As an endurance athlete, I spent the better part of my twenties training for and running ultramarathons. My body was resilient, productively absorbing 60- to 100-mile training weeks and races just as long, and I thought that would continue indefinitely.

Then, over the course of nine months, I developed intermittent but often excruciating sciatica, nerve pain that originates in the lower back and radiates down the leg, and eventually, as a result of changing my running gait to compensate for this pain, a torn hip labrum. I expected rest—the do-nothing, on-the-couch type rest—to eventually heal me, but the pain persisted. I saw massage therapists, chiropractors, acupuncturists, bone and joint specialists, and nerve doctors. No one had a clear answer and no treatment worked.

It was at this vulnerable moment, in 2020, that I discovered the Knees Over Toes Guy. Ben Patrick, a then 30-year-old based in Clearwater, Florida, posted videos of himself on Instagram performing scroll-stopping feats of circus athleticism without any apparent discomfort: springing from a stationary deep squat up to dunk a basketball; where, from a standing position, he drops his knees out forward to touch the ground. These exercises put a remarkable amount of pressure on very vulnerable joints.

In nearly every video, Patrick shares that he has had three knee surgeries, and doctors told him he would never be able to squat or play basketball without pain again. But through an unconventional—and some might say dangerous—strength training protocol, Patrick was not only able to effectively eliminate his pain, but he says he was able to increase his speed and vertical jump to well beyond his youthful PRs. His message was that anyone can achieve that same ability and resilience. But in order to do so, you’d have to forget most everything you’ve been told about strength training.

The internet is rife with fitness hucksters and overpriced, overcomplicated training plans, but Patrick seemed different. As I read the hundreds of comments under his videos, I was struck by how universally positive everyone was, with sincere-seeming testimonials for his online program, gratitude for introducing them to these unconventional movements, and encouragement towards users who shared their stories of chronic pain.��I was also impressed by the numerous physical therapists . Desperate to regain autonomy over my athleticism, I decided to give his exercises a try.

Over the last four years, Patrick has exploded in popularity, going from a trainer and gym owner to an online fitness mega-personality with 2.4 million Instagram followers. Patrick, who declined to speak with us for this article, has shared his origin story on many podcasts, including the mega-popular Joe Rogan Experience, which has 14.5 million followers on Spotify and 17.6 million on YouTube.

As an obsessive youth basketball player, his passion for the sport and penchant for grueling drills (he would frequently perform 1,000 daily layups) led to painful, fragile knees. His teammates nicknamed him Old Man. After Patrick underwent those three knee surgeries—the first while he was still a teenager—he discovered the late, famed Canadian strength coach Charles Poliquin, who preached a style of strength training where each rep is taken to its stretched end range. The priority is not just the amount of weight you can lift, but the body’s ability to move into deeper positions while doing so. (Poliquin was noted for his Seussian soundbite: “Strength is gained in the range it is trained.”)

Patrick adopted Poliquin’s training techniques and not only eliminated his chronic knee pain, he says, but began to redevelop his athleticism. At age 23, he was offered a full-ride scholarship to play D1 basketball at Eastern Florida State College. Now, as a trainer, he proselytizes this training philosophy through his unsubtly named app and online coaching business, Athletic Truth Group.

Part of Patrick’s success can be attributed to his origin story and his social media savvy: his videos are short, attention grabbing, and feature practical training advice. With the bracing sincerity of a youth camp counselor, he talks directly to the camera, appearing trustworthy and capable. But the other part is that this style of training—which Poliquin pioneered and Patrick champions—is, by historic standards, radical.

If you have ever spent time in a weight room, you’ve likely been warned that your knees should never go past your toes in a squat. Instead, you should push your butt backwards and stop when the upper and lower leg form a 90-degree angle. Failing to do so will put too much pressure on your knee and cause injury.

This is only half true. Squatting with your knees over your toes does put pressure on the joint, but that pressure may actually help you avoid injury.

