The Women’s Health Podcast

Welcome back to the Women’s Health podcast.

Today we are very excited to be talking to Monika Leitner, a physiotherapist and researcher based in Switzerland.

Monika (originally Austrian) has been working as a physiotherapist since 1989. After experiences in a medical center, a clinic for psychosomatics, a regional hospital and private clinic she entered the field of education in 2006. She worked as a lecturer for physiotherapy (Bachelor and Master program) for 19 years and has been a member of the research team for 10 years. She holds one MAS in Health and Fitness and one MSc in Sports Physiotherapy. 

Finally her experience as an pelvic floor physiotherapist and her training in sports-science led her to the research area of stress urinary incontinence (SUI) in physically active women. In 2017 she received her PhD in that topic at the University of Bern.

She left University recently and is setting up her career as a freelancer, still with a lot of enthusiasm in teaching/educating and a little clinical work. She has written a book about body competence, which was published at the beginning of November 2025 (in German).

In this interview:

• We discuss how Monika’s physiotherapy experience in a psychosomatic clinic early in her career helped shape her interest in integrating physical and psychological aspects of health.
• Monika talks about her journey from a clinical background in pelvic health physiotherapy to academic research, particularly focusing on pelvic floor function during running.
• We learn more about how Monika’s team looked at pelvic floor muscle activity during running, using EMG measurements and a Trackstar sensor attached to a vaginal probe. The findings of their research were unexpected and very interesting!!
• We then discuss other studies on pelvic floor rehabilitation, with Monika outlining why voluntary contractions alone are likely insufficient as they cannot respond quickly enough to sudden stressors like coughing or sneezing.  This of course led to a more lengthy discussion on what types of training might be “optimal” for improving PFM strength and function. As always… more research needed!!
• Monika informs us of her new book “Body Competence” which has just been released! The focus of the book (which is currently in German only) is on mind-body medicine, emphasizing the influence of mindset and mindfulness on health and well-being. She shared personal experiences and scientific evidence supporting the power of positive thinking and visualization in healing.

We think you will agree that Monika was a delightful guest to have on the show, and her passion shines through the more the podcast goes on.

If you want to reach out to Monika to learn more about her book and teachings, head to her website: www.vita-impuls.ch

You can buy her new book here: https://eticamedia.eu/produkt/koerperkompetenz/

(You will not find her on social media!)

Some of the research discussed:

Leitner M, Moser H, Eichelberger P, Kuhn A, Radlinger L. Evaluation of pelvic floor muscle activity during running in continent and incontinent women: An exploratory study. Neurourol Urodyn. 2017 Aug;36(6):1570-1576. doi: 10.1002/nau.23151. Epub 2016 Oct 29. PMID: 27794169.

Leitner M, Moser H, Eichelberger P, Kuhn A, Radlinger L. Pelvic floor muscle activity during fast voluntary contractions in continent and incontinent women. Neurourol Urodyn. 2019 Feb;38(2):625-631. doi: 10.1002/nau.23911. Epub 2019 Jan 8. PMID: 30620113.

Moser H, Leitner M, Eichelberger P, Kuhn A, Baeyens JP, Radlinger L. Pelvic floor muscle displacement during jumps in continent and incontinent women: An exploratory study. Neurourol Urodyn. 2019 Nov;38(8):2374-2382. doi: 10.1002/nau.24161. Epub 2019 Sep 7. PMID: 31493349.