Do you dread a future where sneezes, coughs, and giggle fits have you crossing your legs and praying you'll stay dry? Here's a simple solution:
Put one foot in front of the other for 30 minutes a day, every day. That's it. This simple act can reduce your risk of urinary incontinence (if you're a woman) by up to 25 percent.
Walking tones not only leg muscles but also pelvic-floor muscles. These muscles help keep urine in the bladder between trips to the bathroom -- in both men and women.
Walking is particularly helpful in reducing the risk of stress urinary incontinence -- the kind of leak that can occur with physical stress, like when you cough, sneeze, laugh, or jump up and down. So
far, however, the research on walking applies only to women.
If you already have trouble keeping dry,
here's an exercise for you to try.
Physical activity and urinary incontinence among healthy, older women. Danforth, K. N., Shah, A. D., Townsend, M. K., Lifford, K. L., Curhan, G. C., Resnick, N. M., Grodstein, F.,
Obstetrics and Gynecology 2007 Mar;109(3):721-727.
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