Assessment of Pelvic Floor Strength Variables in Female Nulliparous Athletes

A Functional Fitness Training Workout Significantly Affects Pelvic Floor Strength and Muscle Activation in Female Nulliparous Athletes

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.

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