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On today’s episode, I chat with Dr. Tricia DeNardis, aka @burpeesandburpcloths  She's a physical therapist, pregnancy & postpartum exercise specialist, & mom of 3! 👶👧👦 (& a zero dark 30 exerciser who shares the ups raising kids while trying to stay fit, strong & sane!) 

Tricia shares her journey to becoming a pelvic floor PT & how motherhood inspired her mission to help other active moms thrive.

Tricia is also a @pregnant.postpartum.athlete certified coach

Exciting news: Since we recorded, Tricia is now a co-host for @mileswithmomspodcast alongside friend of the show, @themotherrunners, as well as @motherhood_running, & @watch_oliviarun! Be sure to support these amazing #motherrunners 

We dive into: 
🔹 A day in the life with 3 kids, training for an ultra & 4:30am workouts
🔹 The myth of “non-compliance” for moms with home exercise programming
🔹 Returning to work as a mom & how to keep exercising
🔹 Conquering mom guilt 
🔹 Why mom-life balance is a myth 
🔹 Adding impact workouts you love

Time Stamps

1:00 Introduction

7:10 shifting to pelvic health

12:30 exercising around your kids’ schedules

18:45 meeting moms where there are at

23:49 switching “hats”

28:18 finding workouts you love

34:05 setting easy habits and workouts you enjoy

39:30 training for an ultra marathon 

44:30 rapid fire questions

CONNECT WITH CARRIE

IG: https://www.instagram.com/carriepagliano/

Website: https://carriepagliano.com

CONNECT WITH TRICIA

IG: https://www.instagram.com/burpeesandburpcloths/

The Active Mom Podcast — a real mom's guide to pregnancy, postpartum, perimenopause & beyond, for active moms and the professionals who help them get there.

Quick-hit conversations with moms, providers, and researchers... because you don't have a lot of free time (you're probably listening at 1.5x right now).

Follow so you don't miss an episode. Rate & review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ — it's how the next mom searching for these answers actually finds them. Share it with the friend who needs it.

Questions or topic requests? DM me 💌

Send us Fan Mail

In today’s episode, I sit down with Sara Perelmuter, a medical student and future OBGYN, who is already leading innovations in the field of sexual medicine. As president of the Sexual Medicine Research Team and with over seven peer-reviewed publications, Sara’s latest work, "Genitourinary Syndrome of Lactation: A New Perspective on Postpartum and Lactation-Related Genitourinary Symptoms," introduces a new term encompassing genitourinary symptoms related to low estrogen during the postpartum and lactation periods.

Sara’s passion for women’s health is deeply personal—her own struggle with pelvic pain during intercourse led to her diagnosis of hypertonic overactive pelvic floor muscle dysfunction. The medical gaslighting and dismissal she experienced, along with her feminist values and love for physiology, motivated her to pursue a career dedicated to improving women's sexual health. In this episode, Sara discusses the importance of education, accessibility, and awareness in empowering women to take control of their own bodies.

We cover topics including:

🔹Role of estrogen in postpartum & during lactation
🔹Innovative research on reproductive organs and genitourinary symptoms
🔹Addressing painful intercourse & pelvic pain at all stages of life
🔹Need to change med school curricula to better include women’s health issues
🔹Understanding hormone fluctuations throughout a woman’s life
🔹How to effectively communicate with your healthcare provider about sexual/reproductive health in postpartum, before & beyond
🔹Collaborative care approaches for treating pelvic floor dysfunction 

Time Stamps

1:00 Introduction

3:55 the roll of estrogen

8:23 parallels between different conditions

15:50 innovation in the field

23:37 vaginal estrogen in lactation

31:40 postpartum versus lactation

41:08 signs and symptoms

46:50 muscular versus hormonal

CONNECT WITH CARRIE

IG: https://www.instagram.com/carriepagliano/

Website: https://carriepagliano.com

CONNECT WITH SARA

IG: https://www.instagram.com/sara.perelmuter/

The Active Mom Podcast — a real mom's guide to pregnancy, postpartum, perimenopause & beyond, for active moms and the professionals who help them get there.

Quick-hit conversations with moms, providers, and researchers... because you don't have a lot of free time (you're probably listening at 1.5x right now).

Follow so you don't miss an episode. Rate & review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ — it's how the next mom searching for these answers actually finds them. Share it with the friend who needs it.

Questions or topic requests? DM me 💌

Send us Fan Mail

On today’s episode, I speak with Dr. Todd Davenport, professor and Chair in the Department of Physical Therapy at University of the Pacific in Stockton, California. He is a scientific advisor to the Workwell Foundation and Chair of Long Covid Physio. 

His research involves why some people don't get better following an illness. 

We dive deep into how chronic fatigue, long COVID, & chronic pain impact the pelvic floor, discussing essential tips for a safe return to exercise after a COVID-19 infection. 

