That’s one of the first things Mary* said to me when she signed up for coaching.
She was in her late 30s and a decade and some change postpartum. And she had been dealing with pelvic floor issues and incontinence ever since. Besides jumping, she also had to rush out of bed to make it to the toilet in time, among other things.
The story isn’t how she’d been trying to fix her pelvic floor issue but couldn’t. Nope.
She hadn’t done anything about it, thinking some form of incontinence is given once you give birth. During that decade after giving birth, no one told her she didn’t have to live with a weak pelvic floor for the rest of her life.
I learned about her struggles because we discussed her training and health history during the first coaching week—the things she liked and didn’t like. And the jumping and incontinence came up.
I am not a pelvic floor specialist, so we found a pelvic floor physiotherapist for Mary near where she lived. And the appointments with the therapist and the homework she prescribed made all the difference to Mary’s confidence in exercise, getting to the toilet on time and most importantly, her quality of life.
So, if you’re living through a similar story right now, this is a reminder to reach out to a pelvic floor specialist for help.
You can decide how your story ends.
-J
*Not her real name.