Sport is synonymous with physical and mental health, but practicing some activities continuously can trigger unwanted problems if certain precautions are not taken. For example, there are sports that can damage the pelvic floor in both women and men. In this article we tell you what they are.
Sports that can damage the pelvic floor
What is the pelvic floor?
The pelvic floor or perineum is the space that mediates between the anus and the external genitalia. It is made up of a set of muscles and ligaments that close the abdominal cavity in the lower part. When this set of muscles and ligaments is weakened, there may be urinary incontinence after exertion. And there are sports that can weaken and damage the pelvic floor, causing this annoying and uncomfortable problem.
Harmful and recommended sports
Sports that are harmful to this part of the body are those with high impact or those that imply pressure in this area:
- Traditional crunches
- Aerobics
- Athletics and running
- Tennis
- Paddle
- Volleyball
- Handball
- Horse riding
- Basketball
- Step
- Skating
- Ski
- Weightlifting
- Yoga or Pilates
In yoga and Pilates there are only a few postures that can aggravate the problem and it will be when it has begun to manifest itself.
On the other hand, there are sports that combine aerobic exercises with strength exercises and that are perfect to avoid aggravating weakness in the pelvic floor. According to specialists, low-impact sports are the most recommended :
- Cycling or spinning
- Climbing stairs
- Swimming
- Aquagym
- Elliptical
- To walk
- To dance
All this does not mean that sports should be completely eliminated from the first list and only those from the last one should be practiced. No low, medium or high impact sport is bad for pelvic floor health in and of itself, but problems appear when it is played too many times a week and over the years. It would be interesting to combine a high impact one with a low or medium one so as not to force, and also leave days of rest between workouts .
Only in the worst case, which will be when the first symptoms of urinary incontinence are noticed, will it be necessary to stop the activity and consult a specialist.
How can the pelvic floor be strengthened?
There are ways to strengthen the pelvic floor and thus prevent urine leakage. One of them, and the most common, is performing active contraction exercises of the perineum , such as Kegel exercises .
To make them correctly sit or lie down with an empty bladder and squeeze the pelvic floor muscles for 3, 4 or 5 seconds. Then you have to relax them between 3 and 5 seconds . This exercise must be repeated about 10 times and the ideal is to do it every day. In some cases it will be necessary to do these exercises up to three times a day (morning, afternoon and night).
It would also be interesting to avoid inappropriate postures to protect the pelvic floor, as well as to keep the core in shape by practicing hypopressive gymnastics, to use incontinence tampons to put pressure on the bladder from inside the vagina, to use vaginal pessaries to correct the descent of the womb or use devices that exercise the perineal muscles .
Women and men can have the same problem
It is wrongly believed quite often that urinary incontinence problems only affect women, but men can also suffer from it. In fact, the sports listed above can affect both genders equally and Kegel exercises work for both. There are also other factors that can affect, regardless of sex, such as age, obesity or chronic cough.
We remember that in addition to exercising in a responsible way, it is also important to eat well, adopt a good posture, stay within a suitable weight and rest the necessary hours.
