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Fit men are less likely to experience nocturia, according to a new study.

Men with nocturia, a common lower urinary tract symptom in men, often wake up at night to urinate, according to researchers. The condition is often caused by an enlarged prostate known as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Researchers explain that as the prostate enlarges, it can squeeze down on the urethra, leading to overproduction of urine, low bladder capacity and sleep disturbances.

After analyzing data from 28,404 men in the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial (PLCO), researchers at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine found that physically active men who exercised one or more hours per week were 13 percent less likely to report nocturia and 34 percent less likely to report severe nocturia then men who reported no physical activity.

"Combined with other management strategies, physical activity may provide a strategy for the management of BPH-related outcomes, particularly nocturia," lead researcher Kate Wolin, ScD, and colleagues wrote in the study.

Previous studies reveal that reducing body size, improving sleep, decreasing sympathetic nervous system activity and lowering levels of systemic inflammation could protect against nocturia.

Researchers said that more studies are needed to determine the "dose of physical activity necessary and the mechanisms that might underlie the association" between exercise and nocturia.

The findings are published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.