Adding a joint tune-up to your existing workout should barely cost you ten minutes apiece, two or three times a week. (We’re assuming you’ve already stretched). Focus on your weakest link. Just as when you pony up an extra few bucks for insurance on a rental car, if all goes well you’ll never fully appreciate the value of your forethought.

Ankle. Start with the ankle inversion and eversion: Hold each contraction for ten seconds, and for each set, complete 20 repetitions per leg. Then do 20 reps each of toe raises and calf raises. Two sets of each exercise should suffice.

Knee. Jumping rope for two minutes can serve as a warm-up; add two-minute spurts after each set of other exercises. Do three sets of squats and lunges, 15 reps each. Then do a continuous set of vertical leaps until fatigue sets in.

Shoulder. Do 20 reps each of the push-up, wall push-up, and baby rattle. For internal and external rotations, 15 reps is good. Do two sets of each exercise.

Wrist/elbow. For the hand grip, wrist curl, dumbbell rotation, and triceps press-down, choose weights that will allow you to do two sets of 30 reps apiece.

Hip. To complete a good bounding session, alternate 50 yards of leaping strides with 50 yards of walking, and repeat the sequence four times. Then do two sets of 20 reps of the hip flexion, hip abduction, hip adduction, and diagonal hip abduction.

Given the dubious alternatives of risking disease by freeloading off a cadaver’s cartilage or doing without the cushion altogether and relying on scar tissue, Carticel offers hope to hobbled athletes. Pioneered by two Swedish scientists who sold their research to Genzyme Tissue Repair in 1992, and awarded FDA approval last August, the procedure entails using a crumb-size biopsy of undamaged tissue to spawn healthy cells. “We mix it with a Kool-Aid-like cocktail of amino acids and sugar, and let it reproduce like mad in a plastic flask for three weeks,” cackles Tubo, Genzyme’s cell biology director. Then it’s a matter of open-knee surgery to inject the fledgling cells, followed by a year of rehabilitation. “It’s like plugging a hole with putty,” Tubo says, citing Carticel’s 70 percent success rate. “Only we’re using the real thing.”

The kicker is that to date only a handful of insurance companies will cover the procedure’s $26,000 tab, thanks in part to medical establishment folks such as Dr. Bill Grana, sports-medicine committee chairman for the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. “I don’t object to patients subjecting themselves to it, but it’s going to take a good five to ten years to gauge its success,” he says. “Show me some science that says you’re really healing the joint.”

McIntyre’s secret is to take the leg muscles through their full range of motion by employing a series of fluid, controlled stretches. After a brief warm-up — skiers can take a few mellow runs — find a level area, take off your skis, snowboard, snowshoes, or whatever, and do ten repetitions of each of the following exercises over ten minutes. They’re deceptively simple, but quite effective. Repeat every so often, depending on how far the mercury has fallen, and odds are you’ll have the same good fortune as McIntyre.

Pendulum swing (hamstrings): Simply stand with your hips and shoulders square and your weight on your left leg. Keeping your foot flexed at a 90-degree angle and your leg straight, slowly raise your leg in front of you to a 45-degree angle, then lower it back to standing position. Raise your leg higher on each successive lift, being careful not to pull the hamstring or lock your knee. Switch legs after a set.

Bent leg swing (quadriceps): Begin in the same position as above, but bend your leg at a 90-degree angle and swing it behind you. Go until you feel tension in your quadriceps; push a little farther with each swing. Do a full set with one leg; then repeat with the other.

The scythe (abductors, adductors): Keeping your knees slightly bent and your pelvis tilted forward to prevent your back from arching, stand with your feet hip-width apart. Now extend your right leg about a foot in front of your body and, keeping the motion slow and steady, move the leg across to the left until you feel resistance. Then swing it to the right to the same point of tension. After a set, switch legs and repeat.

Calf stretch (calves): Standing at arm’s length from a tree and with your feet hip-width apart, place your palms against the tree and lean into it. Bending your left knee slightly, slide your right leg away from the tree, making sure to maintain heel contact with the ground (skiers will want to loosen their boots). When you feel a tug in your calf, hold the position for about 25 seconds; then switch legs and repeat.

