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If you’ve ever peed a little during a run or even experienced full-on leakage, you’re far from alone. Many women and girls deal with this, but because it’s still a taboo topic, you don’t hear many people talk about it. As a result, women feel alone and embarrassed with this issue, believing they’re the only ones going through it.
The medical name for this is stress urinary incontinence, and while it’s incredibly common, especially in active women, it’s not something you just have to put up with. Understanding what’s going on and how to fix it, can make a huge difference in your comfort and confidence while running.
Stress incontinence happens when the pelvic floor muscles can’t fully support your bladder during impact. When you run, laugh, sneeze, or lift something heavy, pressure builds inside your abdomen. If your pelvic floor muscles can’t counter that pressure, urine may leak out.This can happen to women of all ages, not just postpartum mothers. In fact, many teen girls and young athletes also report leaking during running or jumping.
The pelvic floor is a group of muscles at the bottom of your pelvis. They support your bladder, uterus, and bowel. These muscles contract to hold in urine and relax to allow it to pass. They also work with your deep core and breathing system to stabilize your trunk, especially during impact activities like running.
If these muscles are too weak, they may not respond well to the repetitive pounding of your run. But if they’re too tight, they can also become dysfunctional and lead to symptoms like leaking, urgency, or pain. That’s why it’s important to get control over both strength and coordination, not just squeeze randomly.
The first step is to identify the muscles.
Imagine stopping the flow of urine or holding in gas. That subtle lift is your pelvic floor working. (Don't practice while actually peeing, it's just to help you locate the right muscles.)
Once you’ve found your pelvic floor muscles, the next step is to practice. Start by lying down or sitting, where gravity isn’t pulling on your muscles.
Gently squeeze and lift the pelvic floor muscles without clenching your abs, glutes, or thighs. Hold for a few seconds, then fully release. It’s just as important to let go completely as it is to contract. Over time, you can add short pulses (quick lifts and releases) as well as longer holds. Remember to breathe normally and avoid squeezing your glutes or thighs.
Practice a few times daily, but keep the effort light and focused. This isn’t just about strength, it’s about coordination and control.
As you get better at engaging your pelvic floor in quiet settings, you can start practicing in more functional positions. Try doing gentle Kegels while standing, walking, or performing daily tasks like brushing your teeth. Eventually, you can begin integrating pelvic floor engagement into light bodyweight exercises like bridges, wall sits, or squats.
If you’re strength training, a great starting point is to exhale and gently lift the pelvic floor during the effort phase of a lift—such as rising from a squat or pressing up from a deadlift. This timing helps support your core and protect your pelvic organs under pressure.
If you don’t feel anything at first, that’s okay. Awareness builds over time. Just don’t force it or clench too hard—it’s not about doing more, but doing it well.
While many women benefit from pelvic floor strengthening, Kegels aren’t right for everyone. Some women have an overactive or tense pelvic floor, meaning the muscles are already tight and don’t relax properly. In these cases, doing more contractions can actually make symptoms worse.
Signs that your pelvic floor might be too tight include pelvic pain, painful sex, trouble starting urination, or feeling worse after doing Kegels. If this sounds familiar, you may need to focus on relaxation, breathwork, and releasing tension before adding strength training.
In either case, a pelvic floor physical therapist can provide a personalized assessment and help you build the right kind of support for your body.
Regularly delaying urination can overstretch the bladder over time. This can:
On the flip side, some women are in the habit of "just-in-case peeing"—going to the bathroom before every run, every car trip, or multiple times before leaving the house. This might feel smart, but over time it can train your bladder to send urgency signals even when it's not actually full. This can contribute to urge incontinence, frequency, and a bladder that becomes hypersensitive—so you're more likely to leak even when you just went.
Constipation is one of the most overlooked causes of pelvic floor dysfunction. A full bowel presses against the bladder and pelvic floor, increasing pressure and making muscles work harder.
Straining on the toilet also puts significant downward pressure on the pelvic floor, which can weaken or stretch it over time. If you're leaking and also experience bloating or infrequent bowel movements, it’s worth addressing.
Squatting on your toes, hovering over public toilets, or rushing through peeing can prevent full relaxation of the pelvic floor. If your pelvic floor is tense or incomplete emptying becomes habitual, it can cause both bladder and pelvic floor dysfunction.
Try to sit fully down, relax, and breathe. Good toilet posture helps just as much as good running form!
Holding your breath during strength training, lifting kids, or bracing too hard can create excess intra-abdominal pressure. If you’re not coordinating your breath with your pelvic floor, that pressure can force urine out during moments of stress (like a lift or sprint).
Learning to exhale with effort and gently engage the pelvic floor can protect against leaks.
Running itself isn’t the problem—it’s running without proper core-pelvic floor synergy. If you’re ramping up mileage, jumping into intervals, or doing box jumps, but haven’t trained your deep core, your pelvic floor might not be able to keep up with the impact.
