Pelvic Health and Fitness

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In this episode, Dayna and Rhonda have the pleasure of chatting with one of our colleagues and fellow Canadian physiotherapists, Anita Lambert!

Anita is the owner of Holistic Health Physiotherapy, creator of the Bump to Birth Method and co-host of the To Birth & Beyond podcast.

She’s a mom of two and a perinatal pelvic health physiotherapist with a focus on prenatal and postpartum care. She is also one of the select few physiotherapists in Canada to complete physiodoula training (which she also assists in teaching to other physiotherapists).

She’s passionate about helping clients connect with their body and pelvic floor, plus teach strategies to keep clients active and comfortable during pregnancy. She also loves to help clients navigate postpartum recovery and return to exercise (including sports and dance) without pain or pelvic floor symptoms.

We’re so grateful for Anita for sharing her passion and wisdom with us. We touch on a lot of topics in this episode including:

🔹How Anita got into the physiotherapy profession and why she decided to focus on pelvic health
🔹Her two pregnancy and birth experiences and what surprised her most about them
🔹Advice she gives her clients regarding exercise during pregnancy
🔹How she uses her unique expertise to help her clients prepare for birth
🔹Why she thinks it’s so important to help her clients prepare for postpartum during pregnancy
🔹The importance of rest and seeking out support postpartum 
🔹Her experience being a physiodoula

Enjoy! ☕️🧘🏻‍♀️

➡️ We would LOVE if you would share this episode with a friend, drop a star rating in Apple Podcasts or leave us a review!

Mentioned in the episode:

Follow Anita on IG

Anita’s Website

Book a Physio Appointment with Anita

Check out Anita’s Bump to Birth Course

Listen to To Birth and Beyond Podcast

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In this episode, Rhonda has the pleasure of chatting with one of our colleagues Cat Gieser (@catgieser).

Cat is a pre and postpartum movement specialist and founder of Mama Flow Studio - a virtual yoga and sculpt studio for postpartum moms. The studio is also known as the anti-bounce back studio, encouraging moms to move with strength and nourishment instead of the pressure to bounce back. Cat's also a mother of two based in the San Francisco Bay Area.

We’re so grateful for Cat for sharing her passion and wisdom with us. We touch on a lot of topics in this episode including:

🔹How Cat going into the yoga and Pilates world
🔹Cat’s experience of delivering during the pandemic
🔹Her 2 very different postpartum experiences
🔹Her inspiration for creating Mama Flow Studio
🔹How Cat incorporates Pilates into her client’s training
🔹Her personal return to exercise postpartum journey
🔹Cat’s story of dealing with various postpartum symptoms 
🔹How her mindset with exercise has shifted away from all-or-nothing

Enjoy! ☕️🧘🏻‍♀️

➡️ We would LOVE if you would share this episode with a friend, drop a star rating or leave us a review in Apple Podcasts!

Mentioned in the episode:
1. Follow Cat on Instagram

2. Check out Cat’s website and get a free 7-day trial of Mama Flow Studio!

3. Email Cat

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In this episode, Rhonda and Dayna answer your questions as a way to celebrate one year of the podcast!

We answer your questions such as:

👩‍👦 What have been the most rewarding and most challenging parts of #momlife?
🤰🏻 Were your two pregnancies similar or different?
💪🏻 Should everyone do kegels?
🏋🏿‍♀️ How do we fit our workouts in as busy moms?
🤷🏽‍♀️ How do we “do it all?”
🏃🏽‍♀️ If I have pelvic floor symptoms, should I avoid exercise/ running/ weight lifting?
❤️‍🔥 If I have a prolapse, should I avoid sex?
🤩 What is our guilty pleasure?
🍫 What are our favourite go-to snacks?

Mentioned in the episode:
1. Listen to Episode #28 - Should I contract my pelvic floor to 100% with exercise?

2. Purchase Rhonda’s Strong at Home Summer PDF

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In this episode, Rhonda shares a 5-minute body scan meditation from her recent Pelvic Floor Relaxation workshop.

This was a 1-hour workshop full of practical ways to relax your pelvic floor. 

This is a great skill to learn to help with symptoms like leaking, heaviness or pain, or just as a way to remember that learning to relax our pelvic floor is just as important as learning to strengthen it.

Very often stress and anxiety can be tied to tightness in our pelvic floor. So a great way to tune into our body and learn to let go of tension is through meditation.

We thought that sharing this 5-minute body scan meditation with you all would be a great resource to begin learning to relax your pelvic floor.

Enjoy! ☕️🧘🏻‍♀️

Mentioned in the episode:
1. Get your name on the 2-week Trial of the Strong at Home Membership here

2. Book a free 15-minute Inquiry Call with Rhonda here to learn more about virtual physiotherapy

3. Purchase the replay to Rhonda’s Pelvic Floor Relaxation Workshop here

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In this episode, Rhonda and Dayna discuss a commonly asked question “do I need to contract my pelvic floor to 100% with exercise?”

The short answer is NO. 

Creating too much tension in our body may actually contribute to worsening symptoms like heaviness, leaking, pelvis pain or back pain. 

⁣⁣Some tips to keep in mind: ⁣⁣⁣⁣

1️⃣ Focus on tension to task (@physiodetective). 
Only contract your pelvic floor muscles (or any muscle) enough for the task at hand. 

2️⃣ Stop thinking about what your body is doing and just do the exercise. 
It’s important to get to a point where consciously thinking about what the pelvic floor is doing is no longer necessary. 

3️⃣ The relaxation component is just as important as the contraction component. 

