Leaking When You Lift Isn’t the Price of Motherhood — and It Isn’t Just Kegels
The short answer: Leaking when you lift is common, but it isn’t something you simply have to live with. Pooled research puts it at around 4 in 10 women athletes, and structured pelvic floor training reduces it. It works best when it’s built into your lifting, not done instead of it.
- About 39% of women athletes leak urine, according to a 2026 analysis of 4,649 women. Common is not the same as normal.
- Heavy lifting isn’t automatically the culprit. Weekly training volume, age, having had children and body mass all play a part.
- Pelvic floor training cuts leakage in athletes, but a lone squeeze isn’t the whole job.
- You usually don’t need to stop lifting. You need a plan that fits how you lift.
A question we hear often from women who train: “I’ve stopped squatting heavy because I leak. Is that just what happens now?” It’s a quiet frustration, and many women never raise it with anyone.
How common is leaking when you lift?
More common than most women think. A 2026 analysis in Sports Medicine pooled 32 studies and 4,649 women athletes. It found 39% had urinary incontinence.
In a 2025 systematic review of five studies (1,809 participants), leaking affected 41.0–48.8% of powerlifters and 36.6–54.1% of weightlifters. The deadlift was the lift most often linked to leaking, then the squat.
Is it just because you’ve had children?
Childbirth is one factor, not the only one. The 2025 review linked leaking to age, number of births and body mass index. It also linked it to high loads, high repetitions and competition.
The 2026 analysis found the sport you play explained little. The most consistent signal was hours of training per week, with about 6% higher odds of leaking for each extra weekly hour. That’s an association, not proof of cause.
Worth knowing. Women who have never had a baby leak too. If you’re wondering whether it’s “just” motherhood, the evidence says it often isn’t.
Does that mean you should stop lifting?
No. Nothing in this research says lifting is the problem to be removed. Strength training is one of the best things you can do for your bones and your long-term health, as we cover in the five numbers that predict how well you age and the perimenopause bone-density window.
The aim is to keep lifting and fix the leak. That usually means looking at how you load, not whether you do.
Why isn’t a Kegel the whole answer?
Squeezing is one skill. Lifting asks your pelvic floor to do more. It has to switch on automatically as pressure rises when you brace, and it has to relax again afterwards.
Some women can squeeze well but can’t let go. Some squeeze at rest but not under a heavy bar. That’s why we assess how your pelvic floor, breathing, trunk and hips work together, rather than simply handing you a squeeze-and-hold routine.
Does pelvic floor training actually work for athletes?
Yes. A meta-analysis in Sports Health (2024) pooled six studies in female athletes. Pelvic floor muscle training significantly reduced the amount of leakage and increased pelvic floor strength.
Honest caveat: the trials are small and the programs differ. They show training helps. They can’t tell us exactly which lifting changes suit you, and that’s where an individual assessment comes in.
What does a sensible plan look like?
It’s individual, but it usually has four parts. First, check what your pelvic floor is really doing, both squeezing and relaxing. Second, practise bracing and breathing with the lifts you care about. Third, build strength gradually, with load and volume changes made one at a time. Fourth, rebuild hip and trunk strength so the pelvic floor isn’t carrying the whole job.
If you’ve had a baby, our guides on returning to exercise after birth and post-natal pelvic floor recovery cover the early months. Our pelvic health physiotherapy page explains how we work.
When should you get it checked?
Sooner is easier than later, and you don’t need to wait for it to get worse. See someone if you leak regularly, if you avoid lifts or running because of it, or if you feel heaviness, dragging or a bulge in the vaginal area.
See your GP promptly if you notice blood in your urine, pain with passing urine, a sudden change in bladder or bowel control, or numbness in the saddle area.
To get started, book an appointment online or call 07 3209 2000 and tell reception what you’re trying to get back to, such as heavy squats, running or playing with the kids without worrying. Daisy Hill Physio is at U4 11–13 Allamanda Dr, Daisy Hill QLD 4127, in Logan City south of Brisbane — Logan, Queensland, not Logan, Utah. Email info@daisyhillphysio.com.au. You can meet our team first.
This guide is general information and doesn’t replace an individual assessment. It can’t diagnose the cause of your symptoms, and results vary from person to person.
Reviewed by Karly Flynn, Physiotherapist (women’s pelvic health and female athlete strength), Daisy Hill Physio. Updated 9 October 2026.
Sources: Domínguez-Pérez N et al. Urinary incontinence in women athletes: umbrella review and meta-analysis of sport-related factors. Sports Medicine 2026;56(9):2185–2208, doi:10.1007/s40279-026-02438-z. Alves ASC et al. Influence of powerlifting and weightlifting on female pelvic floor dysfunction: systematic literature review. International Urogynecology Journal 2025;36:955–964. Rodríguez-Longobardo C et al. Pelvic floor muscle training interventions in female athletes: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Sports Health 2024;16(5):766–775.