Topics covered include:
🔹Safe exercise for post-COVID recovery  
🔹Recognizing when exercise is doing more harm than good  
🔹How to seek help & advocate for your health  
🔹Understanding chronic fatigue & how it affects exertion  
🔹The connection between ME/CFS & long COVID  
🔹Athlete challenges with healthcare providers  

Listen in to learn how to safely navigate exercise, chronic fatigue, & long-term COVID recovery with current evidence!

Time Stamps

1:00 Introduction

4:00 explaining ME/CFS

9:15 crossover of symptoms

14:55 starting with treatment

20:00 COVID and Long COVID recovery

27:20 where to start with treatment

32:30 listening to your body

37:49 where to look for help

41:44 hope for the future

CONNECT WITH CARRIE

IG: https://www.instagram.com/carriepagliano/

Website: https://carriepagliano.com

CONNECT WITH TODD

Twitter: @sunsopeningband

University (day job): www.pacific.edu/dpt

Workwell Foundation (scientific consulting): https://workwellfoundation.org/

Workwell Health (clinical practice): https://wwhealth.co/

The Active Mom Podcast — a real mom's guide to pregnancy, postpartum, perimenopause & beyond, for active moms and the professionals who help them get there.

Quick-hit conversations with moms, providers, and researchers... because you don't have a lot of free time (you're probably listening at 1.5x right now).

Follow so you don't miss an episode. Rate & review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ — it's how the next mom searching for these answers actually finds them. Share it with the friend who needs it.

Questions or topic requests? DM me 💌

Send us Fan Mail

On today's episode, I sit down with Dr. Rachel Tinius, an Associate Professor at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky, to discuss her groundbreaking research on the benefits of exercise during pregnancy. 

Dr. Tinius has dedicated her career to studying the impact of physical activity on maternal & infant health outcomes, developing community-based interventions for pregnant/postpartum women, especially those in marginalized communities. 

Her innovative work identified a critical gap in evidence-based exercise interventions for this demographic, leading her to create the mobile app BumptUp®.

The app is designed to provide trustworthy physical activity guidance for women during & after pregnancy, promoting health & wellness at every stage of motherhood.

We talk about:

-reasons for inactivity in pregnancy

-creating BumptUp

-changing guidelines over the years

-reaching underserved communities

-the power of an app

-activity affecting pregnancy outcomes

-pregnancy as a time for new habits

Time Stamps

1:00 Introduction

5:35 inactivity in pregnancy

8:17 creating BumptUp

12:45 what makes BumptUp special

16:45 pilot study

20:20 meeting people where they are

23:54 her experiences with pregnancy

27:35 influences of parents on activity

34:00 empowering moms in pregnancy

38:10 thinking ahead to menopause

42:52 rapid fire questions

CONNECT WITH CARRIE

IG: https://www.instagram.com/carriepagliano/

Website: https://carriepagliano.com

CONNECT WITH RACHEL

IG: https://www.instagram.com/bumptuplabs/

Website: bumptupapp.com

The Active Mom Podcast — a real mom's guide to pregnancy, postpartum, perimenopause & beyond, for active moms and the professionals who help them get there.

Quick-hit conversations with moms, providers, and researchers... because you don't have a lot of free time (you're probably listening at 1.5x right now).

Follow so you don't miss an episode. Rate & review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ — it's how the next mom searching for these answers actually finds them. Share it with the friend who needs it.

Questions or topic requests? DM me 💌

Send us Fan Mail

On today’s episode, I speak with Dr. Jessica Drummond, founder and CEO of The Integrative Women’s Health Institute. Her unique approach focuses on functional nutrition, lifestyle medicine, movement therapies, nervous system dysregulation, trauma, and mindset – essential elements often overlooked in traditional health education. She is passionate about caring for and empowering people who struggle with women’s and pelvic health concerns. She is equally passionate about educating and supporting clinicians and wellness professionals in confidently and safely using integrative tools to transform women’s and pelvic healthcare.

We talk about:

-how COVID is different

-looking at long COVID

-10 systems of acute COVID

-struggles in health care

-prioritizing clean air

-recovering after COVID

-feeling worse after a workout

-damaged mitochondria

-trusting your intuition

Time Stamps

1:00 Introduction

8:40 long COVID

15:04 different systems affected

23:20 opening the conversation

25:25 where PTs fit into the conversation

28:50 having clean air

34:10 recovering after COVID

41:35 post-exertion malaise

47:13 POTS crossover 

50:15 figuring out what is actually the problem

56:20 recovery is multifaceted 

CONNECT WITH CARRIE

IG: https://www.instagram.com/carriepagliano/

Website: https://carriepagliano.com

CONNECT WITH JESSICA

IG: https://www.instagram.com/integrativewomenshealth/

Website: integrativewomenshealthinstitute.com

The Active Mom Podcast — a real mom's guide to pregnancy, postpartum, perimenopause & beyond, for active moms and the professionals who help them get there.

