Do you ever feel numbness, pressure or even slight urine leakage after cycling?
Cycling is great for your fitness — but is it safe for your pelvic floor? Many people wonder if cycling is safe for the pelvic floor muscles and if it's possible to ride a bike with urinary incontinence. We tested how cycling affects the pelvic floor muscles and prepared practical tips for you!
How does cycling affect the pelvic floor muscles?
During cycling, the perineal area is exposed to constant pressure from the saddle. This can increase muscle tension and compress nerves and blood vessels. Over time, reduced blood flow may affect how your pelvic floor muscles contract and relax. The consequences may include pain, numbness in the perineal area, infections, urinary incontinence, and sexual dysfunctions.
You might notice this if:
- you feel numbness after cycling
- you experience discomfort in the saddle area
- you have difficulty relaxing your pelvic floor
- you notice urine leakage during or after activity
How to protect the pelvic floor during cycling?
Saddle
Choosing the right saddle depends on various factors, including the length and type of routes and the style of riding. For recreational cycling, wider seats are typically used, while narrower ones are preferred for sports riding.
How does the type of saddle affect the pelvic floor? Researchers observed the pressure exerted on the perineum during cycling by comparing different types of saddles. It was noticed that the narrower the saddle (with cutouts), the greater the pressure on the perineum.
Saddle A - full, Saddle B - with cutouts (Guess et al.)
Currently, there are many types of saddles available on the market, and their manufacturers care about our comfort during the ride. Even narrow saddles often have special cutouts designed to increase blood flow within the perineal tissues.
Remember, it's worth choosing the right saddle that takes into account anatomical factors (e.g., the spacing of sit bones), the types of routes you'll be riding on, and the specific properties of the saddle. This is particularly important if you ride a lot. Select the appropriate saddle for yourself, preferably with the help of a specialized store where you can test many types of saddles.
However, even the best saddle won’t completely eliminate pressure on the pelvic floor.
Position and Riding Technique
A low handlebar setting that forces a forward tilt of the torso increases the anterior tilt of the pelvis during cycling and enhances pressure on the perineum.
Bike fitting is becoming increasingly popular, involving an analysis of your body position during cycling and the adjustment of various bike components, such as saddle height or handlebar position.
That’s why optimizing your bike setup is important — but it’s only part of the solution.
Pelvic Floor Muscle Exercises
You don't have to give up activities you enjoy. It's essential to be aware of what your muscles need, for example, after a bike ride. Right after the workout, they'll need relaxation, but to restore or maintain their proper function, strengthening exercises will be necessary. In this case, isolated pelvic floor muscle training can be highly beneficial.
After cycling, your pelvic floor muscles often need both relaxation and activation.
However, standard exercises don’t always address reduced blood flow or muscle stiffness caused by prolonged pressure.
This is exactly why typical ‘just do Kegels’ advice often doesn’t work for active women
This is where targeted, low-intensity training can support recovery. For example, short sessions using a device like Boost allow you to gently activate the muscles while improving circulation.
The 3-minute pelvic floor muscle training with Boost was created by Dr. Ula Herman and aims to help you regenerate your muscles after intense physical activity. In this exercise, you work at an individual tension of up to 30% of your current strength calculated after the muscle test. You control the game with your pelvic floor muscles in a multisensory training. Additionally, Ula included therapeutic and pain-relieving vibrations with a 50Hz protocol in the training, which will increase blood flow in the pelvic blood vessels and make the tissues more flexible.
If you cycle regularly and want to support your pelvic floor, it’s worth including a short recovery routine after your rides.
You can explore how Boost training works here