The tuck jump, which you can slip into your normal strengthening program, is as simple as it sounds. Stand straight, with your feet just a few inches apart and your arms at your sides. Jump up, bringing your knees toward your chest in the spirit of your splashiest cannonball, touch them for a brief instant, and replant your feet on the floor. Start by doing two sets of five, build up to 15 per set, and eventually work up to five sets of 15.

In the broadest study yet of bone density, conducted at Australia’s Edith Cowan University, doctors surveyed 60 female athletes and found that those who had engaged in high-impact sports for 20 years had much stronger bones than those who swam. “This should alert men and women in their twenties and thirties to start now,” says Barbara Drinkwater, a Seattle-based physiologist and one of the country’s leading bone density experts. “A lifetime of running and jumping exercises is crucial to bone strength.”

That doesn’t mean enter a marathon tomorrow. While stronger bones guard against injury, repetitive impact can predispose athletes to stress fractures. So it’s wise to ease into any new high-impact sport. Start off slowly and increase your duration and intensity by no more than 10 percent each week. “If you tend to overdo everything, running 80 miles a week, you’ll have problems,” Drinkwater says. “Run three miles a day and you’ll be fine.”

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When you are being consumed by the iron jaws of back pain, it’s easy to forget what your lovely, ache-free days were like — and that there are methods of relief. Here are a few common ones.

Traditional Medicine

Medical doctors used to wildly overreact to back pain, throwing drugs and surgery at the mystery, until the federal Agency for Health Care Policy and Research issued new clinical treatment guidelines in 1994. “The era of routine radiography, strict bed rest, corsets, and traction has passed,” says Dr. Richard A. Deyo, a member of the AHCPR panel. “It’s been replaced by early return to normal activity and greater emphasis on exercise to prevent recurrences or to treat chronic pain.” Now your family practitioner is more likely to send you for some ibuprofen and to look at epidural cortisone injections or surgery only as last resorts.

Chiropractic

Gone are the days when your HMO balked at covering chiropractic bills. The AHCPR also endorses manipulation as a safe and effective form of back pain treatment, largely stifling those accusations of quackery that dogged chiropractors in the past.

“Compression equals back pain,” explains chiropractor Leroy Perry, president of the International Sports Medicine Institute. By twisting, pushing, or pulling the spine, a chiropractor relieves compression, thus increasing mobility. Long a satisfying avenue for a majority of lower-back pain sufferers, chiropractic certainly has allure — instant relief — over the ibuprofen approach.

Osteopathic Medicine

It’s a helpful oversimplification to think of osteopathic physicians as a cross between chiropractors and medical doctors. An osteopath will crack your back just like a chiropractor, but D.O.’s also enjoy the same legal status as medical doctors, meaning they can diagnose and treat illness, employ medical technology, prescribe medications, and perform surgery. However, the osteopathic approach tends toward the noninvasive: They prefer to lay hands on the musculoskeletal system, help to improve posture, and prescribe prevention by exercise. For osteopaths, tugging on the spine is only the starting point for curing what ails you, whereas it’s the raison d’Å tre for chiropractors.

Acupuncture

Widely accepted for treating chronic symptoms, acupuncture can also alleviate acute back problems. “If you walk into an acupuncturist’s office with low-back pain, there’s a good chance that you’ll feel better in the next 24 hours,” says Whitfield Reaves, cofounder of the National Sports Acupuncture Association. In Eastern terms, acupuncture releases blocked energy (qi, pronounced “chee”) that should flow freely through so-called meridians in the body, thereby restoring homeostasis. If you must look at it from a Western point of view, studies suggest that needling certain points on the body boosts the production of endorphins, those feel-good hormones familiar to athletes of any bent.

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Though the definitive root of your back pain may be murky, your immediate course of action is clear.

Back off strenuous activity, but stay mobile. Trying to override the pain by ignoring it won’t do any good, but neither will spending a week in bed. If you let your pain be your guide — do what you’re able to do without making it hurt — you won’t feel so stiff. Get up and move around, even if it’s difficult. Perform a few exercises. If you are incapacitated, stay in the sack, but for no more than 24 to 48 hours.

