Everyone knows that sports and exercise can be really good for your health, boosting benefits such as decreasing your risk of major illness by up to 30%¹. In fact, it’s recommended that you do a mixture of strengthening exercises and moderate-intensity activity four to five times a week². Yet, if you experience incontinence, participating in sports can be daunting. Some studies even show that up to 20% of women have reported quitting exercise due to the fear of leaks³. But, playing sport is possible with bladder weakness, and there are even some forms of exercise that can improve your symptoms!

What is incontinence?

Incontinence is defined as the unintentional passing of urine, and it can be categorised into the following types:

• stress incontinence, when wee leaks out when your bladder is under pressure
• urge incontinence, when you get a sudden urge to go the toilet
• overflow incontinence, when you can’t fully empty your bladder
• total incontinence, when your bladder can’t store urine at all⁴.

In terms of how incontinence can affect sports, stress incontinence is the most common issue as it can cause you to leak urine when you exercise. However, there are still plenty of sports you can play while experiencing incontinence.

Which sports should you avoid with incontinence?

Firstly, there are certain sports that can cause you to experience incontinence more frequently, especially stress incontinence. For example, high-impact exercise, such as sit-ups and aerobics, can put extra strain on your bladder and therefore potentially cause leaks⁵. Other forms of exercise to avoid include any sports that involve skipping, jumping and excessive weights and core training.⁶ Nonetheless, there are still plenty physical activities you can enjoy with an overactive bladder.

Which sports can improve incontinence symptoms?

While some sports can make symptoms of urinary incontinence (UI)worse, there are many bladder-friendly exercises you can enjoy. Activities that strengthen your pelvic floor are ideal if you experience bladder weakness. These include:

• Pilates⁷
• yoga
• swimming
• cycling
• water aerobics
• Kegels⁸.

As these don’t apply pressure to the pelvic floor,⁹ you are less likely to leak urine. They can also improve your pelvic floor muscles, thus lessening your incontinence symptoms¹⁰. Plus, getting active can help you to lose weight¹¹, which, in turn, can make leakages less frequent. This is because carrying extra weight can put more pressure on your bladder, making UI symptoms worse¹². We highly recommend that you speak to your doctor before you take up a new exercise regime.

Tips for playing sports while experiencing leaks

Finally, there are other things you can do to lessen the chance of experiencing incontinence while playing sports. In addition to focusing on bladder-friendly sports, we suggest:

• using a suitable continence product to manage your leaks.
  • iD Pants offer breathability and a snug fit to keep you dry and comfortable while you exercise. The topsheet contains natural ingredients improved by dermatologists, meaning you can enjoy peace of mind while wearing these incontinence pants
  • Alternatively, iD Light is a discreet liner with a comfortable cotton feel, ideal for an active lifestyle.
• hydration is important, but overfilling your bladder can cause more leaks at the gym
• eating a healthy diet. Not only is this good for your general health, some foods help prevent bladder inflammation. Also, as constipation can make urinary incontinence worse, upping your fibre intake can help relieve symptoms¹³
• quitting smoking – smoking cigarettes irritates the bladder and can also cause coughing fits (particularly during exercise!), which may cause leaks¹⁴
• cutting down on alcohol to avoid dehydration and more concentrated pee, which can also irritate your bladder, by causing dehydration and more concentrated urine.¹⁵

We hope this article has showed you that it’s possible, and even beneficial, to continue to play sports when you have incontinence!