We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Dr. Anna Towne. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Dr. Anna below.

Hi Dr. Anna, thanks for joining us today. Have you ever experienced a times when your entire field felt like it was taking a U-Turn?

I had a big 180 degree turn in my practice when….

When I had my daughter 5 years ago I had been practicing physical therapy for 5 years, working at a sports medicine PT clinic. As an athlete growing up, I fell in love with the profession after I had a back injury in high school and built a relationship with some physical therapists who gave me the tools to heal my body. That changed the trajectory of my life! I love that with PT you can give people the tools to take care of their own bodies and not depend on anyone else.  I also loved helping my patients get back to the activities that bring them joy. My PT patient population was very active, and I treated a lot of runners and endurance athletes.

When I became pregnant with my oldest daughter I began searching for answers to new questions like, “What can I do for exercise? What can’t I do? How far along should I run? How high should my heart rate get? How long can I do core exercises?” I wanted research and medicine-based answers to these questions that I had never had to ask before!

During pregnancy I tried to stay as healthy as I could, but I was frustrated to find a lot of outdated information, like “don’t get your heart rate over 140” or “don’t do core at all during pregnancy.” I knew this advice wasn’t evidence-based information. 

Right then I took a deep dive into Women’s Health Physical Therapy, even though I had never seen myself doing women’s health, and had always focused on orthopedic and sports medicine PT up until that point. After I fell in love with Womens Health PT, I  got training in pelvic floor physical therapy and got a prenatal & postpartum exercise corrective specialist certification.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I got into PT because I was an athlete growing up —  playing tennis into college . Well, I now see myself as a mama athlete. During my pregnancies and after the birth of our two daughters, I’ve continued to compete in running and triathlon races. Right now I am 24 weeks pregnant with my 3rd and competing in a triathlon this weekend 😊 

I love getting outside and being with my family – hiking, camping, biking, paddleboarding and doing water sports. I love living in Colorado with all the opportunities to get outside and be active with my family. 

I am really passionate about racing with a nonprofit organization called Athletes in Tandem where I push adults with disabilities in running races and in triathlons. I have competed in 50 races with various athletes with disabilities and it’s added a lot of joy to my life. 

Living in northern Colorado, most of my patients are active and motivated to take care of their bodies. They hike on the weekends or do CrossFit or gym classes. Seeing the need, I started the rehab program called Strong Core Mama for moms to heal their diastasis recti, back pain, pelvic floor dysfunction, et al.  I developed my Strong Core Mama course to help postpartum moms establish their core and pelvic floor again. 

I’m very anti “bounce-back” postpartum culture. All the messages that our society gives postpartum moms kills me because, in reality, healing takes time. And if telling moms “you need to do this in x amount of time” puts a ton of pressure on them. Moms don’t need that on top of adjusting to having a new baby to care for! You’ll never see me post before or after pictures. I want moms to feel strong, healthy and confident, but we are not going for “whip yourself back in shape as soon as possible.” The moms in those scenarios end up having problems down the road which is the opposite of what I want to be or do. I think, as a society, we already compare ourselves to each other too much. It’s just not healthy for moms who are already in, an emotional and difficult time of transition.

Let’s talk M&A – we’d love to hear your about your experience with buying businesses.

I created the Strong Core Mama Physical Therapy because I saw a huge need for moms to get the care and rehab that they needed and deserved. My patient population is pregnant or postpartum because I have gotten my Pregnancy & Postpartum Certification (PCES). Since then I have had 500+ moms participate in my virtual rehab programs. 

The virtual programs have been a great opportunity for moms who typically have many logistical roadblocks – time, childcare, money, and distance — to still get the rehab they need post-baby. Now with the class being virtual, moms can access the classes anytime and anywhere, and they can start and stop as needed. Overall, it’s worked out really well because the courses are accessible help for moms, which is the goal.

Some moms can go to women’s health PT in-person and that is great! But a lot of other moms I’ve worked with can’t attend PT because of limited finances or childcare. So the virtual element works out perfect for them.

Right now the Strong Core Mama Postpartum is the foundation program. It’s very glute, deep/low ab and pelvic floor focused which are the first things you should do postpartum once you are cleared by your medical provider. I always tell my mama friends and patients that they either need to see a woman’s health PT in person, or they need to do this rehab program, because it sets the foundation for how your body will move the rest of your life. How you retrain and rebuild in postpartum matters.

After creating the CORE Program I created the Strong Running Mama Program specific to moms who want to return to running post-kid/s. Since I work with a lot of runners and I personally am a runner, I took a lot of the exercises I do for my runner patients and blended them with the postpartum exercises. Strong Running  Mama is more challenging and meant to build off of a postpartum rehab foundation. It involves more standing, single leg strength and stability with core and pelvic floor engagement. You work your way up to doing some impact exercises pain-free and symptom-free.

In the program I educate participants on proper running form because our postpartum running form changes with all of our pregnancy posture changes. A gradual progression return-to-run plan is also included in the program. The goal is to give guidance in returning to running safely. I hear many moms just “patchworking” their plan, with exercise ideas from a friend, a blog, a youtube video and etc. but that doesn’t make for a good return to run plan. I get many phone calls or emails from women who are 6 weeks postpartum saying, “I just peed all over myself on my run.” When I ask, “what’d you do before you started running?” they say, “oh, I just did some Kegels.” Unfortunately, kegels alone are not enough. Running is a single-leg dynamic high-level activity that we need to train our bodies properly for.

