Is It "Too Late" to Heal Your Core? A DPT's Answer for Moms Years Postpartum
By Dr. Emily (DPT)
Your "baby" is 3... 5... maybe even 10 years old.
But you still have the "mom pooch." You still leak a little when you run or sneeze. You still have that nagging lower back pain that you've just accepted as "part of motherhood." You look in the mirror and think, "I guess this is just my body now. It's too late."
I hear this in my clinic all the time. It’s one of the most pervasive and heartbreaking myths in women's health.
So let me be as clear as I possibly can be: It is NEVER too late to heal.
Your body is not a car that just "breaks down" after a certain mileage. It's a living, adaptable, incredible system. As a Doctor of Physical Therapy, I've helped women who are a decade or more postpartum successfully heal their Diastasis Recti, stop leaking, and finally get rid of their chronic pain.
Here’s why it's not too late—and how you can start.
The "New Mom" Myth
There’s so much focus on the "4th trimester" (the first 12 weeks postpartum) that we've created a false deadline for healing. We’re told we need to "bounce back," and if we don't, we’ve missed our window.
This is fundamentally wrong.
The reason you still have a "pooch" or leak is not because "time ran out." It's because the underlying dysfunction was never properly retrained.
Think of it this way: After pregnancy and birth, your core "system" (your deep abs, pelvic floor, and diaphragm) was stretched and weakened. To compensate, your body found a new, less efficient way to function—often by using your back and hip muscles to do the job your core used to do.
This compensation is what leads to that chronic back pain, the "pooch" (from Diastasis Recti that never healed), and the leaking (from a pelvic floor that never regained its functional strength).
It's not a "time" problem. It's a "movement pattern" problem. And the great news? Movement patterns can be retrained at any age.
How Healing Actually Works (It's Not Crunches)
You can't "crunch" your way out of this. In fact, crunches will likely make it worse by putting pressure on your weak abdominal wall and pelvic floor.
True, lasting core healing—whether you are 6 months or 16 years postpartum—is a layered process. It's about rebuilding the house from the foundation up.
RE-CONNECT: We start by re-establishing the "brain-to-muscle" connection. We use simple exercises, like the "Core Connection Breath," to remind your deep transverse abdominis (TVA) and pelvic floor muscles how to fire again.
RE-TRAIN: We then teach these muscles to work together as a system. We coordinate them with your breath, retraining them to be the first-line support system for your spine and pelvis.
RE-BUILD: Only after that deep foundation is stable do we begin to progressively strengthen. We add load and functional movements (like squats, lunges, and lifting) on top of a core that is actually working correctly.
Your Body Is Ready to Heal. Are You?
Your muscles and connective tissues are not static. They are dynamic and will respond to new, consistent, and correct stimuli. You are not "broken" or "beyond repair." You just need the right instruction manual.
The healing path is the same for everyone. It's not a bootcamp. It's a systematic, gentle, and clinical process of rebuilding.
Our program, The Core Restore, was designed for this exact purpose. It's not a "new mom" fix. It’s a "foundational core" program. It doesn’t matter if your "baby" is heading off to kindergarten or college. The principles of healing your body, reconnecting with your core, and building functional strength are timeless.
It is not too late. Your strongest days can still be ahead of you.
With support, Dr.Emily
