If you've ever leaked when you laughed, jumped, or sneezed–or felt like your core disappeared after pregnancy, injury, or into perimenopause–you're not alone. This week, fitness specialist Leah Keller joins us to unpack deep core dysfunction: what causes it, and why healing it changes far more than just your abs. Leah's breakthrough came when she realized she could help women actually heal the separation between their abdominal muscles–known as diastasis recti–even years after giving birth. Clients who came for core work started reporting that they'd stopped leaking, that sex felt better, that back pain eased, and that their bodies finally felt like their own again– issues they never mentioned at the start. She explains exactly how fixing the deep core resolves problems women didn't even know were connected. We’ll give detailed descriptions of the exercises. You can also watch this one on YouTube to see the exercise demonstrations as well as the anatomical illustrations referenced in this episode, showing the difference between a healthy midline and one with significant diastasis recti separation.

Leah Keller is a certified personal trainer specializing in core and pelvic floor health, and co-founder of Every Mother (formerly The Dia Method). Her approach earned medical validation in a 2013 Weill Cornell pilot study — published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology — and was further supported by a 2021 Hospital for Special Surgery trial in the Journal of Women's & Pelvic Health Physical Therapy. She has been featured as a women's health expert by NPR, Goop, and Good Morning America. You can find Leah’s published studies, resources, and learn more about her work at leahkeller.com

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The Core Truth: Incontinence, Intimacy, Pain, and Performance: Healing from the Inside Out with Leah Keller (Episode 268)