Avoid 'Power Peeing': Protect Your Bladder Health
Health ConditionsWomen's Health

‘Power Peeing’: What It Is and Why You Should Avoid It

‘Power Peeing’: What It Is and Why You Should Avoid It
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Published on September 26, 2025
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On busy days, you may not feel you have the time to sit on a toilet and wait for your bladder to empty, so you “power pee” — you bear down to expel urine faster. “Power peeing is a really common habit that we see a lot of folks getting into because they're rushing — they're in a hurry to get out of the bathroom,” says Caitlyn Tivy, DPT, a physical therapist in private practice in Carbondale, Colorado.

But does pushing to pee harm your body’s precisely coordinated urination mechanism? Experts say it can.

 Here’s why you shouldn’t push to pee and what to do if you can’t pee without putting “power” behind it.

Why You Shouldn’t Push to Pee

Your bladder works best if you allow urine to drain in its own time.

 “Peeing should be a passive, relaxed event,” says Tanya Goodrich, DPT, a physical therapist in private practice in Los Altos, California. “When you regularly bear down, you’re training your body to strain, which can lead to tension, incomplete emptying, or even pelvic floor dysfunction.”
The pelvic floor — a group of muscles that support organs in your pelvis — plays a huge role in many functions of your daily life, says Dr. Tivy.

 Pelvic floor muscles:

  • Support your urethra, bladder, vagina, uterus, intestines, rectum, and anus
  • Help you control when you pee, poop, or pass gas
  • Contract during sex and orgasm
  • Assist in vaginal childbirth
“The problem with [power peeing] is that it can reverse what should be the natural coordination of the pelvic floor muscles with the bladder,” says Tivy. Although you can control your pelvic floor muscles, you have no influence over the muscles that empty your bladder.

 These muscles rely on a complex network of nerve signals that help you hold your pee and let it out when appropriate.

While your bladder muscle squeezes, the pelvic floor muscles that lie underneath the bladder have to be relaxed to open the urethra (the tube that urine flows out of) and allow the urine to drain out from the bladder, says Tivy.

 “If these don't happen in coordination, you can't empty your bladder.”

And pelvic floor damage doesn’t just affect your bladder. “If [these muscles are] weak, overly tight, or out of sync, it can show up in all kinds of ways: leaking when you sneeze, pain with sex, constipation, a heavy feeling down there, or just a constant urge to pee,” says Dr. Goodrich.

What if I Can’t Pee Without Pushing?

If you have been pushing to pee for a while, you may need some time to retrain those muscles, says Tivy. But if you can’t pee without pushing, it can also be a sign of other medical problems, like:

Needing to push while peeing can also be caused by some medications for depression, urinary incontinence, and allergies, as well as nervous system conditions like stroke, multiple sclerosis, or neuropathy.

“It's always important to consult with your healthcare provider, such as a pelvic physical therapist, a urologist, or a urogynecologist who specializes in this area, to make sure we're ruling out other contributors that are more serious,” says Tivy. But once you eliminate other causes, you can focus on retraining your pelvic floor.

Retraining Your Pelvic Floor

To help your pelvic floor muscles get coordinated when it’s time to pee, Tivy and Goodrich recommend these tips.

  • Get comfortable. Sit on the toilet seat with your feet on the floor and lean slightly forward. Hovering over the toilet seat won’t let you fully relax your pelvic floor muscles, so sit whenever possible.

  • Connect with your breathing. Focus on belly breathing while you try to relax: Let your stomach and pelvic floor expand as you inhale, and imagine everything melting on the exhale. Take a few moments to really expand your breath — to find deep, full inhalation (which helps the pelvic floor relax the most), and slow exhalation.

  • Use visualization. As you inhale, imagine the pelvic floor — the space between the upper inner thighs and the front and back of the pelvis — expanding and opening slowly, almost as though a hole is getting wider and wider at the opening and allowing fluid to come out. Then relax on the exhalation and let everything go.
  • Practice off the toilet. When you practice relaxing away from the bathroom, it can take some stress out of the equation. Try lying on your bed or the couch and place your hand on your perineum: the area behind the vaginal opening. As you inhale, relax your pelvic floor and feel for a subtle drop against your fingers, which is your pelvic floor muscles relaxing.

“Sometimes just taking a few moments to truly relax makes all the difference,” says Goodrich. “If that doesn’t help, a pelvic floor PT can assess what’s really going on.”