Apply ice and heat. Ice is particularly therapeutic for acute spasms and inflammation. When your back goes, ice it immediately and follow up two to three times a day for the first several days — more often if you need it. (A bag of frozen peas works great, because it conforms to your body.) After 72 hours, if the pain persists, you might try contrast therapy, in which you apply ice for ten minutes and then take a hot bath with Epsom salts or apply a hot pack.

Take mild pain relievers. Aspirin and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, such as ibuprofen, will help reduce inflammation and thus pain. If it persists without improvement for a week, seek help.

Injury or no, enhancing the mobility of the spine with stretching is a good thing. And when the acute agony of lower-back pain passes, strengthening the postural muscles, which run along either side of the spine between the shoulder blades, will help prevent a recurrence. We’re not talking the old toe-touch here, perhaps the most widely known and worst exercise for any back. Rather, this is a combination of moves culled from several disciplines. Be sure to combine these exercises with crunches — squeezing a pillow between your thighs makes the standard technique work that much better — to strengthen your abdominals. Indeed, your abs serve as the body’s built-in corset, maintaining stability in the lower back.

Pelvic Tilt
Restores mobility in the lumbar spine

Lie on your back, knees bent, feet flat on the floor, and arms at your sides. Keeping your legs relaxed, tighten your lower abdominal muscles to press the small of your back into the floor, as if you’re crushing a grape. Then arch the small of your back.

Knee-hugger
Stretches lower-back and gluteal muscles

Assume the pelvic tilt position, holding the phase when the small of your back is pressed into the floor. Keeping back and legs relaxed, hug both knees to your chest, pulling them to your armpits. Hold for a ten-count.

Horse Stance
Strengthens back extensors and postural muscles

Start on all fours and, keeping your back flat, extend your left arm and hold it slightly to the side, with your thumb pointing toward the ceiling. Now raise your right leg; hold each limb parallel with the floor for ten seconds. Alternate sides to complete one rep. To advance, “draw” the alphabet in 12-inch-high letters with your raised foot.

Heel-Hand Rock
Stretches lumbar muscles, increasing range of motion

Start with what’s known in yoga as the cobra position: Lie on your stomach, toes pointed and hands on the floor alongside your chest. Press your torso up until your arms are straight, keeping your pelvis on the floor. Now roll your shoulder blades down and raise the crown of your head toward the ceiling, elongating your spine. Keeping your hands planted, go onto your knees, lift your hips, and rock back onto your heels until your butt rests over them; you end up prostrate with your head down. Finally, uncoil back into the cobra and repeat.

Million-Dollar Hamstring Stretch
Stretches hips, hamstrings, and back

Sit on the floor with one leg extended in front of you, the other bent with your foot flat on the floor. Rest your chin on your bent knee, grasp the arch of that foot with your hands, and slide your heel along the floor until you feel that slight twinge of muscle discomfort that indicates a good stretch. Then, while you are holding the stretch for six seconds, rotate your straight leg inward, which improves the mobility of your nerves, allowing you to stretch even further. Now switch legs and repeat the whole routine.

TRIAGE
You’ll want to take a different tack with your back when you’re hurting, but don’t stop exercising altogether-no matter what the temptation. In the midst of a painful flare-up, adopt the following therapy routine using the exercises laid out on this page, and be sure to forgo anything that inflicts more pain.

Therapy
Do a set of 20 pelvic tilts several times a day, especially after a period of inactivity.
Prevention
Do 15 pelvic tilts, holding the up position for five seconds, interspersed with sets of 30 crunches.

Therapy
Do three repetitions of knee-huggers; increase to ten reps as you’re able.
Prevention
Do a set of five knee-huggers, holding the position for 30 seconds.

Therapy
Segment the heel-hand rock, doing the cobra and rock-back portions independently, five reps each. Your cobra may not get far off the floor at first.
Prevention
Do ten reps minimum of the heel-hand rock.

Therapy
Do five reps of the horse stance one limb at a time, holding each for five counts. As your condition improves, extend opposite limbs simultaneously.
Prevention
Do ten reps of the horse stance, holding the pose for up to a count of ten. Then, if you can draw the entire alphabet with each foot, you’re doing well.

