By Callie Gullickson, as told to Blake Bakkila
For What to Expect's "Mom Heroes" series, parents who have gone to great lengths to help others share their inspirational stories.
Growing up, physical activity was a huge part of my life: I started ballet in preschool, and eventually that brought me to New York to study commercial dance at Pace University. During college, I loved cross-training with group fitness classes. Then after graduation, I became an instructor at different fitness studios before I joined Peloton in 2021.
All of my training has made me really in tune with my body. But then I became pregnant in 2023 and had my first baby last year. Now, I realize that nothing could have prepared me for the changes that come during pregnancy and postpartum.
While I was pregnant, I continued to work out and teach most of my usual HIIT and strength workouts. Then, around 38 weeks, my pelvic pain really hit and I started suffering from a condition called symphysis pubic dysfunction (SPD). It became very uncomfortable to work out, so I scaled back. Even though I switched to lighter dumbbells and adjusted my range of motion while exercising, I was still consistently moving my body.
But then came postpartum.
Giving birth forced me to slow down in a way that I haven’t done in decades. As I came out of the fog of caring for my newborn son, Cash, I tried to get back into my fitness routine. But my body wasn’t the same as it had been before I had a baby, and I had to completely readjust my understanding of health and fitness as a new mom. This led me to create a Peloton class for postpartum moms that focuses on strengthening the mind as well as the body — stroller walks.
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I missed "Callie, the fitness instructor"
After Cash was born in March 2024, I kept my fitness routine really, really basic in the first six weeks. I wasn’t Callie the fitness instructor; I was Callie the mom, just trying to figure out my new role and identity.
I started to get back into movement slowly, first with diaphragmatic breathing, which I learned from my pelvic floor physical therapist. I would do three sets of 10, starting a few weeks postpartum and tell myself, "Yes, this counts! That is my workout." I also took Cash on stroller walks, but I didn't think of them as exercise at the time. I just knew that walking outside gave me mental clarity and time in the sunshine — and it helped distract me from the day-to-day worries of being a new mom, which I desperately needed.
Around the four-month mark, I started to feel unstable mentally. I had worried about experiencing the baby blues or postpartum depression early on in postpartum, but I didn’t expect to feel this way 16 weeks after giving birth. My hormones felt like they were going up and down, and sometimes I would find myself crying for no reason. I was anticipating going back to work in about a month, and one thing that really helped was stepping outside to walk with Cash in the stroller.
At the same time, other postpartum moms were messaging me on TikTok and Instagram with lots of questions. They wanted to know, "How are you feeling and what are you doing to work out?" There was just an overwhelming curiosity from people about where to start — and honestly, I struggled to answer their questions. Exercise and personal training were a huge part of who I was before having Cash, yet I was still trying to figure out how to incorporate them into my own new normal.
Then it clicked the next time I stepped onto the Peloton Tread, the brand’s treadmill, for a walking workout. I began to walk and realized I actually had been working out this whole time. My daily walks were the exact type of movement I needed — and that gave me an idea.
I came back from maternity leave and proposed a Peloton class for new moms
Around 20 weeks, my maternity leave was up. My husband and I packed up for a five-week trip to New York for Peloton meetings and recordings. In the hotel room that first morning back, I said a tearful goodbye to Cash and then went into the studio. Later that day, I presented my idea to my team: I wanted to create a postpartum stroller walking program for the Peloton app.
I pitched it as an audio-only class that would involve focusing on strengthening your body and your mind. We’d direct the listener to roll their shoulder blades back, engage their core, activate their glutes and feel their feet on the pavement. Slow and steady — but still exercise.
I wanted to flip the mindset that so many of us have about our postpartum fitness journeys. Even if your exercises might look different, consistency is way more important than intensity. Exercise doesn't have to be in a gym, and you don’t have to be clipped into a Peloton bike to benefit from it.
My goal was to bring a sense of community to moms and get them out of their own heads, while also creating something that felt true to my own experience. I knew that the simple act of walking with a stroller could help new moms feel good and enjoy movement again — any type of movement is perfect.
My team gave me immediate approval, so I recorded the class five months after returning for work — just in time for Mother’s Day!
There’s so much I want postpartum moms to know about fitness
On my stroller walk, I encourage moms to be fully present. The playlist is uplifting, with energy-boosting and nostalgic tracks like “Promiscuous” by Nelly Furtado and "Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingfield. I aim to distract you from the worries you had before starting the walk and the big to-do list waiting for you when it’s over. The walk is short, only 30 minutes, but that’s all it takes to get your body moving and reset your day.
When recording, I didn't talk much — I would say just a few things here and there, reminding moms that they’re not alone, and to breathe. I want moms to find that moment of connection and community.
I feel so proud of the program we've created. We now have three stroller workouts, from me and two other Peloton instructors, Jermaine Johnson and Emma Lovewell. It’s not lost on me that questions from fellow Peloton moms are what started all of this for me. Postpartum can feel so lonely, and the fact that we could bring this to our community and be with them throughout every step of their life — including postpartum — is super special.
I know walking changed my view of fitness, and now it's changing other moms' expectations around what it means to get back into movement after having a baby. These classes were something missing from the Peloton program, so I wasn’t surprised by the overwhelmingly positive response we've received from them. So many moms write to me to tell me they were crying during their stroller walk because they finally felt like they had a place.
Sometimes I feel like walking is the only workout I can get in weekly. I’m a routine gal, and becoming a mom threw my routine quite a curveball. These days, I try to find those little moments of self-care, whether it’s making a mocktail, putting in a hair mask or walking. And with these stroller walks, I’m sneaking in self-care and bringing Cash along for the ride.
You can listen to stroller walks from instructors Callie Gullickson, Jermaine Johnson and Emma Lovewell on the Peloton website.
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