Quick-hit conversations with moms, providers, and researchers... because you don't have a lot of free time (you're probably listening at 1.5x right now).

Follow so you don't miss an episode. Rate & review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ — it's how the next mom searching for these answers actually finds them. Share it with the friend who needs it.

Questions or topic requests? DM me 💌

Send us Fan Mail

In today's solo episode, I dive deep into the topic of running during pregnancy. Drawing from 25+ years of experience as a physical therapist and addressing listener questions, I aim to provide evidence-based information, clarify common misconceptions, and help you make confident decisions about staying active while pregnant. With so many challenges to navigate during pregnancy, let's make your choices around running a bit easier.

Key topics covered include:

- Running while pregnant: Can you continue racing?

- Dealing with unsupportive healthcare providers

- Predictive factors for safe running during pregnancy

- Running and urination: What’s normal and what to address

- Using the information you have to make the best decisions

- Common types of pregnancy-related pain for runners

- How running form changes as your pregnancy progresses

- Navigating weight gain and its impact on running

This episode is packed with actionable insights to help pregnant runners feel empowered and informed every step of the way. 

Boost your confidence in prenatal running and make well-informed choices!

Time Stamps

1:00 Introduction

4:50 navigating an unsupportive provider

8:58 first trimester questions

18:58 second trimester questions

30:00 improving your fitness during pregnancy

40:15 diving into the research

49:50 how things have changed

CONNECT WITH CARRIE

IG: https://www.instagram.com/carriepagliano/

Website: https://carriepagliano.com

The Active Mom Podcast — a real mom's guide to pregnancy, postpartum, perimenopause & beyond, for active moms and the professionals who help them get there.

Quick-hit conversations with moms, providers, and researchers... because you don't have a lot of free time (you're probably listening at 1.5x right now).

Follow so you don't miss an episode. Rate & review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ — it's how the next mom searching for these answers actually finds them. Share it with the friend who needs it.

Questions or topic requests? DM me 💌

Send us Fan Mail

Today I speak with Dr. Rita Deering, a women's health physical therapist, associate professor of physical therapy, and researcher who investigates postpartum neuromuscular function and perinatal exercise. Her PhD work evaluated postpartum abdominal muscle function and she completed an Advanced Fellowship in Women's Health where she looked at running mechanics and abdominal muscle function in postpartum runners. Dr. Deering has several peer-reviewed publications on postpartum return to sport and running.

We talk about:

-BJSM Postpartum Return to Running Consensus Statement Part 2

-working with what you have

-psychological readiness

-“normal” pain in running

-crowd sourcing medical information 

-finding a knowledgable provider

-breathing

-when to scale back

-screening for RED-S

Time Stamps

1:00 Introduction

3:34 explaining a Delphi study

9:20 where there was consensus

12:36 where there were inconsistencies 

19:45 where moms get information

27:29 uninformed returned to run programs

38:06 recommendations for training

47:00 education versus fear-mongering

48:08 listener questions

68:03 rapid fire questions

CONNECT WITH CARRIE

IG: https://www.instagram.com/carriepagliano/

Website: https://carriepagliano.com

CONNECT WITH RITA

IG: https://www.instagram.com/ritadeeringphd/

Website: https://www.carrollu.edu/faculty/deering-rita-phd

Research: https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/58/4/183

The Active Mom Podcast — a real mom's guide to pregnancy, postpartum, perimenopause & beyond, for active moms and the professionals who help them get there.

Quick-hit conversations with moms, providers, and researchers... because you don't have a lot of free time (you're probably listening at 1.5x right now).

Follow so you don't miss an episode. Rate & review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ — it's how the next mom searching for these answers actually finds them. Share it with the friend who needs it.

Questions or topic requests? DM me 💌

Send us Fan Mail

Today I speak with Dr. Ciera Kirkpatrick. She is an assistant professor of advertising and public relations at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's College of Journalism and Mass Communications. Ciera studies how messages in the media — like social media, advertising, and news coverage — influence individuals’ health by affecting their health-related knowledge, attitudes, and behavior intentions. After becoming a mom in 2020, Ciera became especially interested in the media's effects on new mothers. She noticed that social media was influencing her postpartum experience and her expectations of motherhood. Combining her personal experience with her expertise in media effects, Ciera began studying how social media comparisons to motherhood portrayals can be harmful to the mental health of new moms. Ciera lives in Nebraska with her husband, son, and a daughter on the way!

