Today I speak with Dr. Cristina Agresta, a physical therapist, Assistant Professor and sports medicine researcher. Her research focuses on developing assessment and monitoring techniques that improve clinical decision-making regarding athlete care and athletic performance. As a former runner, mom, clinician, and researcher, she offers a comprehensive perspective on the topic.  We talk about all the common myths surrounding running shoes and give real, up-to-date advice!  We talk about: -common running shoes choices -carbon plated running shoes -heel drop and stack height -the place for barefoot running -avoiding “right” and “wrong” -working in academia -foot size increasing after pregnancy  Time Stamps 1:00 introduction 4:09 going wrong with running shoes 9:45 prioritizing comfort 13:01 explaining heel drop 15:03 minimalist shoes and barefoot running 23:40 bridging the gap from clinician to academia 29:23 her experience pregnancy and postpartum 38:25 practical advice for choosing a shoe 43:00 rapid fire questions  CONNECT WITH CARRIE IG: https://www.instagram.com/carriepagliano/ Website: https://carriepagliano.com  CONNECT WITH CRISTINE Twitter: https://twitter.com/AgrestaCristine Website: https://uwdpt-research.rehab.washington.edu/agresta-sportscience  The University of Washington Doctor of Physical Therapy program is a top-notch graduate program that provides exceptional education and unique experiences for those interested becoming a PT (https://www.physicaltherapy.uw.edu). We also have a number of post-professional residencies (https://pt-residencies.rehab.washington.edu) with a sports PT residency in the works! The Active Mom Postpartum Podcast is A Real Moms' Guide to Postpartum for active moms & the postpartum professionals who help them in their journey. This show has been a long time in the making! You can expect conversation with moms and postpartum 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 start 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!!!!)