Therapy
Take a rain check on the million-dollar hamstring stretch until the pain subsides.
Prevention
Do six to ten reps of the million-dollar ham- string stretch. Repeat set with opposite leg.

Here’s how: Each week you’ll go short on Wednesday and Sunday, middle-distance on Tuesday and Thursday, long-distance on Saturday, and take Monday and Friday off. Run at 70 percent of your maximum heart rate except on Saturdays, when you’ll reduce your pace slightly. Stick to the plan, and by race day you’ll be harvesting miles with the best of them.

After a five-minute aerobic warm-up, kneel on your right knee with your left foot on the floor in front of you and that knee bent at 90 degrees — like Reggie White resting on the sidelines. Hold a chair with your left hand for balance and, keeping your torso upright with your back slightly arched, reach back with your right hand and grasp your right ankle. Now, ever so gently, pull toward your backside until you feel a slight burn, and hold for 15 seconds. Relax, reposition the chair to your right, and repeat by stretching the same leg with the opposite hand. Repeat both variations with the opposite leg.

First, decide you’re going to take this jail-cell session seriously: Set aside 30 minutes to run through Coleman’s full-body routine, which requires no weights, though a metropolitan phone book helps with executing some of the moves. Coleman suggests interspersing crunches of your choice between upper-body and lower-body exercises. Throw in a minute or two of skipping rope at an even pace between exercises and your body will never miss the health club.

One-Legged Squats
Place a chair to the right of where you’re standing and hold the back with your right hand to steady yourself. Tuck your right ankle behind your left leg. Now lower your weight slowly until you can touch the floor with your left hand, and be sure to keep your back straight and your head up. Slowly stand and repeat. Do one set of ten with each leg.

Calf Raises
Stand with your legs shoulder-width apart or slightly narrower, your feet flat, and your arms straight in front of you for balance. Raise all the way up on your tiptoes and lower slowly. Do a set of 20.

Dips
Start your upper-body routine with triceps-blasting chair dips. Position yourself with your hands holding the edges of a chair, your legs straight out in front of you, heels resting on the bed. Lower yourself until your upper arms become parallel with the floor, and then push back up. Do two sets of ten.

Lateral Lunges
To keep from going bonkers, try this variation on the familiar lunge. Stand with your feet together, your back straight, and your hands on your hips. Step your right foot one full stride straight out to the side, pointing your toe that direction rather than straight forward. Keeping your left leg straight, with the toe pointed forward, lower your right leg until your thigh is parallel to the floor. Repeat ten times on each side.

Hamstring Lifts
Lie flat on your stomach with your hands folded under your chin. Position yourself so that your left leg is straight and your right is bent at the knee with your lower leg pointing up, foot parallel to the ceiling. Slowly raise your right knee as far as you can, and then lower it. Do a set of 15 on each side.

Trunk Rotations
To balance the benefit of crunches, you’ll want to do something for your back. This is where the phone book comes in handy. Stand with your back about six inches from a wall, your feet shoulder-width apart, and your knees slightly bent. Hold the phone book straight in front of you with both hands. Holding your arms straight, slowly twist and touch the book to the wall in each direction, pivoting from the waist and keeping your feet planted. Do ten complete reps.

Diamond Push-Ups
Place your hands on the floor beneath your sternum, form a diamond with your thumbs and forefingers, and look straight down. Do two sets of 15 push-ups. Be sure to keep your body plank-straight. For a more difficult exercise, elevate your toes (the phone book again), which puts more weight over your arms. Another option is to do step-ups with your hands: Get in push-up position, phone book just in front of your fingertips, and alternate placing hands onto the book. Do 20; it’s more difficult than it sounds.

Towel Twists
Roll up one of those lovely hotel towels and, gripping it with your arms extended before you, give it a twist. Do a set of ten, twisting harder and rolling the towel tighter with each rep. Repeat in the opposite direction.

