but for some reason, sneezing/ caughing - kegels yes. Leakage during activity, no.

[BEEvon]

Every personal mentor I had as a PT from 2008 to 2010 actually gave this advice, and I've only seen it contradicted once (by someone who gave the alternative advice of doing 300 squats per day instead; probably not the most practical advice, and obviously you're already squatting so more squatting probably isn't the solution). I don't have any personal experience to support the effectiveness of kegel exercises, and in a very non-seedy way I'd like to know if anyone has found them effective, but worst case scenario it couldn't hurt.

I have always done them and found them helpful. But, depending on the severity of the problem, I could see where they wouldn't always be enough for some people.

[lynore]

As long as I don't shi* my pants, it's all good...

Congrats on the PR!

True dat!!!!

[CathyVee]

First off, congrats on the PR.

Secondly, all this Kegel talk reminded me of these:

http://www.amazon.com/VagaCare-Weigh...aginal+weights

http://www.amazon.com/PELVINN-Kegel-...aginal+weights

And no, I do not own these .

[Orexis]

Secondly, all this Kegel talk reminded me of these:

Hah yeah I was going to mention the weight/ball things. I don't have those, but I do have a pair of Lelo ones. Never had any issues prior to purchasing so I can't say if they have helped, but reviews are pretty good.

[birdiefu]

Haha, all this talk of kegals. I actually had been doing progressive resistance kegal training years before I even though of lifting. The kegalmaster 2000 - cheesiest name in the world and um....I sure won't post the image, but it's fun as hell to snap it closed, lol

Don't know how much of a difference it would have made with my lack of "incidents" with regular activity/sneezing/etc, or if I would have had an "oops" at a different DL weight. Still better than crappin or fartin tho!

[Ptyrri]

If I may suggest using the hip adductor/abductor machine if your gym has one. Thanks to that machine, I can laugh, cough and sneeze with confidence. Hope it helps!

[CARRGRIFF]

So, the good news is, I hit a new PR on my deadlift today at 235lbs!

The bad news is, I more or less wet my pants doing it...

I have had a couple kids, and dealt with a little incontinence after both deliveries, but nothing like it in years. I'm wondering if this was a form issue? Or have I found the limits of my urethral-muscles?

Kind of embarrassed, but fortunately it wasn't really a gusher. But enough that I stopped working out.

I didn't read all the replies to this so I'm not sure if someone's mentioned it yet but you should buy a Kegelmaster. I know the name sounds ridiculous and trust me thing thing looks even more ridiculous but OMG it works, and fast! It's resistance training for your veejay!

I've had three kids and after my last one (6-29-12), every time I'd try to lift heavy this would happen. It was actually pretty embarrassing. I was considering vag rejuvenation surgery when I read about this device online. I was a little skeptical because I couldn't find very many reviews on it that didn't come from a seller website but I decided to try it anyway. Within a couple of weeks I noticed a huge improvement and now at week 5 it no longer happens at all anymore. It also helps with sex by tightening things up down there. It makes intercourse much more pleasurable (for BOTH parties), but that's another topic!

Anyway, if you buy one, and I recommend you do, make sure you get it from Amazon because it'll be a little less.

HTH!!

[DaniGrrl]

Yup. I got two kids and a prolapsed bladder. I have only ever peed myself on a 6PPS leg press but not any of my other lifts. I have to wear a pad to Zumba and I soak that thing every class. Coughing, sneezing, jumping, and running are all very precarious for me. I did adult gymnastics for a while but stopped because of this very unfortunate problem. I really need to have it fixed but I don't want to take the time off.

... beware of trampolines!

Leg press is a problem for me, too. I can't get on that thing with a full bladder. I'm normally ok during deadlifts but I do them first so I've typically just peed. I don't think i'd attempt them with a full bladder.

I have two kids and a prolapsed uterus. My GYN has no explanation bc it happened after my first baby who was not large and was not a difficult delivery. It became evident early in my second pregnancy, but as my uterus grew, it was ok - until after what was a difficult second delivery and it was really pretty bad there for a while. It was extremely severely prolapsed and I couldn't stand up for any length of time without it literally hanging out. It's truly disgusting. So the only reason I was given was that my ligaments just gave out for whatever reason. Kegel's never helped. Recently, though, it has improved a great deal; I can even wear tampons!! I am thinking perhaps lifting has improved my pelvic floor somewhat. It seems to cause the opposite problem of incontinence when it's bad, though - I feel like I can never fully empty my bladder.

I also need to have it fixed, but like Steph, I don't want to take the time off - and I'm afraid that they will tell me lifting heavy is a no-no afterwards. I'll have to have a hysterectomy at some point......but given that I am newly single, I am not sure what life will bring and don't want to make having another baby impossible just yet.

I actually worry more about farting when squatting or deadlifting LOL

[rdferguson]

First off, congrats on the PR.

Secondly, all this Kegel talk reminded me of these:

http://www.amazon.com/VagaCare-Weigh...aginal+weights

http://www.amazon.com/PELVINN-Kegel-...aginal+weights

And no, I do not own these .

For the woman who loves to lift. Loves it