Assessment of Pelvic Floor Strength Variables in Female Nulliparous Athletes

NCT ID: NCT06626841

Last Updated: 2024-10-04

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Total Enrollment: 23 participants
• Study Classification: OBSERVATIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2023-04-21
• Study Completion Date: 2023-06-03

Brief Summary

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.

Conditions

Pelvic Floor Muscle Weakness; Strength; Muscle Tone

Study Design

• Observational Model Type: COHORT
• Study Time Perspective: PROSPECTIVE

Study Groups

Female athletes

Female functional fitness training athletes. The participants had to be nulliparous, had been practicing FFT or weightlifting for at least 2 years, trained a minimum of 3 days/week that did not include pelvic floor exercises, and had no medical contraindications or previous pelvic floor surgeries

Pelvic floor muscles contractile capacity and activation

Intervention Type: DIAGNOSTIC_TEST

An initial assessment of the pelvic floor is carried out when athletes arrive at the facility. Participants then complete a FFT workout, which consists of performing as many rounds as possible (AMRAP type) of 20 wallballs, 15 box jumps, and 10 burpees within 15 minutes. These plyometrics and load lifting exercises are chosen to fatigue the PFM and are simple to execute. The pelvic floor assessment is performed again at 3 minutes following the FFT workout.

Measurements of the pelvic floor parameters are conducted by a specialist physiotherapist. The muscle activation and strength of the PFM are obtained using a vaginal dynamometer (i.e. pelvimeter probe fixed at a vertex with two arms that can be separated by up to 25°), connected to the Phenix USB2, Vivaltis (Pelvimètre Phenix, Vivaltis).

Interventions

Pelvic floor muscles contractile capacity and activation

An initial assessment of the pelvic floor is carried out when athletes arrive at the facility. Participants then complete a FFT workout, which consists of performing as many rounds as possible (AMRAP type) of 20 wallballs, 15 box jumps, and 10 burpees within 15 minutes. These plyometrics and load lifting exercises are chosen to fatigue the PFM and are simple to execute. The pelvic floor assessment is performed again at 3 minutes following the FFT workout.

Measurements of the pelvic floor parameters are conducted by a specialist physiotherapist. The muscle activation and strength of the PFM are obtained using a vaginal dynamometer (i.e. pelvimeter probe fixed at a vertex with two arms that can be separated by up to 25°), connected to the Phenix USB2, Vivaltis (Pelvimètre Phenix, Vivaltis).

Intervention Type: DIAGNOSTIC_TEST

Other Intervention Names

pelvic floor muscles force production; pelvic floor strength; pelvic floor muscles activation

Eligibility Criteria

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

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 65 Years
• Eligible Sex: FEMALE
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Universidad Politecnica de Madrid

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Celia Rodríguez Longobardo

Principal Investigator

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Locations

Universidad Politécnica de Madrid

Madrid, Madrid, Spain

Countries

Spain

Other Identifiers

20221125

Identifier Type: OTHER

Identifier Source: secondary_id

20221125

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id