“Tendons, cartilage, ligaments—all those things will toughen up to load,” says Erik Meira, a physical therapist and rehab specialist based in Portland, Oregon, who works with NBA and NFL players. For most athletes, especially those in endurance sports, injuries occur in the connective tissues of the joints. Tendons, while quite different in composition than muscles, still operate under the same principle: to get them stronger, you must use them in a mildly stressful manner, then back off and let them recover.

“Knees over toes is something that has been vilified for a long time as causing pain to the front of the knee,” says Meira. “The reality is it will cause pain if you’re not conditioned to take that kind of load. But the best way to condition yourself to that kind of load is to get used to positions like that.”

Patrick has taken this philosophy—that bending your knees under progressive load will make them healthy and strong—and applied it to other vulnerable parts of the body including the ankles, hips, lower back, shoulders, and elbows. In a way, Patrick’s protocol could be seen as a gym routine structured entirely around proactive physical therapy: he identifies problem areas and develops strength and range of motion in the local musculature and connective tissue.

It is a tremendously appealing proposition to many endurance athletes, who are traditionally averse to the gym. Here is a style of strength training that doesn’t prioritize muscle mass, is singularly focused on avoiding pain, and will allow you to fully express yourself physically outside of the gym.

In 2020, I was one of many impressionable scrollers transfixed by Patrick and his message. Without much to lose, I dedicated myself to 16 weeks of his program through the app. The first cycle, a full-body general protocol called Zero, was easy. I did repetitive, progressive bodyweight exercises—some familiar, some novel—to strengthen mind-muscle connections and expose my joints to new movement patterns. Then, four weeks later, came Dense, where you take these same and other similar exercises, add weight, and perform many sets to condition your joints through repetition under manageable load. Four weeks after that, I moved on to a back-specific training program.

The most significant movement for me in this block was the , which you perform on a forward-angled, hip-high bench that allows you to hinge forward from the hips and directly strengthen the lower back muscles. This was terrifying, as I thought putting my injured back in that exposed position would only hurt it further. But this is precisely what this program is trying to teach: safely training in a vulnerable position creates resilience in that position.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CjTz7R8NkJx/

“The most important part of rehabilitation is graded exposure,” says Mike Istraetel, the popular online fitness commentator who holds a doctorate in exercise science. “You want a little bit of irritation, then back off and heal up… The biggest mistake people make in a gym is assuming a degree of fragility to their body.”

And while Patrick emphasizes the importance of developing strength in tendons themselves, there’s also another factor at work. “Tendons take up to nine months, if not more, of consistently loading to heal and grow stronger,” says Matt Klein, a rehabilitation and movement science professor at George Fox University. “But patients can have an acute decrease in pain [when they first start training the injured joint] and that’s not because the tendon has changed. That’s because their perception of pain—a fear response—has changed.”

Meira explains that fear activates our nervous system and sends us into a dysfunctional “protective mode.”�� “We see this a lot with low back pain,” Meira says. “An individual starts to fear taking load and their back gets weaker. Then they ������’t take more load, then they fear it more, and they end up in a downward spiral where their back is made out of glass.”

With this mindset, I performed small reps at first, barely leaning forward a few inches, then the next time I went a little deeper, and so on until months later, I was doing 20 full range reps. Eventually I started holding a weight to my chest as I leaned forward, taxing my low back further. And an amazing thing happened: my sciatica went away. Gone, vanished. The insidious nerve pain that for years—literally years—I tried to roll, massage, stretch, and rest away, finally disappeared. All it needed, it turned out, was to get stronger.

“The biggest mistake I see with athletes is resting for wellness,” says Meira. “Let’s say the front of my knee gets sensitive when I run. I think I’m going to stop putting any load on it and let that heal. Then once it heals I’ll go back to what I’m doing. But when I’m resting it, the front of that knee isn’t getting any stimulus, so it’s not learning to take load. It’s being de-conditioned to load. Being overprotective is often what gives us issues.” This is ultimately Patrick’s message: to heal your body, you must use your body.

“Ten years ago we still had a postural fear model: you should not put your knees over your toes because that’s going to cause you knee pain; you should not slouch because that’s going to cause you neck pain,” says Klein. “The current evidence suggests that the perfect posture is the one you’re in for the least amount of time. Move. People are going to be slumped forward and extended and everything in between. Your body is meant to move in these ways. If your body is having trouble in a position, train in that position more.”