Going Nowhere
Perhaps the best alternative is simply to swim in place. Scoff if you will, but Stanford men’s coach Skip Kenney recommends it to his swimmers when they’re marooned without an Olympic-size pool. The key is Strech Cordz, a device comprising a nylon belt and latex tubing that you attach to a fixed object. “Just tie yourself up to the ladder and swim for 30 minutes,” says Kenney, who admits this can be “boring as hell.” It’s not really all that bad, though, as the cord’s elasticity affords a sense of movement, so you can perform your stroke naturally.

Stifle It
If you’re dying to break loose from your tether and stroke across the pool, Kenney suggests employing breath control to increase your effort: “Breathing every fifth stroke will get your heart rate up as if you were swimming in a regular pool.”

Freedom of Expression
As an alternative or adjunct to conventional swimming try a buoyant water belt, such as the AquaJogger, that lets you work out vertically in the deep end. You can, in effect, run or cross-country ski, taking advantage of water’s resistance — 12 times that of air, yet joint-friendly. Do a 30-minute workout that begins with water-running for 15 minutes, divided into segments of five, four, three, two, and one minutes. Between segments, do 20 seconds of sit kicks: Position yourself as if you’re sitting in a chair and, alternating legs, kick out from each knee with toes pointed. Now do 15 minutes of cross-country skiing in five segments, as before. Keep arms and legs straight and scissor them forward and back. Cupping your hands increases upper-body resistance. Between segments, do 30-second bouts of modified jumping jacks, jumping your legs out to the side as you would on land and sculling your hands back and forth at shoulder height, like you’re treading water. Travelers will appreciate that these belts weigh less than a pound and lie flat in virtually any suitcase.

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Gear to Go
American Running and Fitness Association membership, which includes maps, personalized schedules, and medical advice, $25; 800-776-2732

AquaJogger buoyancy belt from Excel Sports Science Inc., $40; 800-922-9544

Bike Friday and travel case, from Green Gear Cycling, $1,183; 800-777-0258

Speedo Fit-Rope jump rope, $18; 800-547-8770

Strech Cordz swimming tether, from NZ Manufacturing, $41; 800-886-6621

Xertube stretch tubes, from Spri Products Inc., $6; 800-222-7774

Score a map. You won’t be the first jock to ask, and your hotel may keep on hand maps that include nearby running, cycling, and skating routes. The American Running and Fitness Association also offers maps of runs in more than 200 cities.

Get the local scoop. Bulletin boards at coffeehouses and sporting goods stores are great sources for club events and races.

Mix it up. If you’re running at a track, alternate laps with bleacher-running. If you’re winging it on the streets, follow an out-and-back strategy to avoid getting lost.

Think time, not distance. Without your familiar landmarks, you probably won’t know how far you’re going, so use your watch to gauge your workout.

Pack it. Traveling can be hell for cyclists who dare bring along their equipment. The Bike Friday, however, is a blessing: a high-performance folding bike that packs neatly into an airline-checkable suitcase, preventing extra charges and risk of damage.

Rent and ride. Big bike shops rent bicycles — usually mountain bikes, which means riding knobbies on pavement. The shop can steer you to good routes, however, and it’ll rent you a helmet.

Skates fly free. If you’re checking luggage, skip the rental grab-bag and tote your own in-line skates. You might avoid slaloming crowded sidewalks by cabbing it to your destination.

Doorway Stretch: After a jumping-jack warm-up, stand in a doorway and grab the doorjamb at shoulder height with your right hand. Slowly walk through the doorway until your arm is straight and your chest tightens. Hold for 30 seconds. Switch sides and repeat.

Seated Row: Sit with your legs in front of you, feet flat against a wall, and knees slightly bent. Holding two five- to eight-pound weights, place your hands alongside your toes and then pull them toward your chest in a rowing motion. Lean back simultaneously, and keep those elbows in.

Water Pump: Place your right knee and hand on a bench beside you and, with your back flat, grasp a five- to eight-pound weight in your left hand. Slowly draw the weight up to your armpit, keeping your elbow tucked in to your side. Switch sides after each set.

Wing Pull: Tie one end of a five-foot-long surgical tube to a fixed object at elbow height to your right, and stand perpendicular to it. Hold your right arm straight out from your shoulder, elbow bent and lower arm pointing up, and grasp the other end of the tube, which should be taut. Now, keeping your arm rigid, fold it across your body at the shoulder, pulling the tube tighter. Switch sides after each set.