Signs of Pelvic Floor Dysfunction

Pelvic floor dysfunction can happen when these muscles get too tight, too loose, or damaged during surgery or childbirth. Problems with the pelvic floor muscles can show up with a variety of symptoms.

Signs of pelvic floor dysfunction include:

  • Pelvic pain or pressure
  • Straining to pee
  • Needing to pee often or urgently
  • Pain with peeing or sex
  • Incontinence (unable to hold your pee)
  • Difficulty with sexual arousal and orgasm
  • Constipation and bloating

How to Strengthen Your Pelvic Floor Muscles

You can strengthen your pelvic floor muscles by tightening and releasing them — an exercise called Kegels.

 To perform Kegel exercises, start with an empty bladder, then:

  1. Tighten your pelvic floor muscles (which feels like holding in your pee) and hold for 10 seconds.
  2. Relax your muscles for another 10 seconds.
  3. Repeat steps one and two 10 times, 3 to 5 times per day.
You can do these pelvic exercises anytime and anywhere, and most people notice improvement between four weeks and three months.

 It can be difficult to find the right muscles to tighten during a Kegel, and squeezing the wrong ones won’t provide the same benefits.

To identify your pelvic floor muscles, try these tips:

  • The next time you pee, start to go, then stop. Try to notice which muscles helped you do that, and tighten them even more.
  • After washing your hands, insert a clean finger into your vagina and try tightening your pelvic floor. You should feel the muscles contracting around your finger, moving up with contraction and moving down during relaxation.
  • While you tighten your pelvic floor, keep all other muscles relaxed, including your abdomen, buttocks, and thighs. You will feel your anal sphincter contract, but the muscles in your buttocks should stay loose.
Be sure not to overdo it — too many Kegels can cause muscle fatigue and undo all your hard work.

 You may also need pelvic floor therapy from a physical therapist to find the best exercises to coordinate your pelvic floor with urination, says Tivy.

“This is exactly what we specialize in: this coordination element,” says Tivy. “Your PT, if you see them, may have you first focus a lot on relaxation — what we call ‘down training’ those muscles — so they're not constantly tight, before you then turn around later to learn about strengthening.”

When to See a Doctor

If you have to strain to pee, or your pee stream is weaker than normal, let your healthcare provider know right away.

 “These things might be common, but they’re not normal,” says Goodrich.

A lot of things can disrupt urination, so it’s important to get screened for medical conditions that may cause these symptoms, says Tivy, who points out these red flags that warrant evaluation by a healthcare provider:

  • You've developed the problem recently with no particular cause and you can't empty your bladder at all.
  • Even if you're pushing, almost nothing comes out.
  • You experience any type of pain with urination.
  • Your urine is a different color than normal.

“When in doubt, talk to your physician,” says Tivy. “In general, even if you don't have any of these red flags, problems urinating are not something you have to live with.”

The Takeaway

  • Power peeing (pushing to pee) is a habit some use to urinate faster, but it can have unintended consequences.
  • Pushing to pee can make pelvic floor muscles and bladder muscle lose coordination, which can make it difficult to completely empty your bladder, and cause other problems like pelvic pain and constipation.
  • You can strengthen your pelvic floor with Kegel exercises, but it’s best to tell your healthcare provider if you have trouble peeing without pushing, so they can rule out other problems and recommend treatment like pelvic floor physical therapy.
EDITORIAL SOURCES
Everyday Health follows strict sourcing guidelines to ensure the accuracy of its content, outlined in our editorial policy. We use only trustworthy sources, including peer-reviewed studies, board-certified medical experts, patients with lived experience, and information from top institutions.
Resources
  1. Why You Shouldn’t Push When You Pee. National Association for Continence.
  2. Moriarty C. 5 Ways You Could Pee Better. Yale Medicine. November 7, 2019.
  3. Bordoni B et al. Anatomy, Abdomen and Pelvis, Pelvic Floor. StatPearls. July 17, 2023.
  4. Pelvic Floor Muscles. Cleveland Clinic. April 13, 2022.
  5. Muro S et al. Pelvic Floor and Perineal Muscles: A Dynamic Coordination Between Skeletal and Smooth Muscles on Pelvic Floor Stabilization. Anatomical Science International. March 24, 2023.
  6. Flores JL et al. Physiology, Urination. StatPearls. September 13, 2023.
  7. Sam P et al. Anatomy, Abdomen and Pelvis: Bladder Detrusor Muscle. StatPearls. August 8, 2023.
  8. Urinary Hesitancy. Cleveland Clinic. October 30, 2024.
  9. Bobinger S. Women: Don’t hover over the toilet seat. The Ohio State University. July 24, 2020.
  10. How to Relax Your Pelvic Floor Muscles. National Association for Continence.
  11. Grimes WR et al. Pelvic Floor Dysfunction. StatPearls. June 26, 2023.
  12. Kegel Exercises. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. November 2021.
  13. Stratton KL et al. Pelvic Floor Muscle Training Exercises. MedlinePlus. 2024.
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Heather Jeffcoat

