If You’re Going To Pee in the Shower, This Is the Proper Way To Do It, According to a Pelvic PT

Let’s drop the formalities and get right to it, shall we? We’re all peeing in the shower. In the past, we’ve asked urologists about the safety of a good old shower stream and quizzed a microbiologist about the hygiene of the practice. Now, we’re getting clarity on the correct shower posture for going number one. According to a recent TikTok created by Kelly Peterson PT, DPT (aka @thebellywhisperer), there’s a right way and a wrong way to go pee in the shower. So if you’re just standing there and letting things flow, listen up to learn how to pee in the shower the right way.

Standing straight up as you pee may be the easiest way to multitask, but according to Dr. Peterson, there’s a compelling reason to take an extra moment for your pelvic floor. “Your muscles are contracting and need to relax or stretch to pee,” writes Dr. Peterson in her video. Yale Medicine elaborates that chilling out while you pee isn’t just better in the moment, it also benefits your bladder health in the long run. “A healthy bladder works best if the body just relaxes so that the bladder muscles naturally contract to let the urine flow, rather than using the abdominal muscles to bear down as with a bowel movement. Like many things in life, single-tasking is the way to go on this one,” Yale writes.

A few other “don’ts” from Dr. Peterson: Don’t bear down as you’re going number one, and don’t hover or partially squat. Instead, think of yoga squat (malasana). “Get into a deep squat position. Rest elbows on thighs and lean slightly forward,” says Dr. Peterson. Once you’re in position, gently inhale and release your bladder until you’re all done. Then you can go about your shower business without interruption (and without worrying about your pelvic floor health). And if you’re disappointed to no longer be multitasking, consider this: malasana is also a great stretch for your hips, groin, and ankles—so technically, you are squeezing in some mobility work as you empty your bladder.

With all this in mind, you can pee in the shower in peace (and have a good laugh while you’re at it).

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