The Shrug: Standing with your feet shoulder-width apart, grasp a barbell with little or no weight and hold it at your thighs, palms facing in. Keeping your arms and back straight, shrug your shoulders up and back, then release.

Medicine balls range wildly in size and weight, but for starters, moderately fit women might try a six-pounder; men, an eight-pounder. You can use it for partner exercises, but to work it solo, try the giant circle, which taxes both the lower and upper body. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent, and hold the ball directly overhead. With your arms straight, slowly sweep it to the right in a full circle, keeping it close to your body. As the ball comes down, bend into a semi-squat, and straighten as you reach 12 o’clock. Do ten in each direction.

The Food and Drug Administration doesn’t approve magnets for therapeutic use, but Dan Marino does — as do plenty of the Miami Dolphins quarterback’s peers. And when you’ve mended your sore joints and muscles, you can use them to post your grocery list on the refrigerator. For decades, so-called therapeutic magnets have enjoyed a vogue among certain ailing athletes, and now their popularity is burgeoning. Nikken, the McDonald’s of magnets, reported worldwide sales (including nutritional supplements) of $1.2 billion in 1996. One eighth-inch-thick magnet costs between $20 and $100.

So how are magnetized wafers said to work? “Magnets stimulate electrical fields in the body,” says Dr. Ted Zablotsky, president of BIOflex Medical Magnetics, “which increases circulation, thus relieving pain.” Many who’ve strapped magnets to sore spots — from shinsplints to bad backs — swear by them.

Predictably, the medical establishment remains more reserved. “Increased circulation would reduce inflammation and possibly hasten healing,” admits exercise physiologist Richard Cotton, a vice-president of the American Council on Exercise. But, he adds, nothing’s been done to prove that magnets affect circulation — yet. The National Institutes of Health deemed the trend important enough to grant $1.1 million to a University of Virginia medical researcher who’s planning an independent study on alternative methods of healing, including magnets, this fall.

Meanwhile, magnet makers stand by sales figures, steering clear of direct medical claims and thus the wrath of the FDA. “They’re an excellent relaxation system,” says Clifton Jolley of Nikken. Indeed, one of their more popular offerings is the magnetic mattress pad (a whopping $690 for a king size). We can’t verify its healing powers, but the firm foam egg-carton surface sure is comfortable.

SWIMMING

Vertical Kicking: A leg-intensive workout provides a natural rut-buster for thick-shouldered swimmers. Warm up with a 400-yard freestyle swim, finishing by kicking hard to loosen your legs, recommends George Block, president of the American Swimming Coaches’ Association. Hit the deep end and try to keep your head above water relying on nothing more than a fast flutter kick. Without using your arms, sweep your legs back and forth from your hips, keeping your knees straight. For something harder, raise your hands overhead-you’ll earn a whole new respect for water polo players. Start with a 15-minute set, alternating 40 seconds of kicking with 20 seconds “off,” treading water.

Block Sprints: Cranking out lap after lap just doesn’t seem as fun without that rush of adrenaline. So try invigorating your pool time with block sprints. Warm up with an 800-yard swim. Then hop out on the deck, bribe the lifeguard if need be, and snug down those goggles for a set of 15 50-yard sprints, alternating one hard with two easy efforts. Take a deep breath, launch yourself off the blocks, and make like Amy Van Dyken. Assuming that you’re in a 25-yard pool, do your best flip turn at the end and sprint back. “Don’t turn into a windmill,” Block says. “Keep your stroke long and strong.” Rest ten seconds after each salvo, and swim the easy laps at 50 percent and 70 percent effort, respectively. Cool down with a 400-yard swim.

RUNNING

Water Work: One alternative for runners is simply running in place-in a pool. Water offers considerably more resistance than air yet eliminates the bang-bang-bangs of repeated pounding, important for those nursing nagging injuries. Put on a life vest, slip into the deep end, and start striding. Be sure to maintain an upright posture, mirroring your dry-land form, lest you start motoring across the pool. “Cup your hands as you pump your arms, and you’ll get an intense upper-body workout too,” says Steve Plasencia, former Olympic runner and now the men’s cross-country coach at the University of Minnesota. Incidentally, don’t pay much attention to your heart rate, since water pressure can reduce it by 10 percent. “Run” for 30 minutes, treading water every ten minutes for a brief rest.

