PRH | CLAPS: Breathing Mechanics for Male Bladder Control

Overview:
This session will provide a review of why breathing affects intra-abdominal pressure and bladder control, including evaluations of common dysfunctional patterns, breathing styles, and an overview of pressure vectors, clinical indications and typical compensations.

Instructor Biography:
Maxime Campbell is a physiotherapist and lifelong communicator with a passion for bringing overlooked topics into the spotlight. Before focusing fully on clinical care, he wrote columns for a local newspaper to make science more accessible to the public. Today, his mission is to elevate the conversation around men’s pelvic health.

As a long distance runner and endurance sports enthusiast, Maxime has a personal understanding of how breathing mechanics, intra-abdominal pressure, and pelvic function intersect. He’s passionate about helping long distance athletes, especially runners uncover the missing link between performance and pelvic health, while also supporting men facing pelvic pain, urinary issues, and other often-ignored conditions. His goal is to help them get back to doing what they love and stay active for the long run.

At IPC, Maxime is focused on making complex pelvic health concepts clear and easy to apply. He’s known for his ability to synthesize information and break it down into step-by-step approaches that clinicians can immediately integrate into their practice.

Learning Objectives:

1. Clinical Foundations (5 min)
   • Why breathing affects intra-abdominal pressure and bladder control
   • Common dysfunctional patterns: breath-holding, paradoxical exhale, poor posture
2. The CLAPS Framework (15 min)
   • Overview of five breathing styles (Chest, Lateral, Abdominal, Pelvic, Spinal)
   • Pressure vectors, clinical indications, and typical compensations
3. Charting System (10 min)
   • How to document breathing style, intensity, and position
   • Format: Type + inhale/exhale timing + intensity + position + repetitions Couple of examples
4. Case Walkthroughs (10 min)
   • Two patient profiles showing how breathing retraining influences bladder control
   • Focus on clinical reasoning
5. Takeaways (5 min)
   • Use CLAPS as a thinking tool
   • Match breathing strategy to patient presentation
   • Standardize breathing with IPC charting
6. Q&A and Discussion (15 min)

Cost:

• Free

The webinar recording will be distributed to registrants a week following the event, please stay tuned to your inbox or spam folder.