💡 The Essentials in 30 Seconds:
No, sport doesn't automatically strengthen the pelvic floor. Studies actually show that athletes have more urinary leaks than the general population, while yoga and Pilates alone don't provide the protection often credited to them. The real variable: targeted pelvic floor work, alongside sport, not instead of it.
You run, jump rope, power through CrossFit sessions or bounce on a trampoline, and sometimes you leak a few drops during effort. You tell yourself this isn't supposed to happen to someone as active as you. That's exactly the misconception to unpack: an athletic body isn't automatically a body protected from a weakened pelvic floor.
This article looks at what the studies actually say: which sports put the most strain on the pelvic floor, why yoga and Pilates don't quite have the effect often credited to them, and how to match your menstrual protection to your pelvic floor's real tone, not to assumptions.
Table of contents
1- The Facts: being a high-level athlete doesn't mean a rock-solid pelvic floor
The pelvic floor is a muscular hammock that supports the bladder, uterus, and rectum. With every impact (jump, run, landing), it absorbs a sudden spike in abdominal pressure. Some athletes never feel it weaken. Others recognize these situations:
- A leak while jumping rope or landing a jump in gymnastics
- A few drops during interval training or a hill session in running
- Uncomfortable pressure at the end of a set of heavy squats or deadlifts
- Discomfort on the trampoline, felt only during training
- A sensation of "letting go" during a rugby or basketball match
These situations aren't rare. A systematic review covering 17 sports disciplines estimates the prevalence of urinary leaks at between 5.56% in low-impact activities and 80% in trampolining [1]. In Sweden, a study of 35 elite trampolinists (aged 12 to 22) found that 80% reported leaks, occurring only during training [2]. Among teenage athletes across all disciplines, a systematic review puts the average at around 49% [3].
2- The Science: why certain sports put the pelvic floor to the test
The mechanism is mechanical before it's hormonal. Every jump, every landing, every load lifted generates a spike in abdominal pressure that pushes downward, onto muscles that don't always have time to recover between sessions. This is why urinary leaks are generally more common among athletes than in the general population [4].
| Sports most often linked to leaks | Sports linked to fewer leaks |
|---|---|
| Trampolining, gymnastics, rugby Repeated impacts, hard landings, contact |
Swimming, walking, cycling Supported by water or in a closed chain, few vertical impacts |
| Intensive running, CrossFit, jump rope High cumulative load, often insufficient recovery |
Yoga, Pilates, moderate strength training Controlled movement, low impact load |
👉 Bottom line: the 2018 review cited above measured a 1.9-fold higher risk in high-impact sports compared to moderate-impact sports, and a 4.6-fold higher risk compared to low-impact sports [1]. But a more recent analysis, based on more data, nuances this reading by sport category: it's mainly the cumulative training volume that predicts risk, more than the type of sport practiced [5].
One more thing worth knowing: this field of research is young. Nearly all the serious studies on the subject date from the past eight years, which partly explains why pelvic floor health is still rarely built into standard training programs. The trend is improving, with more and more research now dedicated specifically to athletes' pelvic health.
3- Luneale's Advice: yoga, Pilates, and the real move that protects the pelvic floor
Yoga and Pilates have a real reputation as disciplines that are "good for the pelvic floor," thanks to their focus on deep muscles and breathing. The reality is more nuanced. A landmark randomized trial compared a pelvic yoga program to a simple stretching and general strengthening program, in women with urinary leaks: yoga didn't perform any better [6]. A leading review on physical activity and the pelvic floor reaches a similar conclusion: Pilates and yoga are often presented as beneficial for the pelvic floor, but no solid randomized trial demonstrates this to date [4].
Pilates has an interesting special case. One study compared a standard Pilates program to that same program with an explicit instruction to voluntarily contract the pelvic floor during each exercise. The second group got significantly better results [7]. In other words, the pelvic floor doesn't get stronger "by accident" through Pilates: it strengthens when you consciously engage it, like any other muscle.
This is exactly why the right protection matters during sport. The flexible, stem-free body of La Cup Luneale doesn't continuously compress the pelvic floor, unlike some firmer cups. It stays in place while running, swimming, or jumping, without adding extra pressure on muscles already under strain from training.
If you genuinely want to strengthen your pelvic floor, add a conscious voluntary contraction (Kegel-type) to your sessions, rather than relying on sport alone to do it for you.
4- How to choose your protection based on your pelvic floor's tone
Not every athlete has the same pelvic floor, and the best-suited menstrual protection depends on its actual tone, not on your apparent fitness level.
- Standard or slightly toned pelvic floor: the Classic cup (50 shore) is enough in the vast majority of cases, including for those who practice an impact sport regularly, without noticeable leaks.
- Already very toned pelvic floor (little to no leaking despite an impact sport): the Tonic cup (70 shore) is designed for this profile: same shape as the classic version, higher firmness for optimal hold.
- Very weak pelvic floor, frequent leaks including outside of sport: this is no longer a matter of choosing the right protection, it's a matter of rehabilitation. Le Disque can remain an option in the meantime, since it rests on the pubic bone and the fornix, not on pelvic floor tone.
Frequent urinary leaks, including outside of sport, aren't something to simply "work around" with the right product. They warrant a consultation with a midwife or a physiotherapist specialized in pelvic floor rehabilitation.
Sport doesn't systematically weaken the pelvic floor, but it doesn't strengthen it by magic either. Only targeted, conscious work makes the difference, whatever sport you practice alongside it.
Sources cited [1] de Mattos Lourenco T, Matsuoka P, Baracat E, Haddad J. *Urinary incontinence in female athletes: a systematic review.* International Urogynecology Journal. 2018.
[2] Eliasson K, Larsson T, Mattsson E. *Prevalence of stress incontinence in nulliparous elite trampolinists.* Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports. 2002.
[3] Rebullido TR, et al. *The Prevalence of Urinary Incontinence among Adolescent Female Athletes: A Systematic Review.* Sports. 2021.
[4] Bø K, Nygaard IE. *Is Physical Activity Good or Bad for the Female Pelvic Floor? A Narrative Review.* Sports Medicine. 2020.
[5] Domínguez-Pérez N, Sevilla-Arrabal I, Navarro-Brazález B, Torres-Lacomba M, Courel-Ibáñez J. *Urinary Incontinence in Women Athletes: Umbrella Review and Meta-analysis of Sport-Related Factors.* Sports Medicine. 2026.
[6] Huang AJ, et al. *Efficacy of a Therapeutic Pelvic Yoga Program Versus a Physical Conditioning Program on Urinary Incontinence in Women: A Randomized Trial.* Annals of Internal Medicine. 2024.
[7] Torelli L, de Jarmy Di Bella ZI, Rodrigues CA, Stüpp L, Girão MJ, Sartori MG. *Effectiveness of adding voluntary pelvic floor muscle contraction to a Pilates exercise program: an assessor-masked randomized controlled trial.* International Urogynecology Journal. 2016.
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