The Plod: A slow run of twice your normal distance will force you to abandon your standard pace and push back your “wall.” Consider it a Saturday-morning project; get an early start. Begin at a seemingly embarrassing pace: three minutes per mile slower than normal, walking one minute after every half-mile. “That way, fatigue doesn’t have a chance to build up,” says Jeff Galloway, author of the best-selling Galloway’s Book on Running. “At first it seems pitifully slow, but then it’s great.” Obviously, you’ll want to hydrate throughout the run; Galloway recommends downing carbohydrates after the halfway point.

CYCLING

Noodling: To break the monotony of spinning along at 80 rpm every ride, Dr. Arnie Baker, coach of San Diego’s gritty Cyclo Vets, suggests alternating between high-gear and low-gear repetitions using one leg at a time. Sounds silly, but just be sure to keep your resting leg off its pedal-and out of your spokes. After a 15-minute warm-up, find a flat stretch of pavement and pedal for three minutes at 50 rpm with your right leg. You’ll have to experiment to find the right gear. Ride easy with both legs for three minutes, and repeat with your left leg. After another easy interlude, do a speed set: Pedal for three minutes at 100 rpm with your right leg, do three minutes of spinning, and repeat with the left. Do three sets for a complete workout.

Stand and Deliver: Give those bulky quads a break by climbing a long hill out of the saddle, says 12-time U.S. National Champion road racer Kent Bostick. It’ll reintroduce such overlooked muscles as glutes, hamstrings, biceps, and deltoids. If you live in Iowa, sorry, but perhaps you can improvise on a freeway overpass. Ride 20 minutes to warm up and then, at the base of a long, steady hill, shift into a gear that’s two cogs harder than if you were sitting. Stand upright with your back straight and your hips in front of your saddle, and rock the bike back and forth, opposite each downstroke. Stay up as long as you’re able, sitting down to climb for three minutes at a stretch if you need the rest. “Cool down with ten minutes of spinning,” says Bostick, “but coasting doesn’t count.”

We’re creatures of habit, which is why we tend to languish in programs that have us grunting away at the same 12 lifts for the requisite three sets of ten repetitions, season after season. As it turns out, advice from on high suggests that such an approach is too much time spent doing too many exercises anyway. The alternative? Something called breakdown training, says Wayne Westcott, strength training consultant for the National YMCA and author of the recently published Building Strength and Stamina.

With breakdown training, you employ no more than five lifts that cover the major muscle groups and heft the weight in a completely different manner. “It makes you dig deeper, push harder, and stimulates muscle tissue,” Westcott says. Here’s how it works: Lift the usual ten to 12 reps on your first set, but then quickly reduce the weight by 10 to 20 percent and crank out another set. You’re striving for the same number of reps, but you’ll probably never get there, because you haven’t rested. No matter-your muscles will be plenty sore, foreshadowing improved strength. Rest one minute after each lift.

Machines are more convenient than free weights, because reducing the weight typically means simply moving a pin. Give your muscles a wake-up call with the following five exercises, but regardless of how enthralling this method seems, don’t get too carried away: You shouldn’t lift more than every other day.

Lat Pull-Downs
Sit beneath the lat bar with your back straight. Grasp the bar with an overhand grip, your arms spread in a V (a narrow grip works your biceps more, while a wider grip focuses on your latissimus dorsi muscles). Pull the bar down in front of you until your hands draw even with your collarbones. Slowly let the bar return to its starting position, stopping when your arms are straight.

Ab Press
Strap yourself into an ab press machine, anchor your feet, and push your chest into the pads in front of you. Fold your arms across your stomach and crunch the weight all the way to your knees, being careful not to jerk the machine into motion. Let the weight up slowly-you’ll feel it burn-and return to the upright position.