As I progressed through the program, it became evident that there are only about two dozen total exercises that Patrick repeatedly prescribes. If you’ve never performed these movements, the app—which coaches you through proper form—is invaluable. The back extension machine was revelatory for me and got me out of pain and back to the sport I love.

But as I rebuilt my running body and tried to progress deeper into his program, I ran up against his one-size-fits-most approach, an unfortunate and necessary limitation of mass-marketed fitness programs. For instance, deadlifts, which Ben prescribes, still hurt my back no matter how gentle or light I went.

No program will serve as the answer to everything, says Klein. “I think [Patrick] is helping a lot of people,” he says. “But I also think it can hurt a lot of people.” Klein points out that athletes should only try these training protocols after taking the time to pursue an accurate diagnosis with doctors and physical therapists—to ensure they’re treating the right thing.

After two years, I stopped following Patrick’s program through his app, but his philosophies have fundamentally changed how I think about exercise. Now, four years since I began his protocol, running is still my priority, but I only run four days a week instead of six. Strength training two to three times a week is non-negotiable. Each session is full-body and joint-focused, and at least half of the exercises I perform are ones I learned through his program. I haven’t gone a week without a back extension in two years. But the most important thing the Knees Over Toes Guy has taught me is as simple and radical as this: to keep athletically progressing and doing what you love into your thirties and beyond, you have to get strong. Spending time in the gym is a real-time fight against aging.

Despite the reduction in my running volume, I’m still getting faster, winning races, and setting PRs. But the thing I’m most proud of: I’m doing it all without pain.

The Knees Over Toes Philosophy

Strength Train

If you are injury-prone, aging, or looking to maximize your body’s potential, you MUST strength train. Full stop. Two or three times a week is ideal, but once a week is better than nothing. Perhaps this is obvious, but it bears repeating to strength-shy endurance athletes.

Measurably Strengthen Vulnerable Areas

Identify the muscles that support your body’s most vulnerable areas and train them unyieldingly. For ankles, this means targeting your calves (encompassing both the soleus and gastrocnemius) and tibialis anterior, the oft-ignored muscle on the front of the lower leg. For knees, it’s mainly quads and hamstrings. And for hips and back, well, it’s your hip flexors and back muscles. Do this in a manner that you can measure, such as weight lifted or reps completed, and work to improve those metrics. This is in contrast to many other runners’ strength programs, where you’ll likely find complex kettlebell swinging workouts, yogic core stability routines, or resistance band “activation” drills. There’s nothing inherently bad about these exercises, but they fail to give you a way to measure their progress. They are also inefficient at genuinely strengthening the muscles and tendons that do the most for you.

Build Balance

Nearly everyone has practiced squatting. But when was the last time you did the opposite–that is, lifted weight up off the ground with your legs instead of lowering weight toward the ground? Over time, certain exercises have become popular while their counterbalancing movements have not. Most athletes train their calves but not their tibialis anterior; their squat but not their hip flexors; their abs but not their lower back. To be a high-performing pain-free athlete, you must train both sides of the body, and both sides of any joint.

Regress

If pain pops up, as it is bound to, do not stop training that area. Instead, regress the movement (e.g. less weight, smaller range of motion, and/or fewer reps) to the point where you feel no pain. But do not cease to use that area of the body entirely. Pain is bad and you should never work through pain—but motion is lotion.

Length Through Strength

Static stretching is not the panacea for health that it was once thought to be. However, the mobility (i.e. range of motion) of your joints and muscles is incredibly important and is correlated with healthier tissue. So how do we reconcile those two truths? We work to lengthen while strengthening. This means that for every exercise, you should be feeling a stretch at the top or bottom of the movement, and you should perform every exercise with the greatest bend in the targeted joint that you can achieve without pain. (Often, this means starting by lifting lighter weights.)

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Pull-ups are impressive, which means that for many athletes, they’re aspirational. If you ������’t do one, odds are you’d like to. If you can, maybe you’re gunning for the single-arm or weighted variation. Once you’re able to do a few pull-ups, it’s easy to see how you might build up to more. But if you ������’t do even one, where do you start?

