Welcome to Our First Blog Post

Thank you for subscribing to Reform Physical Therapy’s blog posts. We aim to bring evidence-based information and practical recommendations to our subscribers on a weekly basis while also showing you the personal side to our company. This being the first blog post, introductions might be in order.

My name is Dr. Abby Bales, PT, DPT, CSCS and I am the owner and head physical therapist at Reform PT in New York City. I am a mom of two (a 3 year-old boy and 5 month old girl), a wife, a lifelong athlete, a nine-time marathoner, and an all-around fitness lover.

I started this company with the goal of treating pregnant and postpartum women as a physical therapist, but have found my mission evolving as I spoke to women in the athletic community. My background as a runner, personal trainer, and strength and conditioning specialist lends itself to more than just treating injuries and dysfunction. I am thrilled to offer not only physical therapy services, but personal training and pre-habilitation wellness sessions as well. Pregnant and postpartum women require the very highest level of education and experience from their practitioners, and I am honored to be the one to take them through that journey.

I am asked a lot about my personal pregnancy and postpartum experiences surrounding running and fitness. During my first pregnancy, I ran until I was 32 weeks pregnant with my son. I slowed way down, felt good, and had no pain until one day I put my husbands clothes on (I didn’t fit into any of mine at that point), ran for about a mile, stopped dead in my tracks, turned around, and walked home. It didn’t feel good anymore. And that was it. This is me on that day!

I ran 2 times a week with my focus switching to strength training 2-3 times per week. Given my education, I knew strength training would serve me far better than cardio both during and after pregnancy.

Two years later, I was pregnant with my daughter and found myself in pain during my runs at 16 weeks. As disappointed as I was not to run throughout my second pregnancy, I knew I would be so much happier (and pain-free!) if I took myself out of running and stuck with strength training and indoor cycling. So that’s what I did, up until the day before I gave birth.

I felt strong and confident when working out while I was pregnant. I was never out there to prove anything to anyone, rather my goals were to stick to a fitness routine, maintain a healthy pregnancy weight, and have a speedier recovery postpartum.

We all have very different bodies, carry babies differently, have different starting points to our fitness, and have far different circumstances that require adjustments throughout our pregnancies. My story will not be like yours. My recovery will not be like yours. We can find inspiration and information through each other’s experiences, but in the end, we are all individuals.

I look forward to more discussions surrounding this and so many other topics in the future. If you have any suggestions for a topic, email us or reach out on Twitter at @reformptnyc. If you would like to schedule an appointment please click on the button at the top of the page or email us at info@reformptnyc.com.

~Abby