The core stabilizing routine is nothing fancy: most of you will have performed all of these exercises before. The trick is to do them every single day without fail and in the order given. Once you have done this sequence a few times, you will have it memorized — and all you need is a little floor space. The first 7 exercises are done standing, the second 7 on the floor. Here they are:

1) Standing tall, pull the tailbone back and the heart forward, letting your arms and head dangle. If possible, keep the back of the legs straight, and reach for the floor. You can rest your hands on your thighs or shins, or, if your hamstrings are flexible, plop your palms on the floor. Breathe into the stretch for 4-5 breaths then roll up the spine, leaving the head to lift last.

2) Hold lightly onto the edge of a table or chair back and, one leg at a time, press the back of the leg away, pushing away from the back of the heel. Don’t sway to the side. Stay upright, as though you were toning your bottom on the side of the leg pressing back, which is in fact what you are doing. Go for about 15 push-backs on one side, then switch legs. Stay upright on the standing leg and push the working leg straight back.

3) Same idea, but now moving the leg to the side, leading with the baby-toe edge of the foot, one leg at a time. About 15 times on each side. Towards the end of the sequence you should feel a little burn in the working muscles.

4) Standing tall but with the knees slightly flexed, toes pointed straight forward, twist at the waist and punch both hands behind you at just above waist level. Look towards your punch. Repeat on the other side. Left and right counts as “one.” Repeat the 2-sided twist 10 times.

5) Standing tall feet slightly apart, knees slightly bent, push your hips right and lean your upper body over to the left as far as possible without making this a forward bend. It’s strictly a side bend. If possible, add the weight of your arm. So, if your body is side bending to the left, your right arm will reach up and over your right ear, reaching to the left. Repeat 5 times in a row on one side, then 5 times in a row on the other side.

6) Simple hamstring stretch: put one foot at a time up on a chair or table, turn your body square to the up-stretched leg, then reach forward for that foot with both hands. You can rest your hands on the shin too. Breathe a few times, always directing the breath to the area of the leg (usually the back or side) that feels tight. Repeat with the other leg.

7) Standing tall, bend one knee, heel towards the butt, and catch the foot with one or both hands. If not wanting to practice balance, keep the free hand on the table or chair back. If your quads are not tight, you can increase this stretch by pulling the heel into the butt and/or pressing the bend leg hip forward a bit. Repeat on the other leg.

8 ) Now to the floor. The next 2 exercises are crunches, and it’s all downhill from there! First, do NOT heave your chest up to the thighs with crunches. That is BAD for your low back. You are on your back, knees bent and feet at least hip width apart, not far from the buttocks. Lift your head and shoulder blades off the floor and place your fingertips behind and slightly above your ears. Try to keep your shoulder blades off the floor throughout this exercise. The idea is to tone the abdominal muscles, which means tightening them. This is a horizontal move. By that I mean you slide the bottom of your ribcage towards the hip bones on the exhale. Inhale relax but don’t lie down. Stay up and perform 20 to 80 of these sliding crunches. Towards the end of your sequence you should start to feel a little burn in the abs.

9) Stay in the crunch position and begin bicycling the legs, stretching way out through the heels. The more your feet point to the ceiling, the easier. As you lower your legs to the floor you will feel more strain. Do not strain! You want to challenge, but NOT re-injure yourself! If the bicycling is OK, you can then b ring the elbows to the opposite knees, one at a time. Left and right is one round. Go for 10 to 40 rounds. Then relax.

10) Hug your knees to your chest. Breathe several deep breaths.

11) Place your feet on the floor, at least hip width apart, and lift your hips to make a flat diagonal plane with your front body. Lower, and repeat for a total of 3-4 times.

12) Roll up to sitting and stretch out one leg long in front of you. Bend the other leg, placing that foot on the upper inner thigh of the long leg. Turn towards the long leg and reach for the foot or shin with both hands. Breathe a few times and repeat on the other side.

13) Find a comfortable cross-legged position, sit tall and twist to the right, putting your left hand on the outside of the right knee to help strengthen the twist. Repeat on the other side.