Most people have what they need to lift their own body weight—the issue is accessing all of the muscles needed for the job. People tend to rely on the upper trapezius and elbow flexors, such as the biceps brachii, which shrug the shoulders and bend the elbows but��fall short when it comes to lifting the whole weight of the body. Other critical muscles, like the and the , might be dormant or just hard for the brain to activate.

In the image below, you can see the line of strength that connects the rock climber’s��hand all the way down to his lower back. This system of muscles spans from the flexors of the hand, forearm, and elbow to the back line of the arm, shoulder extensors, external rotators, and latissimus dorsi muscle, as well as into the rest of the core. Activating��all this gives us the capability to paddle, climb, and swim for hours—and perform a single pull-up.

The latissimus is a powerful muscle that depresses the clavicle and scapula—the shoulder girdle—and lifts the waist up to the arms, while also pulling the upper arm bones toward the trunk and into shoulder extension and adduction (see the illustration below). This is the most important muscle��to focus on when learning to do a pull-up. You can identify your lat by feeling with your fingertips at the back of your armpit and side ribs; squeeze your arm down like you’re trying to press juice out of a grapefruit in your armpit, and you should feel a bulk of muscle tissue contract that you can grab with your whole hand. You can increase the contraction by��simultaneously lifting the waist on the same side up toward the armpit.

The moves below are designed to safely increase��in difficulty. As you develop strength, you can use the entry exercises as warm-ups for more difficult ones. This process will likely take weeks to months, depending on your level of entry. These exercises aren’t just for show, either: pull-ups, and the moves that help you build up to them, can help improve your strength-to-weight ratio, tone your upper body, and serve as cross-training for many different sports and activities.

The Moves

Inverted Rows with Suspension Straps

What they do: This is an excellent entry-level pull exercise that engages the upper back muscles, specifically the latissimus dorsi.

How to do them: Loop suspension straps over a branch, bar, or other secure, elevated structure. Begin standing, with the grips in both hands��and your arms straight in front of you, and walk your feet forward until you feel challenged by the body-weight load. The more you walk your feet forward, the more difficult the move will be. Pull yourself up and into an inverted plank position with a rowing motion, bending your arms and pulling your elbows behind you. Your shoulder blades will start wide on your rib cage, then slide toward the spine as you reach the top of the movement. Focus on engaging your lats, core, and the backs of your shoulders, instead of relying on the upper trapezius or elbow flexors. Reverse this movement as you slowly lower back to the starting position. Make sure you can hold that starting position with straight arms and maintain good form throughout the entire range of motion. Progress to the next exercise after you build confidence and strength with this move.

Volume: One to three sets of five to eight repetitions, holding for a few seconds at each end range. Rest one to three minutes between sets. Perform this exercise two to three times per week.

Hip Hinge Pull-Ups with Suspension Straps��

What they do: This move brings you through the full range of motion of a pull-up—but with the assistance of your heels on the ground. It engages the latissimus and triceps muscles by engaging your shoulders in a wide-arm T-shape position. You should feel the lat work to pick your waist up and pull your elbows down toward your trunk, especially at the top of the move.

How to do them: Begin by adjusting the strap handles to be at about hip height when standing. Then sit down, with your legs straight out in front of you,��and start with straight arms gripping the handles in an inverted row position. You can keep your hips on the ground here if you need the assistance. Pull up into a seated hip-hinge position, widen your elbows, and pull them straight down toward your sides. Your front and back core should be firing to help lift you into this 90-degree hip-fold position. At the top of the position, you should feel your lats activate to lift your bottom up from the ground, like you are trying to go chin over bar at the top of a pull-up. Hold for one second, then slowly unfold back into the starting position of the inverted row. Your heels and legs should stay in the same place throughout the move. You will probably have to wiggle around to find the right place to begin and end relative to where your straps are anchored.

Volume: Perform one to three sets of five to eight repetitions, holding for a few seconds at each end range. Rest one to three minutes between sets. Perform this exercise two to three times per week.

