Active Mom Podcast: Pregnancy, Postpartum, Perimenopause, Menopause & Beyond

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You've heard it. Maybe you've said it. "Your pelvic floor is too tight." It's everywhere right now — on the socials, in the clinic, out of the mouths of people who've never assessed a pelvic floor in their life. But here's the question almost nobody stopped to ask: can we actually feel the thing we keep confidently naming?
Researcher Gosia Starzec-Proserpio, PT, PhD, just did the work to find out — across 528 women. And her answer is more interesting (and more freeing) than either side of the internet fight wants it to be.
I got to sit down with Gosia — 12 weeks postpartum, "just coming out of the darkness into the light," her words — to talk about the study that went a little viral, and what it actually means for the person on your table.
🔹 What "tone" even means (and why it meant nothing to her as a new clinician) 🔹 The single biggest mistake we make: treating "pain" and "tight" as the same word 
🔹 Palpation vs. ultrasound vs. dynamometry — three tools, three answers, and why that's a feature, not a flaw 
🔹 Where our fingers are genuinely good — and where they quietly aren't 
🔹 Why you can't get "fixed on the number," even when we love a good number 🔹 The pregnancy nobody warns you about being harder than postpartum
This one's for the clinicians who want to sharpen how they assess and explain tone — and for anyone who's been handed a label they've been carrying ever since. 
Come nerd out with us.
Education, not individualized medical advice — loop in your own pelvic floor PT for what's true for your body.

Time Stamps
0:00 introduction
3:56 quick fire questions
9:43 troubles breastfeeding
18:55 muscle tone explained
21:54 explaining the research
25:35 communicating with patients
33:51 comparing different measurement modalities
45:53 addressing personal biases
49:11 changes in clinical practice

CONNECT WITH CARRIE
IG: https://www.instagram.com/carriepagliano/
Website: https://carriepagliano.com
Course waitlist: https://course.carriepagliano.com/RSAWL

CONNECT WITH GOSIA:
IG: https://www.instagram.com/starzecproserpio_phd/
Linked In: www.linkedin.com/in/mstarzec
Research: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Malgorzata-Starzec-Proserpio?ev=hdr_xprf 

The Active Mom Podcast is A Real Moms' Guide to pregnancy, postpartum, perimenopause & beyond for active moms & the professionals who help them in their journey.
 
This show has been a long time in the making! 
 
You can expect conversation with moms and professionals from all aspects of the industry. 
 
If you're like me, you don't have a lot of free time (heck, you're probably listening at 1.5x speed), so theses interviews will be quick hits to get your the pertinent information FAST!
 
If you love what you hear, share the podcast with a friend and leave us a 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating and review. It helps us become more visible in the search algorithm! (Helps us get seen by more moms that need to hear these stories!!!!)

Send us Fan Mail
If you've ever accepted leaking as the toll you pay to keep running, this one's going to reframe it.
Dr. Linda McLean (@mfm_lab) is one of the foremost researchers on the pelvic floor and urinary incontinence — a professor and Chair in Women's Health Research at the University of Ottawa. In this Summer Rewind, we cut through what the science actually shows about why running-induced urinary incontinence happens… and where popular advice for active moms gets it wrong.
We get into pelvic floor morphology, how running may load and change those structures, and what the evidence says about interventions — including pessaries and other intravaginal support devices for runners who leak. Linda also unpacks the difference between evidence-based and evidence-informed, and how to break down the barriers keeping women from exercise.
Leaking when you run is common… but common doesn't have to mean permanent.
Always work with your own pelvic floor PT and maternity provider — this conversation is education, not individual care.

Time Stamps
1:00 Introduction
3:58 bio feedback in pelvic PT
6:46 morphology paper
16:41 the roll strength plays
21:15 connecting clinical findings to research
32:10 intra-abdominal pressure
34:50 different causes of urinary incontinence
40:20 supportive devices
44:29 elongation of the pelvic floor

CONNECT WITH CARRIE
IG: https://www.instagram.com/carriepagliano/
Website: https://carriepagliano.com

CONNECT WITH LINDA
IG: https://www.instagram.com/mfm_lab/
Website: www.mfmlab.ca
X: @mfmlab
Facebook: @mfmlabuottawa
The Active Mom Podcast is A Real Moms' Guide to pregnancy, postpartum, perimenopause & beyond for active moms & the professionals who help them in their journey.
 
This show has been a long time in the making! 
 
You can expect conversation with moms and professionals from all aspects of the industry. 
 
If you're like me, you don't have a lot of free time (heck, you're probably listening at 1.5x speed), so theses interviews will be quick hits to get your the pertinent information FAST!
 
If you love what you hear, share the podcast with a friend and leave us a 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating and review. It helps us become more visible in the search algorithm! (Helps us get seen by more moms that need to hear these stories!!!!)

Send us Fan Mail
Melanie Cote spent years believing runners were a certain kind of person — thin, disciplined, elite — and she wasn't it. So when a coworker organized a 5K, she showed up to cheer instead of run, too embarrassed to try. A year later, she crossed that same start line. Today she's a half-marathoner who runs as @the.curvy.runner, and her story is for every mom who's ever thought "I'm not a runner."
Carrie and Melanie get into starting couch-to-5K in your late 40s, why consistency beats performance, the gear struggles nobody warns curvy runners about, running through perimenopause, and letting go of the diet-culture rules we grew up with. It's a conversation about giving yourself permission — to take up space, to take the trip, to be the mom you're proud of.

