Impact of a 12-Week Pelvic Floor Training on Urinary Incontinence in Functional Fitness Training Athletes (PFMT-UI-FFT)

Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM)

Status: Completed

Conditions: Strength; Urinary Incontinence (UI); Muscle Activation

Treatments: Other: Pelvic floor muscle training intervention

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06623045

UPM20221125

20221125 (Other Identifier)

Details and patient eligibility

About

Functional fitness training (FFT) is a prominent exercise regimen, that has emerged as the dominant fitness trend of the 21st century , advocating high-intensity exercises with repetitive, impactful movements that often result in increased intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) and neuromuscular fatigue. This demanding training pattern, characterized by minimal rest pauses, has been associated with potential health concerns, particularly urinary incontinence (UI). In athletes, UI is intricately connected to the frequency of exposure to increased IAP during high-impact activities. These activities assume even greater significance in sports, particularly in FFT, where there is an increased frequency of impactful foot contact on the ground and intensive abdominal exercises, potentially correlating with the overload of the pelvic floor muscles and the emergence of dysfunctions. Therefore, this study aims to examine the effects of a 12-week training program focused on Kegel exercises performed with diaphragmatic breathing in nulliparous female FFT athletes. The central hypothesis postulates that after the 12-week intervention, these women will exhibit enhancements in both the muscular activation and contractile capacity of their pelvic floor, leading to a reduction in instances of urine leakage.

Enrollment: 21 patients

Sex: Female

Ages: 18 to 65 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Nulliparous FFT female athletes
• had been practicing FFT or weightlifting for at least 2 years
• train a minimum of 3 days/week
• had not previously performed pelvic floor exercises
• had no medical contraindications or previous pelvic floor surgeries

Exclusion criteria

• Any criterion that does not meet the inclusion criteria

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Double Blind

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21 participants in 2 patient groups

PFM strength

Experimental group

Description:

This group carries out a 12-week training intervention based on Kegel exercises to improve strength and muscle activation

Treatment:

Other: Pelvic floor muscle training intervention

Control Group

No Intervention group

Description:

This group is used as a control group. They keep training their sports discipline but don't join the 12-week PFM training protocol.