Box Assisted Pull-Ups��

What they do: This move helps you find all of the necessary muscle activation for a pull-up without too heavy of a load. Take what you’ve learned from exercises one and two and apply your strength here.

How to do them: Place a stable box beneath a bar, and let your legs hang limp and heavy on the box as you hold onto the bar. Do not push with your feet. Try hanging here at the starting position. Activate your lats and shoulder muscles to pull your shoulders down, away from your ears. Then imagine that you’re trying to squeeze a grapefruit tucked into your armpits. This will draw your upper arm bones toward your waist and send your trunk up toward the bar. Keep pulling until you sneak your chin over the bar. Congrats! You just did a reduced body-weight pull-up. Lower slowly back to the starting position.

Volume: One to three sets of three to eight repetitions, holding for a few seconds at each end range. Rest one to three minutes between sets. Perform this exercise two to three times per week.

Band Assisted Pull-ups

What they do: This is another way to feel the work of a full pull-up without lifting your entire body weight, using a large resistance band to reduce the load.

How to do them: Hitch a large resistance band to a bar. Pull the loop down and step one foot into the loop while you set up your starting position. Keep standing in the loop as you get your hands positioned on the bar. Try hanging here at the starting position. Activate your lat, shoulder extensors, and core to pull your shoulders down away from your ears. Then draw your upper arm bones toward your waist, and lift your trunk until you sneak your chin over the bar. Choose the amount of assistance you require from the elastic band by determining the appropriate strength of band (10 pounds, 25 pounds, etc); you may need quite a bit of assistance from the band to start in some cases. Reduce the strength of the band over time.

Volume: One to three sets of three to eight repetitions, holding for a few seconds at each end range. Rest one to three minutes between sets. Perform this exercise two to three times per week.

Isometric Pull-ups

What they do: After the entry-level exercises have been mastered, isometric exercises help you get the feel of holding your body weight in various pull-up positions without the more difficult tasks of lifting and lowering.

How to do them: Position a box under a bar, stand on the box, and grab the bar. Create a 90-degree elbow and shoulder position, and hold firm in this shape. You are about to lift your feet off of the box. Hold tight and squeeze your core, lat, and shoulder muscles that you’ve strengthened and activated in exercises one through four. Once you have held this for the allotted amount of time, back onto the box. Do not lower or lift into the position. Rest. The 90-degree shape is a great angle to train, but you can also perform isometric hangs at higher and lower angles of the pull-up motion. Choose to perform the holds in angles where you feel you need the work. Sometimes this is at the start of the pull-up, when your elbows are extended to around 160 degrees.

Volume: Hold for three to eight seconds. Perform one to five sets of one hold. Rest one to three minutes between sets. Perform this exercise two to three times per week.

Eccentric Pull-ups

What they do: It’s easier to slowly lower out of a pull-up than to slowly lift into one. Lowering uses eccentric strength, which utilizes a protein in our muscles called titin that helps us resist lengthening, thereby allowing us to produce more force. Be sure to warm up before attempting this move.

How to do them: Position a box under a bar that is tall enough to allow you to grab it and start at the top of a pull-up without having to lift yourself into position. Hold the starting position, and lift your feet away from the box. You should be able to stay here for a few seconds, then slowly lower until your elbows are nearly straight. Step onto the box or touch down on the floor. That’s one repetition. Rest, then restart at the top.

Volume: Two to five sets of one repetition. Rest one to three minutes between sets. Perform this exercise one to two times per week. As you get stronger, you can perform several reps back-to-back, performing one to three sets of three to five repetitions as your strength improves.

Body Weight Pull-up

What they do: Congratulations! If you have arrived here, that means you put in the work to get to know your whole pull system and you’ve increased your strength to match your body weight for a full pull-up. A body weight pull-up will help strengthen the entire chain of muscles that you have been training throughout the program, and it’s a great cross-training tool for any movement or sport that involves pulling or overhead lifting.

How to do them: Be sure you’re fully warmed up before attempting this move. Stand under a bar and begin by hanging with your elbows nearly straight but your shoulders firmly drawn down away from your ears. You should feel your whole “pull” line activate from your fists to your core. Contract the system together, leading the way with the lats working to draw the upper arm bones toward your trunk. Pull up the front of your core. Keep everything working to the very top and as you lower.