This is especially true postpartum or after injury. Focus on gradual loading and core-pelvic floor connection before adding intensity.
Many runners restrict fluids to avoid needing to pee—but dehydration leads to concentrated urine, which irritates the bladder lining and increases urgency. Paradoxically, drinking too little can increase your risk of leaking.
Caffeine, alcohol, and artificial sweeteners can also irritate the bladder in some people. If you’re leaking, it may be worth experimenting with reducing these and hydrating better instead.
While not direct causes, poor alignment or running form can create compensations that affect how your core and pelvic floor function under load. Collapsing hips, overstriding, or slouched posture can reduce support and coordination.
Wearing supportive shoes and addressing running form with drills or a coach can improve the whole-body system, which helps the pelvic floor do its job more effectively.
Here’s a quick summary of common habits women might want to adjust:
Use proper form in exercise and daily movement
Beyond pelvic floor training, there are biomechanical and running form adjustments that can significantly reduce leaking during a run. While Kegels help with muscle control, how you move, breathe, and land plays a huge role in how much pressure your body—and pelvic floor—has to absorb.
Here’s a list of additional strategies that can make a real difference:
A long, reaching stride increases the impact forces traveling up through your body, especially into your pelvis and core. This extra jarring can overwhelm your pelvic floor.
By shortening your stride and slightly increasing your cadence (aim for around 170–180 steps per minute), you reduce impact and improve shock absorption, making it easier for your pelvic floor to keep up.
Slouching or leaning forward at the hips compresses your core and pelvic floor. This increases downward pressure and reduces your ability to engage the deep support system effectively.
Try running with a tall posture: chest open, ribs stacked over hips, and head in line with your spine. Think of lifting through the crown of your head and running “light.” This helps your whole core system—including the pelvic floor—function with less strain.
Instead of bending at the waist, lean gently from the ankles. This allows gravity to assist your forward motion and reduces braking forces. It can also decrease how much impact your pelvic floor needs to absorb.
Focus on landing with your feet directly underneath your center of mass. Overstriding—when your foot lands too far in front of your body—creates more vertical force and harder landings, both of which stress the pelvic floor.
A more centered landing helps your muscles and joints absorb force more effectively, reducing strain.
There’s no universal “perfect” foot strike, but midfoot or flat foot landing tends to distribute force more evenly than heavy heel striking or exaggerated toe running.
Heavy heel strikes often come with overstriding, which can increase impact. That said, don’t force a new foot strike overnight—gradual form improvements are more sustainable and safer.
Poor breath control often leads to breath-holding, especially during effort. This increases intra-abdominal pressure and can push down on the bladder and pelvic floor.
Practice exhaling with effort—especially during hills, pickups, or sprints. You can gently engage your pelvic floor and core on the exhale to support your body during the most challenging moments.
Weak or underactive glutes, deep core muscles, or hip stabilizers can all cause compensations that overload the pelvic floor. Exercises like:
…can help create better core-pelvic floor integration and control during running.
Urine leakage while running is incredibly common—but it’s not inevitable, and it’s not something to be ashamed of. Whether you’re a teenager typing “girl pee while running” into Google, or a seasoned marathoner dealing with postpartum changes, you deserve to run without fear of leaking.
Pelvic floor training, when done correctly, can give you that freedom.
Start with awareness. Breathe deeply. Learn to contract and relax your pelvic floor. And don’t be afraid to ask for help—from a coach, a physiotherapist, or your healthcare provider. Strengthening the muscles you can’t see can make a visible difference in how you move, train, and feel.
No—while it's common, especially for women and postpartum runners, it's not something you have to accept as normal. It's usually a sign that your pelvic floor isn’t fully supporting you during impact, and it can often be improved with the right strategies.
Many women do Kegels incorrectly or only focus on squeezing without learning to relax. Others may have a pelvic floor that’s too tight rather than too weak. It’s important to coordinate Kegels with your breath and core, and to get a proper assessment if they’re not helping.
Not exactly. Your pelvic floor should function reflexively while running—you shouldn’t consciously try to squeeze it. The goal is to train those muscles in calmer settings so they activate automatically when you run.
If you experience pelvic pain, painful sex, difficulty starting urination, or feel worse after doing Kegels, your pelvic floor might be overactive. In that case, focus on relaxation and diaphragmatic breathing, and consider seeing a pelvic floor physio.
Yes! Most women see improvement through pelvic floor training, posture and running form changes, and habit shifts (like avoiding peeing “just in case” or improving core strength). Surgery is usually a last resort and not the first step.
If you’re leaking regularly, feel unsure how to do Kegels, or suspect your pelvic floor is tight or dysfunctional, absolutely yes. A pelvic floor physio can give you a personalized assessment and help you recover faster.
