The health and wellness industry has been receiving the attention and value it deserves over the last few decades. Whether we're talking about the hottest new workout, latest self-care trend, or coolest fitness gadget to add to our gym bag, the topic of health and wellness is on the forefront of everyone's minds. Therefore, it should come to no surprise that, as a physical therapist, I support an active lifestyle for myself and for my clients.

Running is a wonderful activity for a new or seasoned mom to burn off steam, get some aerobic exercise, and have time to yourself. However, there does come a time when running alone isn’t practical and you need to bring your little one with you. So you pull out that jogging stroller, tie up those running shoes, and start running down your block with baby in tow. Then you quickly realize this is a lot harder than you thought!

Exercising with pelvic floor dysfunction can be scary, whether you are a mom who just had a baby, a dad who is recovering from prostate cancer surgery, or a CrossFitter who began leaking urine during certain lifting exercises. Regardless, you want to lead a healthy, active and strong lifestyle, but instead you are fearful of making things worse.

You just had a baby, or maybe your child is grown — and now you have a desire to take up or get back into running. First off, congratulations. Taking any step towards leading an active lifestyle is a wonderful thing. Running can have a positive effect on your mental, physical and emotional well being!

You stretch, you feel better, and then the tightness comes right back. What gives?

You are a tired new mom, finally out for a run. This is your time - you get a small break - a little time alone. It’s finally fall and beautiful out. You tie your shoes and start down the block. All is right with the world, UNTIL - hard stop. Wait….Was that PEE??

The War on Pain has begun! But in order to defeat this enemy, we first have to understand it. Many people simply mask pain by avoiding activity and taking increasing amounts of medication like opioids.