Volume: Two to five sets of one repetition. Rest one to three minutes between sets. Perform this exercise one to two times per week. As you get stronger, you can perform several reps back-to-back, doing one to three sets of three to ten repetitions as your strength improves.

Esther Smith, a doctor of physical therapy certified in mechanical diagnosis and therapy, has specialized in treating athletes (specifically rock climbers) for the past decade. She is a storyteller, mountain athlete, and high-performance coach for the . You can find Smith’s written and video resources cataloged at and learn more about her physical-therapy practice at .

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How’s your posture? Chances are it’s not great. All that slouching isn’t just a bad look; it drags down athletic performance, too. “How we move in daily life directly crosses over to patterns in sports,” says Heidi Greenwood, a certified strength and conditioning specialist.

Building strength and mobility in key areas (shoulders, hips, the back) boosts efficiency and can reduce injury risk in many activities. Reap those benefits with this workout, which Greenwood developed for ���ϳԹ���. Perform each move, then rest 30 to 60 seconds before moving on to the next. After you complete all four, rest one to three minutes, then repeat the circuit once or twice. Do this two times a week to see results.

T-Spine Mobility

How to do it: Lie flat on your back, with your knees bent and your feet planted on the ground. Place a foam roller beneath your shoulder blades, keeping your tailbone on the ground. Clasp your hands behind your head, elbows wide. This is the starting position. Exhale as you push your shoulders toward the ground; try to touch your elbows to the floor. Hold for five seconds, then return to the starting position. That’s one rep. Do five.

Why: Boosts upper-back mobility.

Overhead Broomstick Squat

How to do it: Stand tall, your feet in line with your hips. Hold a broomstick overhead so your arms form a wide V shape. Pinch your shoulder blades together, then slowly bend your knees down into a squat. Pause for a second when your thighs are parallel with the floor, then push through your heels and slowly return to the standing position. That’s one rep. Do eight.

Why: Improves both shoulder and hip mobility.

Cobra Press-Up

How to do it: Lie on your stomach, with your palms on the ground, arms slightly wider than your shoulders, and your elbows bent and pointing outward. Inhale, then exhale and press through your palms to straighten your arms as much as you can. Relax your glutes as you press up. Hold for five to ten seconds, then release. That’s one rep. Do eight.

Why: Lengthens the spine and hip flexors.

Split-Squat Row

How to do it: There are three parts to this move—do ten reps each, with some rest in between. Start by wrapping a handled resistance band around an anchor point at hip height. Grab the handles and step far enough back that you feel tension in the band. From here, lower into a split-squat position: legs bent to 90 degrees, one foot in front of your body and the other behind. Keep this position for each movement. First, grip the handles with your thumbs pointing up and your knuckles facing out. Extend your arms in front of you, then slowly pull the handles to your hips, elbows close to your torso. Next, form 45-degree angles with your elbows as you pull the handles to chest level. Finally, keep your palms down, forming 90-degree angles with your elbows as you pull the handles to shoulder level.

Why: Strengthens shoulder-blade extensor muscles, the core, and legs.

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When it comes to muscles, small can be mighty. Glutes and quads may seem like the MVPs of running, skiing, and cycling, but stabilizers—the tiny muscles that support your joints—play an important role, too. According to Chris Dellasega, strength coach for the USA Cycling men’s track program, treat­ing them as an afterthought can increase your chance of injury. “A chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and many times that weak link is a stabilizer,” he says. Here, Dellasega shares a five-move routine that targets these underappreciated workers.

External Rotation

Why:��To correct shoulder-muscle imbalances and prevent rotator-cuff injury, important for climbers and swimmers.

How:��Lie on your side with one arm folded under your head, knees bent 90 degrees, shoulders and hips stacked. Holding a light to medium-heavy weight in your top hand at belly-button level, bend your elbow 90 de­grees and pull your shoulders back and down. Brace your core. Keeping your wrist straight, el­bow bent, and upper arm close to your side (but not touching), raise the weight for one count, aiming for your fist to be pointed straight up to the ceiling. Slowly lower it back down for four counts. Do three sets of 10 to 12 reps on each side.

