Exercise Helps Prevent Waking at Night to Urinate

We all know that moving our body benefits physical and mental health. But you may not know that exercise also strengthens your bladder, kidneys, and pelvic floor. This can help regulate bathroom habits, so you don’t get woken up in the middle of the night to urinate.

According to good + goodAleece Fosnight, a board-certified physician assistant who specializes in urology and women’s health at Aeroflow Urology, says there’s a strong relationship between physical activity and bladder health. The link includes blood circulation, kidney filtration, pelvic floor function, and gut health.

“All of these systems also have an impact on each other.” she says. For example, walking can help regulate bowel function, which affects how often you urinate. When you are constipated, you tend to urinate more often.

• Physical activity strengthens the pelvic floor. Moderate exercise that works your core muscles also works your pelvic region muscles, says Fosnight. This can support how often we need to go to the bathroom.

• Staying active prevents constipation. Walking after a meal can help keep you regular, but it also helps regulate your bladder. The accumulated stool puts pressure on the bladder, which increases the frequency of urination, according to Well + Good.

• Exercise increases blood filtration. Physical activity increases your heart rate, which in turn pumps more blood to your kidneys. When more blood is sent to the kidneys, more filtration occurs and toxins are removed. “The increased blood flow also brings more oxygen-rich blood to other vital organs, including the bladder, to keep them happy and healthy,” says Fosnight.

• Stretching and strengthening improve bladder capacity. Stretching before and after a workout helps muscles recover and stay strong but not tight. According to the Mayo Clinic, Kegel exercises strengthen the pelvic floor muscles, which support the uterus, bladder, small intestine, and rectum. You can do Kegel exercises, also known as pelvic floor training, at any time. Instructions on how to perform Kegel exercises are in the Mayo Clinic website.

• Exercise can help you avoid the need to urinate at night. “Being active throughout the day helps strengthen your pelvic floor muscles and accessory muscles, like your glutes, adductors, abductors, abs, etc,” says Fosnight. “These muscles continue to support the bladder at night. When you’re lying down, they support your bladder and don’t send additional signals to the brain that there’s an urge to urinate.”

Exercise at a time of day that helps you sleep soundly at night, says Fosnight. Exercising late in the day keeps some people from falling asleep. And don’t think you have to run a marathon to reap the benefits of bladder exercise. Small movements, walking, stretching, cleaning your house or running errands all count to move your body and improve your bladder health.