{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,26]],"date-time":"2026-06-26T12:48:08Z","timestamp":1782478088401,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":28,"publisher":"Springer Science and Business Media LLC","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,28]],"date-time":"2026-02-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1772236800000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,28]],"date-time":"2026-02-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1772236800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"funder":[{"name":"Norwegian School Of Sport Sciences - The Library"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["link.springer.com"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Int Urogynecol J"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,6]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction and Hypothesis<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>A recent study found that young power and weightlifters reported a high prevalence of pelvic floor disorders (PFDs) with urinary incontinence (UI) 50%, anal incontinence 80% and pelvic organ prolapse 23%. Performing \u201cthe knack\u201d, a voluntary pre-contraction of the pelvic floor muscles (PFMs), before and during stressful events, can prevent UI during coughing and daily activities. However, the effect of this manoeuvre has not been investigated during strenuous exercises. This study was aimed at investigating the feasibility of using the femfit\u00ae to measure intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) and PFM pressure during strength exercises and at discovering if a voluntary pre-contraction of the PFMs can exceed increases in IAP during strength exercises.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This was a short-term, cross-sectional, experimental study. Eleven participants were tested in squat, deadlift, leg press and curl up, performed in a random order with and without voluntary pre-contraction of the PFMs. Assessment of the ability to contract the PFMs was conducted by suprapubic 2D ultrasound. IAP and PFM pressure were measured with the femfit\u00ae. Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test was used to estimate differences in change between IAP and PFM pressure with and without voluntary pre-contraction during the strength exercises.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>No participants reported displacement or discomfort from the femfit\u00ae device. Voluntary pre-contraction of the PFMs did not exceed the rise in IAP during squat, deadlift, leg press and curl\u00a0up.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The PFM pressure was not significantly higher than the IAP during strength exercises. Further longitudinal studies are warranted to investigate if systematic PFM training can improve the strength of the voluntary pre-contraction.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1007\/s00192-026-06540-8","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,28]],"date-time":"2026-02-28T11:37:47Z","timestamp":1772278667000},"page":"1709-1720","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Can Pre-Contraction of the Pelvic Floor Muscles Exceed Increases in Intra-Abdominal Pressure During Strength Exercises?"],"prefix":"10.1007","volume":"37","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0001-1027-1061","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Clara","family":"Bjurulf","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lingge","family":"Meng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"David","family":"Budgett","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jennifer","family":"Kruger","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kari","family":"B\u00f8","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"6540_CR1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"361","DOI":"10.1177\/1012690215591793","volume":"52","author":"MC Dawson","year":"2017","unstructured":"Dawson MC. 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Data analyst L.M. who is affiliated with Junofem, helped to ensure the quality of anonymised raw data from the servers for the data analysis. D.B., J.K. and L.M. had no role in interpretation of the results. The idea and project plan for the study originated from K.B. and researcher C.B. at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences who have no ties to the company.","order":3,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Conflicts of Interest"}}]}}