Assessment of Pelvic Floor Strength Variables in Female Nulliparous Athletes (FFT-PFM)

Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM)

Status: Completed

Conditions: Muscle Tone; Strength; Pelvic Floor Muscle Weakness

Treatments: Diagnostic Test: Pelvic floor muscles contractile capacity and activation

Study type: Observational

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06626841

20221125 (Other Identifier)

Details and patient eligibility

About

Functional Fitness Training (FFT) is a modality that seeks to improve physical fitness and performance within several functional tasks by conducting a variety of training activities such as aerobic and metabolic conditioning, resistance training, and high impact exercises. Although there are many benefits of FFT for improving fitness and body composition, their effects on the pelvic floor are not clear, as high-impact exercises performed in FFT have been shown to cause an increase in intra-abdominal pressure. When these exercises are performed repeatedly, fatigue can occur within the pelvic floor muscles (PFM), which can increase the risk of developing pelvic floor dysfunctions. However, currently little is known about how FFT activities acutely affect the PFM and whether such training regimes may contribute to long-term urinary incontinence in female FFT athletes. Therefore, this study aimed to analyse the acute effects of a FFT.workout on pelvic floor strength and muscle activation in nulliparous female FFT athletes. It is hypothesized that both strength and PFM activation of the female athletes would be reduced after a FFT workout due to PFM fatigue.

Enrollment: 23 patients

Sex: Female

Ages: 18 to 65 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Nulliparous
• Have been practicing FFT or weightlifting for at least 2 years
• Train a minimum of 3 days/week that did not include pelvic floor exercises
• Have no medical contraindications or previous pelvic floor surgeries

Exclusion criteria

• Any criterion that fails to meet the inclusion criteria

Trial design

23 participants in 1 patient group

Female athletes

Description:

Female functional fitness training athletes. The participants had to be nulliparous, had been practicing FFT or weightlifting for at least 2 years, trained a minimum of 3 days/week that did not include pelvic floor exercises, and had no medical contraindications or previous pelvic floor surgeries

Treatment:

Diagnostic Test: Pelvic floor muscles contractile capacity and activation