Heather Jeffcoat, PT, DPT

Medical Reviewer

Heather Jeffcoat, PT, DPT, is a doctor of physical therapy and the founder of Femina Physical Therapy and Fusion Wellness & Physical Therapy, both of which focus on pelvic health and whole-body orthopedic care.

With more than 20 years of clinical experience, Dr. Jeffcoat is a leading expert in the treatment of sexual pain and pelvic floor dysfunction, and her Los Angeles (Beverly Hills, Pasadena, Sherman Oaks) and Atlanta-based clinics draw patients from around the world.

She is the author of Sex Without Pain: A Self-Treatment Guide to the Sex Life You Deserve, which is widely used by both patients and healthcare professionals. Jeffcoat regularly lectures internationally on female sexual health, pelvic pain, and interdisciplinary care, and she develops continuing education courses for physical therapists and other providers.

Jeffcoat served as president of the Academy of Pelvic Health Physical Therapy from 2021 to 2024, and held multiple leadership positions with the International Pelvic Pain Society from 2014 to 2023, including acting on their board of directors.

Her patient-centered, integrative approach emphasizes functional recovery and empowerment for those experiencing painful sex, endometriosis, postpartum trauma, menopause-related incontinence or pain, and other complex pelvic and chronic pain conditions. She has created multiple programs, including Birth Prep 101, helping hundreds of women achieve the birth and postpartum recovery support they need.

Her passion extends beyond the clinic walls, as she also founded and runs a 501(c)3, Empower Health Fund, a nonprofit dedicated to providing no cost services to low-income and marginalized populations with pelvic health conditions.

She has been a speaker at the following:

  • World Congress on Abdominal and Pelvic Pain, Cartagena, Colombia, Post-Conference Course: "Chronic Pelvic Pain Evaluation and Management Strategies," 2024
  • American Urogynecologic Association, Advanced Practice, Physical Therapy, and Allied Health Bootcamp: "Pelvic Pain and Sexual Dysfunction Related to PFDs" (AUGS Preconference Course), 2016
  • American Urogynecologic Association, Seattle, "Pathoanatomy and Patient Presentations in Sexual Pain Syndromes," co-presented with Nazema Siddiqui, MD, 2016
  • UCLA Urogynecology and MIGS Lecture Series, "Continence and Pain Mechanisms Beyond the Pelvic Floor," 2024
  • PelviCon National Conference, Atlanta, "The Female Orgasm and Differential Diagnosis of Vaginismus and Vulvodynia," 2022
  • Invited lecturer: Pelvic health education, Reproductive Health Access Project, CSU Fullerton, 2024
  • Expert panel speaker, Menopause Monologues: The Hottest Show In Town, Hollywood, California, 2025

Course developer and instructor, Female Sexual Function, Dysfunction & Pain, United States, Istanbul, Middle East:

  • Sex Therapy for Transgender and Nonbinary Clients, Center for Healthy Sex
  • Cyclist’s Syndrome–Pudendal Neuralgia, Beijing (Chinese Olympic Committee)
  • Multiple CE webinars and in-person labs across North America

Community Education:

  • Creator and host of multiple events in California, Girls’ Night Out: Better Sexual and Pelvic Health
  • Guest speaker, LA LGBTQ Center, Duke University SoCal Women’s Group, and Endo Day
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Abby McCoy, RN

Author

Abby McCoy is an experienced registered nurse who has worked with adults and pediatric patients encompassing trauma, orthopedics, home care, transplant, and case management. She is a married mother of four and loves the circus — that is her home! She has family all over the world, and loves to travel as much as possible.

McCoy has written for publications like Remedy Health Media, Sleepopolis, and Expectful. She is passionate about health education and loves using her experience and knowledge in her writing.

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