Time Stamps
0:00 introduction
5:08 how our relationship with running has changed
8:43 separating running from weight loss
11:29 becoming more active as kids get older
14:56 being flexible to be consistent
19:55 being creative with winter running
25:32 finding community in running
29:30 deciding to do a Disney half marathon
34:02 running as a curvy woman
43:13 dealing with hormonal changes
48:40 quick hit questions
CONNECT WITH CARRIE
IG: https://www.instagram.com/carriepagliano/
Website: https://carriepagliano.com
Course waitlist: https://course.carriepagliano.com/RSAWL

CONNECT WITH MELANIE:
IG: https://www.instagram.com/the.curvy.runner/
Website: www.thecurvyrunners.com
The Active Mom Podcast is A Real Moms' Guide to pregnancy, postpartum, perimenopause & beyond for active moms & the professionals who help them in their journey.
 
This show has been a long time in the making! 
 
You can expect conversation with moms and professionals from all aspects of the industry. 
 
If you're like me, you don't have a lot of free time (heck, you're probably listening at 1.5x speed), so theses interviews will be quick hits to get your the pertinent information FAST!
 
If you love what you hear, share the podcast with a friend and leave us a 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating and review. It helps us become more visible in the search algorithm! (Helps us get seen by more moms that need to hear these stories!!!!)

Send us Fan Mail
Bringing this back because the "what exercises should I actually be doing?" question never gets old. Johnson cuts through the noise on rehab and strength work for runners — the movements that move the needle versus the filler. Practical, specific, and easy to act on this week.
Today I speak with Chris Johnson, physical therapist, coach, author, teacher, consultant, and multiple-time Kona qualifier. He is also the creator of The Run Well, an online membership platform and community with a mission to fast-track clinicians, coaches, and trainers, who are looking to specialize in working with runners. 
We  talk about:
-the love of running
-exercises for runners
-utilizing the power of walking
-slowing down movements to evaluate
-altered movement patterns from injuries
-figuring out what’s heavy enough
-using fundamental movements
-hitting benchmarks before returning to running 
-similarities in returning to run after injury and postpartum
Time Stamps
1:00 introduction
3:55 mistakes everyday runners make
7:40 providing exercises to runners
13:30 moving past the fear of old injuries
17:34 demystifying injury recovery
20:30 figuring out the right weight
27:40 top exercise recommendations
37:00 differences between working with men and women 
44:35 Run Well Program 
CONNECT WITH CARRIE
IG: https://www.instagram.com/carriepagliano/
Website: https://carriepagliano.com
CONNECT WITH CHRIS
IG: https://www.instagram.com/chrisjohnsonthept/
Website: https://chrisjohnsonpt.com/
The Active Mom Podcast is A Real Moms' Guide to pregnancy, postpartum, perimenopause & beyond for active moms & the professionals who help them in their journey.
 
This show has been a long time in the making! 
 
You can expect conversation with moms and professionals from all aspects of the industry. 
 
If you're like me, you don't have a lot of free time (heck, you're probably listening at 1.5x speed), so theses interviews will be quick hits to get your the pertinent information FAST!
 
If you love what you hear, share the podcast with a friend and leave us a 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating and review. It helps us become more visible in the search algorithm! (Helps us get seen by more moms that need to hear these stories!!!!)

Send us Fan Mail
Can you run with pelvic organ prolapse? In this solo episode, Dr. Carrie Pagliano takes on one of the most feared pelvic floor diagnoses… and why prolapse doesn't have to mean hanging up your running shoes.
Carrie introduces your "prolapse personality" — because prolapse isn't one experience, it's many. She busts the myths (no, running didn't cause it… no, you don't have to rest until it's "gone"), walks through the three symptom presentations she sees in the clinic, and explains why your anatomy doesn't predict how you feel or what your body can do.
You'll hear how she thinks about graded loading and return-to-run dosing, where pessaries and support devices can fit, what "just breathe" really means for runners, and why a prolapse diagnosis is a starting point — not a stop sign.
For active moms and the providers who support them. Education, not medical advice — always loop in your own pelvic floor PT or provider.

Time Stamps
0:00 introduction
3:33 mythbuster rapid fire
8:06 no on-size-fits-all prolapse
14:25 how symptoms change with activity
18:03 pressure management and breathing
20:54 importance of early activity
25:01 doing too much too soon
27:05 support devices
30:22 returning to run with prolapse

CONNECT WITH CARRIE
IG: https://www.instagram.com/carriepagliano/
Website: https://carriepagliano.com
Course waitlist: https://course.carriepagliano.com/RSAWL
The Active Mom Podcast is A Real Moms' Guide to pregnancy, postpartum, perimenopause & beyond for active moms & the professionals who help them in their journey.
 
This show has been a long time in the making! 
 
You can expect conversation with moms and professionals from all aspects of the industry. 
 
If you're like me, you don't have a lot of free time (heck, you're probably listening at 1.5x speed), so theses interviews will be quick hits to get your the pertinent information FAST!
 
If you love what you hear, share the podcast with a friend and leave us a 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating and review. It helps us become more visible in the search algorithm! (Helps us get seen by more moms that need to hear these stories!!!!)