Leg Press
Position yourself in a hip sled machine with your feet on the weight platform. Keeping your back straight and your neck relaxed, let the weight down, but don’t let your knees touch your chest. Now, press the weight until your legs are fully extended. Let the weight down slowly for the next rep. This is the one machine on which you’ll need a partner to swap the weights for your next set.

Back Extension
Climb into the machine just as you would with the ab press, the only difference being that the weight pads are behind your shoulders. Lift the weight smoothly by leaning back into the pads, and go as far as the machine will allow you to go. Lower the weight by slowly folding your torso back toward your thighs, but don’t let the weights touch down.

Chest Press
Settle into the seat of a chest press machine and strap yourself in if there’s a belt. Grip the weight levers with your hands and, you guessed it, press until your arms are fully extended. Let the weight back toward you slowly, until your hands are again even with your shoulders, which should be just before the weights touch back down.

Jim Harmon, who’s been following the same running program for 17 years, wrote “Be a Thigh Master” in the May issue of ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø.

Belly Breathing
Breathing from deep within your belly, not your chest, most effectively utilizes the diaphragm, drawing more oxygen into your lungs and thus allowing you to push your pace harder. Before hitting a hill that typically leaves you gasping, take five deep breaths-watch to see that your stomach expands on each inhalation-and you’ll feel the difference.

Rhythmic Breathing
The harder we work, the more we want to pant, which increases blood pressure and muscular tension. Fight the urge to hyperventilate by establishing a breathing rhythm. Many runners find this by exhaling on every other stride.

Pressure Breathing
The thinner air at high altitude saps your energy when you exercise. Those who train above sea level would do well to follow this strategy: Inhale deeply through your nose, and then forcefully exhale all your breath. The result is a vacuum-like effect that helps your next breath be bigger.

According to Jeanne Goldberg, director of Tufts University’s nutrition center, it is. “There’s no justification to pay more for a so-called natural vitamin,” she says. “Vitamins are chemical compounds, so getting it from rose hips is no better than getting it from a lab.” The synthetic-versus-natural debate-a skirmish in a multimillion-dollar battle to perk up aging boomers-promises to rage, but in the meantime, a few label-reading points will help you separate marketing from medicine.

Percentages
Look for 100 percent of the U.S. Daily Values in supplements you take. Despite the implied claims of megadosages, twice as much isn’t twice as healthy, and 30 times as much is useless.

Quality
The letters “USP” (U.S. Pharmacopeia) indicate the brand has voluntarily met rigid standards for potency, quality, and purity. Given the nonprofit advocacy group’s more than 175 years of experience, “USP” is worth seeking. In a recent study at Tufts, some supposedly top-shelf calcium supplements without the seal didn’t so much as dissolve.

Time release
Forget highly touted time-release coatings said to keep certain nutrients-such as water-soluble vitamins B and C-from going to waste by being absorbed all at once. Just take your vitamins and minerals with meals, and you won’t have to fuss with various coatings. A National Institutes of Health study, for example, suggests that tissues can’t use more than 200 milligrams of vitamin C a day, rendering a time-released pill overkill.

Source
For minerals in particular, provenance matters. Calcium supplements from oyster shells, for example, may also give you a dose of lead. Look for calcium citrate or purified calcium carbonate instead.

Dosage
Taking one multivitamin a day may be sensible, but some high-potency brands suggest up to nine pills a day — questionable advice, at best.

Squat-thrusts may seem like a handy bit of torture employed only by demented Hollywood drill sergeants, but military outfits such as the Navy SEALs really do use the exercise. “They work the arms, shoulders, chest, and thigh muscles,” confirms Mark De Lisle, a SEAL reserve who recently revised his self-published book, Navy SEAL Exercises.

To execute the exercise with true SEAL zeal, stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, hands on your hips. In one fluid motion, squat until you can place your palms flat on the floor alongside your feet. Keeping your weight planted over your arms, kick your feet straight back so that you end up in a straight-armed push-up position. Do one push-up, hop your feet back to the starting squat, and stand up. Add squat-thrusts to an existing thrice-weekly strength routine by starting with 20 reps and working up to 60. Ten reps in quick succession also make a good warm-up.