We hope you find this discussion helpful!

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In this episode, Rhonda and Dayna each share the 3 things that they were not expecting during pregnancy.

Rhonda’s 3 things were:
1️⃣ Morning sickness that lasted all day 🤢|
2️⃣ Zero appetite for my entire pregnancy 🙅🏼‍♀️}
3️⃣ Constipation, giant poops and hemorrhoids 💩😂

Dayna’s 3 things were:
1️⃣ Overwhelming fatigue 😴
2️⃣ Restless legs every evening🦵🏼
3️⃣ How different her 2 pregnancies were🤰🏻

This was a fun episode to record to reminisce about our pregnancies!

Reach out to us and let us know if you can relate to 1 or more of these!

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In this episode, Rhonda and Dayna share our top tips when you’re feeling the itch to return to running postpartum, such as:

1️⃣ The research shows that it might be beneficial to wait until the 3-month mark to return to impact movements like running, jumping and skipping.

2️⃣ Check in with a pelvic floor physiotherapist and/ or postpartum fitness coach if you have the means to assess your pelvic floor strength, tone and coordination.

3️⃣ It might be a good idea to start with strength training (especially single leg exercises) to build the stability and capacity of your tissues.

4️⃣ It might be a good idea to start with a run/walk combo and gradually increase your time and distance spent running to give your body time to adapt.

5️⃣ It might be helpful to slowly ease back into impact movements (i.e. hopping, jump squats, jumping lunges) to prepare your body for running.

🎙 Listen to the full episode for more helpful tips!

🏃🏽‍♀️We’re excited for you to listen to this episode and hope it helps you return to running with confidence!

Listen to Kathleen White’s Return to Running episode here (Episode #7)

Return to Run Screen by Tom Goom, Gráinne Donnelly and Emma Brockwell

Return to Run Screen by Carrie Pagliano

Rhonda’s Reel - Return to Run Screen

Link to attend Rhonda’s Pelvic Floor Relaxation Workshop!

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In this episode, we chat with one of our colleagues and fellow Canadian physiotherapists, Aliya Dhalla.

Aliya is a pelvic health physiotherapist with over 12 years of experience. She focuses on women's health, including prenatal and postpartum pelvic health, preparing people for labour and delivery, and addressing common issues such as leaks, pelvic pain, painful sex, and diastasis recti. 

She has extensive training in pelvic floor dysfunction, the treatment and management of incontinence, prenatal and postnatal pelvic health considerations, cesarean section recovery, and diastasis recti rehab.

Aliya's mission is to educate and empower women about the changes that occur in their bodies throughout their lifetimes.

We’re so thankful for Aliya for sharing her passion and wisdom with us. We touch on a lot of topics in this episode including:

🔹What initially got Aliya into physiotherapy and pelvic health
🔹What surprised Aliya about her pregnancy and postpartum experience
🔹Advice she gives to early postpartum people
🔹How her views on walking have changed over time
🔹Why is it important to have great poops?
🔹Aliya’s top tips to have great poops!
🔹How constipation might lead to incontinence symptoms
🔹Where her IG handle @boxwellnessco came from

We’re excited for you to listen to this episode and hope you get as much out of this conversation as we did. 

Reach out to Aliya:
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Website
Book with Aliya
A Village in a Box

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In this episode, Rhonda and Dayna discuss:

🔹Why kegels is not the only answer to manage pelvic floor symptoms

🔹Why it’s important to learn to RELAX your pelvic floor if you’re dealing with symptoms of leaking, prolapse or pelvis pain

🔹How do you know if you need to relax the pelvic floor?

🔹6 of our favourite ways to relax the pelvic floor:

1️⃣ Z-lying

2️⃣ Legs up the wall

3️⃣ Prone lying

4️⃣ Child’s pose

5️⃣ 1/2 frog stretch\

6️⃣ Figure 4/ pigeon pose

🔹 Some tips on why these are helpful and when/ how long to do them!

Click here to check out Rhonda’s post with video demos of each of these!

We’re excited for you to listen to this episode and hope you find some of these tips helpful. 

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In this episode, we get the exciting opportunity to chat with one of our mentors Antony Lo (aka The Physio Detective).

Antony Lo is a physiotherapist from Australia and runs The Physio Detective service and My PT Education. He has been working at the junction of Musculoskeletal, Sports Rehab and Performance, and Women’s Health for his whole career. He has experience participating and coaching a range of sports and has been a consultant for a number of different types of elite sports athletes of all ages. He is privileged to teach health and fitness professionals around the world in person and online, in addition to his clinical work. Antony has a wife and 3 beautiful children in (what he says) the best city in the world – Sydney, Australia!

We’re so thankful for Antony for sharing his passion and wisdom with us. We touch on a lot of topics in this episode including:

🔹What initially got Antony into physiotherapy and pelvic health
🔹How he became the Physio Detective
🔹How Antony’s approach as a physiotherapist has changed over time
🔹Why it’s important for clinicians to learn to “do something different” with their clients
🔹The importance of language choice when working with clients
🔹The most important considerations when working with a postpartum client
🔹Why he’s so passionate about helping clients with diastasis
🔹Why it’s important to ask clients “what do you want to do?”
🔹The importance of minimizing fear when communicating a prolapse diagnosis

We’re excited for you to listen to this episode and hope you get as much out of this conversation as we did.

Reach and learn from Antony here:
Instagram
Website
Book with Antony
The Physio Detective Consult Series
Antony Lo Courses
The Women’s Health Podcast