Your Pelvic Floor Is Talking — Are You Listening? Mbong Henry on Pelvic Health for Every Athlete

What if the leaking, the urgency, the butt pain, and the pressure weren't just things you had to live with?

Heather sits down with Mbong Henry, a pelvic floor and orthopedic physical therapist based in Durham, North Carolina, to talk about the pelvic health symptoms that athletes — runners, weightlifters, CrossFitters, gymnasts, and everyone in between — are normalizing when they really don't have to. Mbong specializes in female athletes during the perinatal and perimenopausal stages of life, but as she makes very clear in this episode: you don't have to have had a baby, or ever plan to, for your pelvic floor to need attention.

They talk about what symptoms are actually worth addressing, why leakage isn't always a weakness problem, how low energy availability connects to urinary incontinence, and why establishing care with a pelvic floor PT before something goes wrong is one of the smartest things an athlete can do. Mbong also shares her own postpartum return-to-run story, her journey into Olympic weightlifting, and what she's learned about training, recovery, and capacity at 41.

Chapters

[00:03:00] Mbong's background: from running to CrossFit to Olympic weightlifting
[00:13:00] How she got into pelvic health — and her own postpartum return-to-run story
[00:20:00] What pelvic floor symptoms actually look like: beyond leakage
[00:25:00] Intimacy, perimenopause, and the symptoms athletes are quietly living with
[00:27:00] Pelvic floor issues in the weightlifting and CrossFit world
[00:29:00] If you've never had a baby, this still applies to you
[00:34:00] Why it's never too late — and why you shouldn't wait until something breaks
[00:37:00] Establishing care with a PT before you need one: the dentist analogy
[00:41:00] What Mbong's practice at Radiance looks like and how she works with athletes

Resources mentioned:

• Radiance Physical Therapy — Mbong's private practice in Durham, NC; in-person and telehealth options available

• NICE Guidelines (UK, 2021) — recommends pelvic floor PT beginning at 20 weeks of pregnancy

• Find Mbong Henry, PT in the Lane 9 Directory: lane9project.org/directory

• Follow Mbong on Instagram

Are you an athlete?
Find a sports dietitian, DPT, therapist, or coach who understands athletes at lane9project.org/directory.

Are you a clinician or coach?
If this conversation resonated with you professionally, Lane 9 Membership was built for you. Join a community of dietitians, DPTs, psychologists, sports medicine providers, and coaches who are doing this work, and get listed in the Lane 9 Directory so athletes can find you. Future clinicians and coaches are welcome too.

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