At 67, Denise Austin Shares 3 Moves for a ‘Strong’ Back

Posted by author January 27, 2025 Fitness

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Denise Austin and her daughter and fellow fitness instructor, Katie Austin, share moves to improve back and core strength.
“Your spine is your lifeline,” she says.
She recommends doing at least three minutes of core exercise daily.

If you have a bad back, working out may feel counterproductive, risking exacerbating whatever is causing your pain to begin with. But you actually need to strengthen your core to stabilize your spine, fitness expert Denise Austin explains—and that requires exercise.

“I’m a big believer in abdominal and core strength. Your spine is your lifeline. Keep it healthy, keep it strong,” Austin tells Prevention. She recommends engaging in at least three minutes of core exercise per day to keep it and your spine aligned and as pain-free as possible.

After all, the spine is integral to most movement—you use it when you’re sitting up straight, standing, twisting, and bending, Austin explains. You use your core in those cases, too. “It all goes hand in hand in your abdominal wall,” she reiterates. “Everything has to do with your spine, and the spine is all to do with your abs.”

But of course, core workouts “have to be done correctly” to work and avoid strain on a vulnerable back. Even better, people who want to avoid neck and back pain can try Denise and her daughter, Katie Austin’s, “No Floor Core” workout. “That routine is great because a lot of women don’t want to get on their back,” Denise says. And all of the exercises help participants understand the spine-core connection.

Three of the basic but effective moves are:

High knees

While standing, simply lift your knee toward your chest (at a comfortable height, don’t overextend) and attempt to squeeze it toward your torso, engaging and tightening your lower abs. Alternate legs and find a rhythm. “You’ll really start to feel this in the lower part of your tummy,” Denise said in a demonstration video. Once you get in the groove, you can bring your hands behind your head, elbows out for a bit more of a challenge.

Standing crunch

After adding your hands behind your head, if you want more heat, you can twist one elbow down and toward the opposite knee as it raises for a standing crunch, which targets the obliques and waist as well, Austin said in another clip.

Standing cat-cow

Place your hands on your knees to stabilize the spine and slowly arch your back while simultaneously pulling the navel toward the spine. Slowly flatten the back, then repeat.

Other moves Denise recommends for core strength are a traditional plank, bicycle crunches, and toe taps. Her new eight-week program, Vitality for Life, includes a 20-minute core workout “with the focus of understanding those abs,” she says.

In general, low-impact workouts are tried-and-true for Denise and Katie—they’re a great go-to for people of all ages and abilities. Katie’s classes take the gentle approach too. “It’s nothing too straining on the body, and it’s not going to hurt the joints as much,” she explains. “And you can still see a lot of benefits.”