Carrie Pagliano Physical Therapy

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Carrie Pagliano Physical Therapy I help women return to symptom free movement! Expert women's & pelvic health PT serving DC metro ar

There’s no secret postpartum return-to-run plan. Here’s why I’m sharing mine.It’s the exact walk/run plan I use with my ...
10/20/2026

There’s no secret postpartum return-to-run plan. Here’s why I’m sharing mine.

It’s the exact walk/run plan I use with my clients, and it isn’t magic.

When that mom in the running group asked where to find a good plan, the answers poured in with apps, books and programs. Most of them would work fine.

The plan is the easy part. The hard part is everything around it: the night your baby decided 2 a.m. was party time, the week you went back to work, the run that felt amazing until it didn’t.

That’s where my clients and I spend our time.

We spend time talking about BEFORE the run, setting up for success.

We talk about a phase based approach, over a calendar timeline (Check out Ep 205 of the with .ptphd for more)

After each run, we talk about how it felt and what flared, and we adjust. Some of them fly through the levels.
Some sit on Level 2 for a month. Both are doing it right.

So save this, take it with you, and give yourself permission to go at your own pace.

What helped you most when you started running again? Tell me in the comments.

This morning at 5am I had an epiphany...My gym often doesn’t post the workout until the morning of (SO annoying), so I a...
10/20/2026

This morning at 5am I had an epiphany...

My gym often doesn’t post the workout until the morning of (SO annoying), so I always peek before I get in the car to see if I need my jump rope or wrist wraps.

Today: 400m run to start and finish. In the middle, eight rounds of 20 double unders (I do singles), banded pull-ups, kettlebell swings, and dumbbell bench.

Running AND jump rope in the same workout. The last time that happened, this past summer, it was bad. I could barely jump rope.

💦💦💦 IYKYK

So I ran back upstairs and put in my cube pessary did a few Hail Mary's and headed out.

Usually I can get to about 20 singles before I need a break. Today I added more. Totally fine through the WHOLE freaking thing.

That’s when it hit me. Years ago in my clinic, I’d give a client everything I had: breath, landing, building up slowly. Sometimes it worked. Sometimes she was still leaking and I’d get so frustrated, because I was out of ideas.

I was only working on part of the problem.

I’ve done the breath work. I’ve cleaned up my jumping. And some days, my body still needs a little extra support. That’s not failure. That’s just knowing what my body needs that day.

If my tissues are already creeping, I'm sitting just above the symptom threshold and I run AND jump? It's almost like the afternoon running scenario all over again.

🧊(I've you don't know what I'm talking about DM me and I'll point you to the summer series how I found my cube pessary)

What has helped YOU most with jumping rope: breath, landing softer, or building up slowly? And if those didn’t fully work, have you tried a pessary? 👇

Free CME event. Dinner provided.From the Fourth Trimester to the Menopause Transition" at Beyond Hot Flashes, a CME dinn...
10/20/2026

Free CME event. Dinner provided.

From the Fourth Trimester to the Menopause Transition" at Beyond Hot Flashes, a CME dinner hosted by National Menopause Foundation in San Diego.

Join me and several other panelists as we talk about nutrition, pelvic floor, hormones & my favorite part, staying active in the Peri/meno transition.

Thu Oct 22 | 6:00–9:00 PM | Kettner Exchange 

Up to 2.25 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ and 2.25 nursing contact hours 

DM me MENO for 🔗 to reserve your free spot!

I don’t share my C-section story so you’ll feel sorry for me. I share it because not every C-section recovery looks the ...
10/19/2026

I don’t share my C-section story so you’ll feel sorry for me. I share it because not every C-section recovery looks the same.

Mine was rough. I was so swollen my mother in law had to go to Target for bigger underwear so my legs would fit through the holes. I wore slippers to his first pediatrician appointment because my shoes didn’t fit. Walking one block felt like climbing Everest.

It would be really easy for me to look at a mom hiking 6 miles at 5 weeks, wanting to run and think “slow down.” That’s my story talking, not hers.

