Is Running Bad for the Pelvic Floor? Discover How Strength and Yielding Exercises Can Help

Is running bad for the pelvic floor? Spoiler alert—the answer is no. In fact, running can actually be great for the pelvic floor, if your body is prepared to handle the demands.

Here’s the thing: running, like any high-impact activity, requires your pelvic floor to manage and respond to dynamic loads with each step. The key isn’t to avoid running—it’s to build the right kind of strength, control, and trust in your body. This is where yielding exercises come in.

Yielding exercises are a game-changer that can teach your pelvic floor—and the rest of your body—to catch and manage load efficiently. When done consistently, they not only strengthen the pelvic floor but also help release unnecessary tension, so you can run strong and confident without worrying about what’s happening "down there."

In this post, I’ll break down what yielding exercises are, why they’re helpful for runners, and how to incorporate them into your strength training so that running becomes good for your pelvic floor. Ready to feel strong and unstoppable? Let’s dive in!

What Are Yielding Exercises and Why Are They Helpful?

Yielding exercises are those that load the tissues eccentrically (through length) and do so dynamically (think catching yourself in a lengthened position).

We’ve talked before about the importance of loading through length, especially in the glutes and posterior (back) pelvic floor.

At midstance, your center of mass is organized over your stance leg (aka truly standing ON one leg) through:

• Internal rotation at the pelvis and LENGTH in the glutes
• Anterior pelvic floor contraction through LENGTH in the back of the pelvic floor
• Maximum TRUE pronation (knee tracking over toes)

This is where we put the most force into the ground and where the ground puts the most force into us.

Hinging variations (the above link) and squatting to mid-range (at and around 90 degrees) are great strength variations to help build strength through that length.

AND with running it happens dynamically! We are essentially catching ourselves in midstance with each step of our stride (to tie it back to last week, even more so when we are running downhill).

Yielding exercises help us practice catching to build capacity and confidence.

We can do all the breathing exercises we want to find length in the back of the pelvic floor but we also have to build in strength training and these yielding exercises to build trust in your body to handle that impact.

For many, these yielding exercises can actually be the final piece to truly learning to let go of tension in and lengthen the glutes and posterior pelvic floor under load! 

You can’t overthink it, you have to just let go and trust. Little by little you build that trust over time so that next thing you know you are flying down hills without a worry!

Bonus: these exercises are fun! They will make you feel strong, athletic, and NOT feeling like running is bad for the pelvic floor.

Yielding Exercises to Try

You can honestly make any exercise variation (hinges, squats, split squats) into a yielding exercise by moving into that length quickly and catching yourself in that mid-range. Here are some examples of my favorites:

Dynamic Hinge to the Wall

Using the wall provides a good starting point reference to finding that mid-range.

Hinge to Split Squat Catch

This gives you a two-for on that length. First finding it isometrically in the hinge and then catching in that length at mid range of hip flexion in the split squat. You can load this up by holding a weight in one or both hands as you build confidence.

Step to Fake Chop/Catch

This mimics that catching in midstance a bit more by getting you to organize your center of mass over that stance leg when you do.

Pogo to Alternating Split Squat

This is overall a more dynamic exercise that will get your HR up and rev up the central nervous system before harder efforts.

Give these a try to feel strong and confident in your stride- you’ll no longer wonder is running bad for the pelvic floor, but feel how great it can be for it!

Next on Your Reading List

 Glutes And Pelvic Floor, How to Load Better, Improve Rotation, Run with Less Pain

Rib Mobility Exercises! What if You Had Better Rotation and Rib Mobility?

Running Injury Prevention: Strategies for a Stronger, Safer Run