We talk about:

-what the research says

-idealized motherhood

-how moms compare themselves

-finding out who is most susceptible

-postpartum body image

-where we get our health information

-curating who you follow

-shifting trends in content

Time Stamps

1:00 Introduction

3:30 idealized motherhood

9:13 self-esteem & comparison

16:15 health info from peers versus providers

22:04 education versus entertainment

32:05 overlap of the comparison

33:40 how her researchers influenced her actions

38:20 shift toward more organic content

40:54 rapid fire questions

CONNECT WITH CARRIE

IG: https://www.instagram.com/carriepagliano/

Website: https://carriepagliano.com

CONNECT WITH CIERA

IG: https://www.instagram.com/dr_ciera_k/

Website: https://journalism.unl.edu/person/ciera-kirkpatrick/

Twitter: @Dr_Ciera_K

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ciera-dockter-kirkpatrick/

The Active Mom Podcast — a real mom's guide to pregnancy, postpartum, perimenopause & beyond, for active moms and the professionals who help them get there.

Quick-hit conversations with moms, providers, and researchers... because you don't have a lot of free time (you're probably listening at 1.5x right now).

Follow so you don't miss an episode. Rate & review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ — it's how the next mom searching for these answers actually finds them. Share it with the friend who needs it.

Questions or topic requests? DM me 💌

Send us Fan Mail

Today I speak with Michelle Lyons, a physical therapist for 30 years. She is passionate about women’s health, with a particular focus on hormonal health & its influence on pelvic & musculoskeletal health throughout the female lifecycle. She lives in Ireland and teaches nationally, internationally, and online. She consults for various organizations including Sport Ireland and FIFA and was proud to contribute to their recent publication, the Female Health Project Snapshot. She started her career in sports med but after her own obstetric misadventures, changed focus to women’s health, and is now working at the interface of both! She is passionate about promoting female pelvic health to everyone, everywhere, every time.

We talk about:

-women are not small men

-keeping women in sport

-importance of strength training

-sleep hygiene

-prioritizing your needs

-be willing to adapt

-consistency over perfection

-under-fueling and under-recovering

-tracking your cycle

Time Stamps

1:00 Introduction

3:17 working with FIFA

9:55 leveraging sport to have conversation

12:32 clinical considerations

17:00 the importance of sleep

25:34 making time for your own needs

31:40 finding your patient’s goals

41:40 working around perfection mindset

50:44 educating about women’s health sooner

59:59 women’s health is not a niche topic

66:41 rapid fire questions

CONNECT WITH CARRIE

IG: https://www.instagram.com/carriepagliano/

Website: https://carriepagliano.com

CONNECT WITH MICHELLE

IG: https://www.instagram.com/michellelyons_muliebrity/

Website: CelebrateMuliebrity.com

The Active Mom Podcast — a real mom's guide to pregnancy, postpartum, perimenopause & beyond, for active moms and the professionals who help them get there.

Quick-hit conversations with moms, providers, and researchers... because you don't have a lot of free time (you're probably listening at 1.5x right now).

Follow so you don't miss an episode. Rate & review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ — it's how the next mom searching for these answers actually finds them. Share it with the friend who needs it.

Questions or topic requests? DM me 💌

Send us Fan Mail

Today I speak with Jay Dicharry, MPT, SCS, author of Running Rewired. His career blurs the line between clinical practice, coaching, and engineering to solve problems and optimize performance. Jay literally wrote the book(s) on running gait; he is author of Running Rewired and Anatomy for Runners, writes for digital and print media, and founded MOBO as a tool to improve foot health and performance. Having taught in the Sports Medicine program at the University of Virginia and now at Oregon State University-Cascades, he brings a strong bias towards patient education and teaches internationally to elevate the standard of care for therapists, physicians, and coaches.

We talk about:

-differences between men & women biomechanically

-training in pregnancy & postpartum

-incomplete rehab

-doing your exercises

-separating hip function from spine

-quality exercises over quantity 

-fueling for life

Time Stamps

1:00 Introduction

5:04 methodology between men and women 

10:09 basic principles of running

19:42 rotational alignment

29:00 your unique anatomy

32:20 tissue capacity

38:14 RED-S after pregnancy

44:01 take-home advice

CONNECT WITH CARRIE

IG: https://www.instagram.com/carriepagliano/

Website: https://carriepagliano.com

CONNECT WITH JAY

IG: https://www.instagram.com/jaydicharry/

Website: https://www.moboboard.com/

The Active Mom Podcast — a real mom's guide to pregnancy, postpartum, perimenopause & beyond, for active moms and the professionals who help them get there.

Quick-hit conversations with moms, providers, and researchers... because you don't have a lot of free time (you're probably listening at 1.5x right now).

Follow so you don't miss an episode. Rate & review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ — it's how the next mom searching for these answers actually finds them. Share it with the friend who needs it.

Questions or topic requests? DM me 💌