My hard recovery doesn’t get to be her ceiling.

And her easy one doesn’t get to be anyone else’s bar either.

(Both of those moms deserve someone who looks at THEM, not a calendar.)

If she's feeling good, knows the signs to watch for and is healing well, why should we be gatekeeping her? Why are WE making her feel guilty for feeling GOOD?

Clinicians, this one’s for us too. Our job isn’t to hand out a number. It’s to meet her where she is.

🙋‍♀️When were you told you could run again after birth? Was it a rule or a suggestion? Tell me in the comments👇



References

🔸Goom T, Donnelly G, Brockwell E. Returning to running postnatal: guidelines for medical, health and fitness professionals managing this population. Independently published, 2019.

🔸Active Mom Podcast, Season 1, Episode 1: interview with Gráinne Donnelly.

🔸Donnelly GM, James ML, et al. Running during pregnancy and postpartum, Part B. J Womens Health Phys Ther. 2022;46(3).

🔸Davenport MH, et al. 2025 Canadian Guideline for Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviour and Sleep throughout the First Year Postpartum. Br J Sports Med. 2025;59(8).

Can you pump breast milk in space?Honestly, nobody knew. And it’s not that surprising. Back in 1983, before Sally Ride’s...
10/17/2026

Can you pump breast milk in space?

Honestly, nobody knew. And it’s not that surprising. Back in 1983, before Sally Ride’s one-week mission, NASA engineers asked her if 100 tampons was the right number. (She said no. Even half that would’ve been plenty. 🤦‍♀️)

That was 1983. It’s 2026 now, so yeah, I’d say it’s about time we’re talking about the rest of it. Like what happens when a postpartum body goes into zero gravity.

went and found out. At 8 weeks postpartum she pumped on a zero-gravity research flight. Would the pump work? Would the milk stay put? Would gravity change the milk itself? Nobody had answers, so she became the answer.

(And then she brought the milk home to her baby. Iconic.)

We’ve had our own version of that gap right here on the ground. For a long time, a lot of what we told postpartum women about exercise was pieced together from adjacent research and clinical experience. The studies just weren’t there yet.

Now? We’re drinking from the fire hose with emerging evidence. And that’s a GOOD thing.

In the last several years we’ve learned more than ever about exercise in pregnancy, postpartum and the pelvic. We’re actually measuring what your pelvic floor does when you run, lift and jump. There’s sport-specific guidance now for soccer players, climbers, rugby players, military and first responders. I would have killed for half of this when I started practicing.

Is it all figured out? Hell no. But “nobody’s studied that” isn’t the end of the conversation anymore.

So if your recovery didn’t match the timeline someone handed you, that’s not your body failing you. The science is finally catching up to you.

Your turn: what’s the one question about your body after baby that NOBODY could answer for you? Drop it 👇 and I’ll answer a few in stories this week.

I didn’t always think this way.I used to take pride in it. Moms would come to me eager, looking for clearance. The ok. T...
10/16/2026

I didn’t always think this way.

I used to take pride in it. Moms would come to me eager, looking for clearance. The ok. The promise that starting was the “right thing to do.” And I handed it over like a gift.

Physio has a long history of gatekeeping movement, and postpartum return to exercise and running is no exception. (I was part of it.)

The evidence has shifted from dates to a phase-based approach. And the researchers I’ve talked with on the have shifted their thinking too.
ptphd told me that working in the clinic changed her own view. Requiring clearance before you start ANYTHING is actually a barrier.

pointed out something every clinician needs to hear. The moms who get back to running without problems mostly never walk into our clinics. We see the ones who are struggling, and it’s easy to assume everyone needs what they need.

When ’s team built Canada’s 2025 postpartum guideline, they asked moms what they actually wanted to know. What came back was mental health and sleep.

Her line that sums it all up: “the right thing is sort of recognizing your own journey.”

