Servant leader or superhero?

The following is an excerpt from Alumni & Friends Magazine Winter 2025 issue. Read the full issue here.

Aly Freitag ’18 proves you can be both.

Aly Freitag, PT, DPT is not afraid of awkward conversations. Instead, she tackles them head on.

“Is peeing yourself when you run just a part of being a mother,” she asks in an Instagram post, “or is that what we have taught women is acceptable?”

This straightforwardness is not simply a mark of Freitag’s personality. Rather, it stems from a strong internal desire to help people.

A servant leader to her core, Freitag—a physical therapist who focuses on pre- and post-natal care through her business Strong AF—is making waves in the health and wellness industry. She talks publicly about women’s health in an effort to normalize what some consider a taboo topic.

“I think why so many people deal with pelvic floor dysfunction is because no one talks about it. Especially after birth, so many women think, ‘No one talks about this symptom I’m experiencing, so it must be normal,’” Freitag said. “I would argue common is not normal. Women don’t need to suffer—we have to talk about these things.”

Let’s do just that.

Pelvic floor dysfunction—what’s that?

As Freitag says, women have always needed pelvic floor rehab after giving birth. It’s not some trendy new thing. Let’s have her explain it:

“Your pelvic floor is a group of 12 muscles that sit at the bottom of your pelvis. They support your pelvic organs and constrict the openings that allow for urination or defecation. They carry more weight during pregnancy and are stretched to the max during childbirth. This can lead to symptoms of pelvic floor dysfunction like leaking urine or heaviness or pain in your pelvis. Let’s just say, any weird feeling you have in your pelvis that you didn’t have before pregnancy could be a sign to go to pelvic floor rehab.”

How did Freitag get into this specific type of care?

Serving individuals through healthcare was Freitag’s goal from a young age.

“I always knew I wanted to work in healthcare, but I didn’t like blood,” she said with a laugh. “That really helped me narrow in on a career.”

After experiencing physical therapy as a patient, Freitag knew she wanted to pursue work in the field.

Enter the University of Jamestown. Freitag stepped on campus her freshman year as a Wilson Scholar, and like so many who have come before her, defined excellence in the classroom and beyond.

She majored in Exercise Science and minored in Psychology, Biology, and Leadership. She played softball for two years and then ran cross country—all while being involved in different academic clubs.

“My time at Jamestown was just phenomenal. I love everything about it,” she said. “I took a variety of classes in exercise science, biology, and character in leadership. They really shaped how I think, not just about solving problems but also about people and how the complexity of a person can affect their decisions—that’s important in my field.

“It just seemed like I was really able to put the things I learned in my classes to use right away in my career.”

After graduating from UJ, Freitag went on to earn her Doctor of Physical Therapy degree in Montana and began working at an outpatient clinic. It was at this clinic that she started to hear from countless female patients about activities they physically couldn’t do because they’d given birth.

“At that point I just realized ‘Okay, Aly. You are in a field, as well as in a position to help these women’ and I just couldn’t sit there with my patient and think ‘Well, we can’t do this exercise because she’s going to pee herself.’”

Freitag saw a need and took action, getting into pelvic floor therapy and virtual pre- and postnatal care.

Why virtual care, you may ask?

Freitag put herself in the shoes of some of her most vulnerable patients. These are mothers. How could she make care accessible to them, specifically?

She walked through her thought process, exemplifying an unbelievable amount of dedication and care.

“I thought, ‘This woman needs help getting back to running, lifting, whatever it is,” Freitag explained, “But she’s a single mom and she can’t find childcare so she could come into her appointment. How do we remove that barrier?’”

In a post-Covid world, the answer was right there in front of her.

“Okay, let’s do all of this virtually,” she said. “Moms can break things up a couple times a day. If her schedule changes or her kid has a blowout or is sick, her appointment isn’t totally derailed.”

She got to work, launching her online business, Strong AF, to help women conquer running and lifting goals without pelvic floor problems. She works one-on-one with patients and develops plans specific to their needs.

Freitag also creates content on social media to spread awareness about women’s health.

She posts to her page multiple times a week—that’s after working a full-time job as a PT at Sapphire Physical Therapy in Missoula, Montana—not to become a famous influencer, but rather to tackle misconceptions and help women get back to normal life after birth.

“I had a lot of imposter syndrome just getting into the pelvic floor space as a new grad,” Freitag said, describing her hesitations about creating online content. “As a woman, I questioned what people would say about my appearance and felt like I needed to be perfect all the time.”

When she looks back on some of her initial posts, she laughs in slight embarrassment.

“But, you know what? The message is there,” she said with a sense of confidence that can only come from knowing you are doing the right thing. “Maybe it’s not perfect, but women need to hear these things.
That’s the point of my work. I try hard to take myself out of it—to not make it about me and instead make it about postpartum/pregnant women that just don’t know.”

Through her social media, Freitag is combating the all-too common practice of individuals sharing medical advice online, without a medical degree.

“Women are fed lies online,” she said. “I want to create a space that is more research backed, where women can hear from someone who has credentials and not just someone who is advocating for this one thing that worked for them.”

At the end of the day, Freitag is impacting women across the world.

Her future goals include expanding beyond birthing mothers to women in the post-menopausal phase.

“I just want to help as many women as possible,” she said. “Women go through these changes—their bodies change, and they don’t know what’s normal or where to turn. I want to grow in that space. I want to serve them in a better way.”

Whether she’s creating a plan for a patient or tackling tough topics on social media, Freitag is a servant leader who’s changing the landscape of women’s health—a superhero of sorts. She’s the kind of alum UJ is proud to call one of their own.

Did you know?

A big misconception about pelvic floor rehab is that it’s invasive, like a pap smear, but it doesn’t have to be. There is research that has shown virtual care without an invasive assessment was also very effective in improving pelvic floor dysfunction.

Just had a baby?

Here are three things you can do at home to get moving.

By Aly Freitag, PT, DPT

Note: With the following movements, if you have any pain or discomfort, scale back by reducing the range of motion.

1. Connection Breaths

Before performing, think about a three-level house. You spend most of your time on the main floor, but you can go up into the attic or down into the basement. When you contract your pelvic floor, imagine raising it up into that hypothetical attic. Then when you relax, think about it lowering into the basement. This breathing exercise pairs your breath with this pelvic floor movement.

Sit up nice and tall, with your ribs stacked right over your pelvis.

Put both hands on your abdomen. Inhale and breathe into your hands while imagining your belly filling with air and your pelvic floor relaxing and descending to make room for the air. (Your belly should move out slightly!) Exhale and think about activating your pelvic floor just slightly, like you’re lifting up your muscles to stop the flow of urine. Notice your hands descend and abdominals deflate as well.

Note: Only inhale, exhale, and contract the pelvic floor as much as you can without any pain!

2. Core Zippers

Lying on your back, start with your pelvic floor by doing a very gentle contraction. Gently engage your deep abdominal muscles (the area right above your pubic bone) by thinking about bringing your two front edges of your pelvis together. Hold for one breath, then relax.

Note: This is NOT “sucking in” your abs. You are only using your deep core, so you shouldn’t see a ton of movement at your core or be tucking your pelvis under!

3. Bridges with Ball Squeeze

Start by lying on your back, with knees bent and heels down. Heels should be close to your bottom. Place a ball, rolled towel, or pillow between your knees. Exhale, squeeze the ball gently, then drive through the heels to bring the hips away from the floor. Inhale and lower back down.