Athletes are affected too
A large 2026 analysis of 32 studies with more than 4,600 athletes aged 18 to 45 found that frequency did not differ clearly between sports – not even between sports with and without jumping. It was most clearly linked to training volume: each additional hour per week raised the likelihood by about 6%.
What helps: pelvic floor training
A 2018 Cochrane review states that targeted pelvic floor muscle training can cure or improve urinary incontinence, both leakage under strain and other forms. The authors see it as part of first-line treatment.
A further Cochrane review from 2024 confirms: the International Consultation on Incontinence recommends pelvic floor training as first-line therapy. Whether it is supervised individually or in a group probably makes little difference to quality of life. Targeted, repeated contractions of the pelvic floor did slightly better than indirect training.
Pregnancy and afterwards
Targeted pelvic floor training early in pregnancy probably lowers the risk of leaking urine towards the end of pregnancy and in the months after birth, in women without symptoms. As a general programme for everyone after birth, it does little. And if you already have symptoms during pregnancy or after birth, the studies are uncertain about the effect for this group, unlike for women in mid-life, where it is well established. That doesn't mean it doesn't help; it means it hasn't been studied well enough yet.
In Germany, statutory health insurance pays for a postnatal recovery course with a midwife after the birth: up to ten hours in a group, until the end of the ninth month after birth.