Just Say No To Crunches

A few years ago, I was rolfed by an amazing rolfer in Philadelphia. Linda had an extraordinary touch and an incredible intuition about the body. (She even did some craniosacral work on my new borns, which was extraordinary.) But when I asked about my back pain, she said, "Forget about that core bull%$#&. It won't help your back. Don't lie with your lower back flat on the ground and Don't Do Sit Ups!" This ran so hard against the common wisdom of back health that I thought it was just another example of Linda's extremism, but I was also happy to accept the advice. I mean, no one really needs to tell me not to do sit ups, but it was nice that someone told me they were bad for me. And now, Linda's advice has been confirmed by none other than the New York Times and after reading the article in the (grievously titled) Well blog, I'll do things like side angle plank and that thing where you're on all fours and lift opposite arms and legs simulaneously, but I won't do sit ups. Ever. And even though I've performed nary a one in the past four years, I still feel liberated. Sometimes it's so nice how little it takes to make me so glad.