Since my body type is that of a ruler, for years I blithely assumed that my core muscles were fine. Not so! Once I left my halcyon teenage years behind, back pain became my nemesis.

It didn’t help that I’ve always engaged in a variety of spine-punishing activities – pliometrics for basketball, tree-planting, schlepping steins of beer; learning how to kayak and ski at an advanced age, as well as playing soccer at thirty like I did when I was eighteen – all these activities warranted their own chapter in the annals of chiropractic texts. Yet as far as back pain goes, none of these pursuits held a candle to the hunchfest that is motherhood.

It begins at month six of the pregnancy (or whenever one’s toes disappear), and continues for the rest of one’s life. Wrestling diapers on to infants in constant motion, nursing in contorted positions, placing babies in cribs; lugging hockey bags, beach gear and/or grocery bags while holding child; doing laundry, cleaning the house while holding child; keeping up with your tweens in the mall, carting all their shopping – this, dear ladies, I call the hunchfest.

I obsessed about back pain when contemplating becoming pregnant. I figured my spine would snap in labour, and I doubted my ability to hoist kids around. The way I saw it, “Mommy muscles” were more likely to segue into a perennial slouch that portended ringing a bell at the top of a church (Quasimodo, anyone?).

Despite the odds, I am still straight and in one piece, thanks to our local gym’s core class - one hour of abs. Barf. Ouch! Scared as all get out, I committed upon becoming pregnant – it was then or never. I got the routine down to ten minutes a day, and soon my chronic, low-level back pain vanished. I shoveled heavy loads of gravel while eight months pregnant with no complaints (well, except for the incessant peeing), and walked and biked miles, all ache-free. It was a wonderful sensation to feel my core muscles still “activated” as my baby grew.

The best part is that this “core activation” can be done anywhere – it involves two simple moves: pull in your navel as far as your can, and keep your spine neutral (i.e. allow no pelvic tilt). Rain or shine, that navel stays tucked! At the sink, I suck it in and pulse. Pushing the stroller, I hold it in for intervals. Playing with my baby, I sit him on my tummy and bounce him up and down by contracting and relaxing my core until the burn is too much to bear and he is breathless with giggles. At night, if I have the energy to read for ten minutes, I lay my book on the floor, and do the plank for one page, then two, then three…usually by then I’m skimming! Driving the car – clench it. Biking – squeeze it. And, if you really do it right, you get an added bonus – those pesky Kegels are already half done.