14) Both legs long in front of you on the floor, reach your hand up and, leading with your heart, reach for the feet or shins with both hands. On the inhale expand the ribcage, and on the exhale undulate your chest closer to the knees. Take several breaths here. That’s it! You are saving your low back! Good job!

For many years it has been standard practice for doctors to recommend bone density evaluation (with “DEXA” scans, or dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, a special type of X-ray) around menopause because estrogen is a potent bone-builder, and estrogen begins to wane at menopause, or even before menopause. According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, 30 million American women (and 14 million American men) have osteoporosis today. This is a preventable disease, and if not prevented can seriously compromise quality of life, and, ultimately, longevity also. The DEXA scans measure bone density at several sites and give a standardized “score” to the bone density (called the T-score). A T-score of zero (0) is perfect. Anything below zero represents bone loss. A T-score of minus 1.5 (-1.5) means osteopenia (bone loss) and a T-score of minus 2.5 (-2.5) means osteoporosis, literally “holes in the bone.” Typically doctors will offer various bone building drugs to patients with T-score approaching or below -2.5. Drugs are more controversial in the T-score range from zero to -1.5. My approach is based on good nutrition and regular weight-bearing exercise. The best time to begin to prevent bone loss is in the pre-teen years when girls are approaching their final growth spurt. At least 1000 mg of calcium daily is required to lay down enough bone to last a lifetime. This must be complexed with Magnesium (at least 500 mg) and Vitamin D (at least 400 IUs). Vitamin D has received a lot of press lately and many researchers feel that Americans living further north than 40 degrees latitude (

Q: I’ve heard that acupuncture helps with low back pain and other problems. But I just don’t get it. How does it work?

A: American doctors first learned about acupuncture from no less an authority than Sir Wiliam Osler, often considered the father of modern medicine. “For lumbago,” he counseled a century ago in his classic medical text, “acupunture is, in acute cases, the most efficient treatment.” (Lumbago is an old-fashioned term for low back pain.) Although many scientists are skeptical abut the benefits of acupunture, the specialty has gained an impressive following in this country. An estimated 15 millions Americans have tried it with varying degrees of success for chronic pain, fatigue, nausea, arthritis, digestive problems and a range of other ailments. One acupuncture researcher, a neurologist at the chronic pain program at the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Washington D.C. claims that by providing short term relief, acupuncture frees pain patients to work on physical and behavioral problems that often perpetuate pain and dysfunction. Many patients with chronic low back pain find that acupuncture will help not only break the pain cycle, but allow them to reduce pain medications and participate more vigorously in physical therapy.It is difficult to understand how acupuncture works in terms of a biochemical model of health. All living beings are imbued by a “vital force” which is a manifestation of an inner energy that is more than synapsing neurotransmittors and vibrating molecules. This vital force, in Traditional Chinese Medicine, is called “QI” (pronounced chee). Pain, or any physical dysfunction, is considered in Traditional Chinese Medicine to be due to stuck, or stagnant Qi. Here’s where the needles come in. First of all, they ought to be called filaments. They are extremely fine and nothing is injected through them. The sterile, disposable filaments act as conducting rods when inserted into the acupoints where Qi is stagnating. The metal will stimulate a current, similar to an electrical current, to galvanize the stuck energy to flow, thus restoring balance and harmony to the entire system. Some researchers say that acupuncture works in pain relief by blocking the electric currents in the pain pathways as they ascend through the spinal cord to the brain. In experiments with rabbits, rodents, cats, and humans, investigators have shown that acupuncture stimulates the nervous system to release endorphins and other chemicals that relieve pain. Endorphins, discovered in the mid-1970s, are chemically similar to morphine. This may be part of the story, but there is unquestionably an “energy” system which enlivens us, and which has not yet been totally dissected by modern science. A qualified acupuncturist is trained to assess where your Qi is stuck, and to stimulate the appropriate points and restore the healing flow. Although many patients will experience immediate relief from low back pain, or other complaints, with the first session, it is best to commit initially to 6 or 8 sessions within a short period of time before assessing whether or not it is working for you. Juneau is lucky to have several licensed acupuncturists who would be happy to answer more questions about this ancient and still safe and effective healing art.