Moms often try to go from zero to running, but there needs to be so much in between. That’s why I created these programs. First, let’s find the muscles that we haven’t used in a long time. Next, let’s strengthen and load them. Then we can start to run. So, it’s a gradual progression.

Currently I am creating an entire new program for during pregnancy! I’m developing this because I’m often asked, “what can I do during pregnancy?” There’s a lot you can do in pregnancy! I see many pregnant patients and I firmly believe that your postpartum rehab starts during pregnancy. There are so many things you can do in pregnancy that affect your labor and delivery and also lay the framework for your postpartum experience. My patients who start in pregnancy tend to have easier and/or faster postpartum recovery.
Around 20 weeks, or right after the first yucky-feeling trimester, moms start asking, “Hey, what should I be doing now in pregnancy? Or what should I not be doing?” I encourage moms to not just plan for baby’s arrival, but also look beyond that to what their postpartum healing might look like and how to set themselves up for success.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I would say a few things have helped me build my reputation in the “mom” world…

First of all, there are no other virtual Physical Therapy rehab programs that exist like Strong Core Mama. Besides my  online courses, I treat patients as a women’s health physical therapist, having completed a doctorate level program that encompassed a high degree of knowledge in both anatomy & physiology. I strongly believe that my experience working with human cadavers and doing internal pelvic floor training gives me a different perspective than someone who has not had such extensive training and education.

I think it’s confusing these days that people can just market themselves and say they’re a “specialist” even though they have weak education and credentials. Many participants don’t know to carefully examine their background. What makes me really sad is when I have patients come see me after they had good intentions and tried to do something that they thought would be beneficial (ie: a free youtube series or a “mommy pouch” program),  but the program actually did more harm. I see that scenario way more than I would like to. Treatment from  a Physical Therapist trained extensively in the medical knowledge and application of that knowledge will pay dividends.

I think the second thing that moms really appreciate about working with me is the rapport that we build together since I’m right there with them in the motherhood trenches. I know what SI joint and pubic symphysis pain feels like in pregnancy because I had them both and really had to work hard to rehab from those pains. I also know how hard it is to safely return to postpartum running. I’ve worked through a lot of that stuff personally and also just clinically with hundreds of patients. That really builds affinity with your patient because they think, “I trust you. You just explained my pain exactly how I would describe it.”

It also helps that I understand the time management piece. Moms never have enough time and always complain, “I don’t know when to fit this in.” I typically respond, “I get you. I’m a working mom of two, also. So, here’s what works for me… Here’s some ideas… I’m right there with you. Let’s brainstorm a program that works for you.” I just understand the whole breadth of their situation which helps moms feel heard and understood.

A huge benefit of my programs is accessibility. It’s easy to start/stop the program as time allows. The rehab programs are composed of physical therapy exercises so they’re very slow and intentional movements. I’m giving patients cues the entire time, telling them what to feel and what not to feel. When things feel off,  I educate patients on  how they can use the right muscles and not compensate. The exercises are corrective, specifically targeting common mom weaknesses that I see all the time in the PT clinic. Patients can easily reach out when questions arise with the exercises. 

I make it very clear on the webpage and when I’m communicating with participants that this program isn’t a “super intense workout.”  Instead it is, “we are going to find your deep abs and then we’re going to find your pelvic floor and after that we’re going to synchronize them all together in this movement.” It’s a lot of neuromuscular control and rebuilding your mind-body connection. It’s seeing how your core integrates with your brain. Also, it’s restoring your ribcage and pelvis position back to its pre-pregnancy neutral position. It’s not just strengthening exercises; it’s also activation, alignment, posture and mechanics. You don’t often hear about these things in a group exercise class, on youtube, or in a gym setting.

The good news is that it is never too late to do the programs. I’ve actually had at least a few dozen moms in their 50s and 60s do the program and still see quite a few benefits, which is awesome! It’s so cool that our bodies can always make positive changes no matter how far out from kids you are. You can always improve your pelvic floor and your core! So there’s really not a window that closes when “it’s too late, there’s no hope for you now.” That’s not true at all. I’ve even have had new moms do the program at the same time as their moms (the baby’s grandma). When the new moms are doing the program after they’ve had babies they think, “oh my gosh, my mom complains about this problem all the time. She should do it with me!” The older moms, now grandmas, get a chance to see improvements, even though it is later in life. It’s been fun to bring it full circle.

My patients who are active and want to get back to running or fitness in postpartum benefit from being educated on what a healthy strong pregnancy should look like. And that will help their postpartum dramatically. I can’t tell you how many times I see moms in the clinic who are 5 to 10, 20 years postpartum. The root of their issues is that they never fully addressed things postpartum. Postpartum health must be the foundation for the house of the body. I understand why moms just don’t have time to take care of themselves those beginning crazy, sleep-deprived months. But then, when you get some brain space after the newborn haze and start moving your body again, you might think, “this doesn’t feel right.” My programs are injury prevention and prioritize your overall health. It’s really taking care of your health on the front end to address these things as soon as you’re able to. Moms need to know that this foundation in postpartum matters. The rest of your health trajectory is really dependent on how you handle this postpartum season.

It’s hard to describe a program like this well because it’s so different from anything else that’s out there. Many moms will sequence youtube videos together for their “recovery” and some get worse from this type of plan. There’s no YouTube workout that you can look up that’s as sound as ours. 

I encourage all moms to try the free trial of a program at the website below so they can get a true feel for it!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://strongcoremamapt.podia.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/strongcoremama/