You don’t need anyone to hand you the ok. You need a plan that fits where you are right now, and someone in your corner when something doesn’t feel right.

🙋‍♀️What were you told about when you could start exercising after baby, and who told you? Tell me in the comments👇
The full blog post, with all of these episodes and the research behind them, is on Substack. DM "PLAN" for 🔗

I’m not like the dental hygienist. I’m not gonna guilt you for not flossing. (IYKYK.)That’s what I tell my patients. Eve...
10/12/2026

I’m not like the dental hygienist. I’m not gonna guilt you for not flossing. (IYKYK.)

That’s what I tell my patients. Everybody laughs, and then we get on with it, because we’re a team here and nobody’s getting graded.

I promise you, the thing getting in your way is not that you didn’t want it enough.

I can give you the most perfect set of exercises in the world. But if we can’t figure out how it actually gets into your day and makes sense in your life, it doesn’t matter.
So that’s what we do.
We sit down together and we work out exactly when, exactly where, exactly how, until doing it is a no-brainer and not one more thing you have to remember to care about.

Turns out the research agrees. In ’s new review, building the training into a routine women already had, plus reminders, was what moved intention into something that actually happened.

And in one trial in that review, 60% of women who had reminders and a program on their phone trained daily. Without it? 32% (Chu et al., 2024). Same women. Same willingness. Different scaffolding.

IN MY CLINICAL EXPERIENCE, the people who stick with it aren’t the disciplined ones. They’re the ones whose program got built around their actual day, and who could FEEL it working.

And that second part matters just as much. Staying consistent with something that isn’t touching your symptoms is just a longer road to feeling like you failed. My job is to help you with BOTH.

🔷 Where does this go in your day
🔷 What’s already happening during that time that we can leverage
🔷 Is this even the right thing to be consistent with right now

🤔 If someone built your home program around YOUR actual week, what would have to change? Fewer reps, a different time of day, or just somebody checking whether it’s working?
Be honest. If your PT had asked what was actually in the way that week, what would you have told them? . .

Ep 264 with physio and researcher is out now.

Just 2 left for 2026! Schedule directly online for in-person, telehealth (in PT License Compact States) or virtual. www....
10/12/2026

Just 2 left for 2026!

Schedule directly online for in-person, telehealth (in PT License Compact States) or virtual.

www.carriepagliano.com or DM with

You shouldn't have to earn support.For a long time in pelvic floor physio we acted like strength was the whole answer. G...
10/08/2026

You shouldn't have to earn support.

For a long time in pelvic floor physio we acted like strength was the whole answer.

Get stronger, leak less.

And when a woman did every single thing right and STILL leaked on her runs, the unspoken message was that she just hadn't worked hard enough.

I had a DM from a frustrated mom recently trying to sort out what the next steps were when she "failed" traditional PFPT.

Pessaries were presented to her as a consolation prize when PT didn't work. And even then, the process was confusing and convoluted.

She wasn't even sure how to get fitted.

Should she go to the urogynecologist covered by her insurance, where they'd place it, check it, and send her home to figure the rest out on her own?

Or pay out of network to see a pelvic floor physio who would actually spend the time with her, and could send her out to RUN in it and see what happened?

Where did over the counter options fit in? What was the right option for HER?

And why did it feel like she had to earn the option of a pessary, only when everything else didn't work?

That's a real decision women are making right now.

Dr. Sabine Vesting's team is studying this as we speak, including whether women would even accept a pessary in the first weeks after having a baby. The early signal from their interviews? A lot of them had no idea it was something offered to someone their age.

What we ACTUALLY should be talking about is the WHY behind women's symptoms. Yes, exercise and pelvic floor muscle training can work for some women, but for others, symptom relief only comes with use of a pessary and addressing underlying passive support.

Let's work smarter, less guilt trips and more collaboration, K?

🤔 Did anyone ever mention support to you, or was it kegels and good luck?
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Address

2160 N Glebe Road, Suite R
Arlington, VA
22207

Opening Hours

Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+15713366950

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