Powell Raise

Why:��To stabilize the scapula, which will improve running posture and your ability to hold ��in cycling.

How:��Lie on your side with your arm folded under your head, knees bent 90 degrees, shoulders and hips stacked. Pull your shoulders back and down. Grab a light to medium-heavy weight and hold it just above the ground in line with your face, arm mostly straight and wrist neutral. Raise the weight for one count until your arm is pointed straight up to the ceiling. Lower for four counts until your arm is parallel to the floor. Do three sets of 10 to 12 reps on each side.

Standing Calf Raise

Why:��To strengthen the calves and reduce knee and ankle injuries. Crucial for runners.

How:��Place the balls of your feet on a platform, ideally four inches tall or higher. Slightly bend your standing leg. Hold a medium-heavy to heavy weight in your standing-leg hand and grab onto a fixed object like a railing or the back of a chair with your other hand. Drop your standing heel below the top of the platform for one count; pause at the bottom for two counts. Press through your big toe to raise your foot up as high as you can for one count. Do three sets of 12 to 15 reps on each leg.

Single-Leg Curl

Why:��To strengthen the hamstrings and help reduce the risk of knee injury.

How:��Lie on your back with your arms at your sides. Place one heel on top of an exercise ball and raise your other leg straight up, slightly bending your knee. Raise your hips while keeping them parallel to the floor, dig your heel into the ball, and roll it toward your butt for two counts. Reverse the movement for three counts. Do three to five sets of six to eight reps on each leg.

Stir the Pot

Why:��To strengthen the smaller trunk muscles that stabilize the spine, helpful for protecting the lower back from injury.

How:��Get in a straight plank position with your forearms on top of an exercise ball, feet shoulder-width apart. Tense your entire body, dig your forearms into the ball, and use them to roll the ball clockwise for 20 to 40 seconds while holding the rest of your body as still as possible. Rest for 10 to 15 seconds, then repeat for another 20 to 40 seconds, rolling the ball counterclockwise. Do three sets.

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When massage guns first appeared in 2016, they changed the game for recovery obsessives. The devices provide a com­bination of vibration and “percussion”—rapid punching by a mechanical arm—that can help relax muscles, reduce fatigue, and improve range of motion.

They work because the body responds to pressure, stretching, and force by increasing a function of the autonomic nervous system called parasympathetic activity, says Cameron Yuen, a physical therapist at in New York City. That in turn promotes blood flow and nutrient uptake. Plus, it feels good.

To use, let the head of the massager glide over your skin, kneading the targeted muscle for a minute or two. If you find a cranky spot, add pressure, but don’t go overboard—too much force can cause the muscle to contract. And don’t forget to work the areas above and below, Yuen says.

After some rigorous (and relaxing) testing, here are the best new massage guns.

1. TimTam PowerMassager Pro ($500)

This tool rivals the Theragun Pro (below) for power, functionality, and effectiveness, but runs quieter. It has three speeds, plus modes for warm-up, lumbar, neck, and recovery massages. There are three attachments, including one that heats up, for deeper tissue relief, and a vibrating ball that boosts the shaking sensation. A few uses took care of lingering discomfort in my outer shin. It’s a bit hard to maneuver, in part because the power button (which also cycles through the speed settings) is located on the inner handle. Hitting it unintentionally can turn a soothing knead into an unexpected pummel.

2. NordicTrack ­Percussion ­Massager ($99)

This quiet, no-frills model is much more affordable than its counterparts. But there are trade-offs. Although it has three speed settings, it’s not as powerful as the others here. The massage felt a bit ­superficial—more vibration than percussion. While it may not be the best option for someone who trains intensely, it could work well on sensitive muscles or for those with a low pain threshold. Overall, the power-drill-shaped tool was comfortable to maneuver and easily reached pesky knots in my upper back.

3.��Hypervolt with Bluetooth ($349)

At ten inches long, this model packs a mighty massage into a compact design. It delivers good percussion at three speeds and is no louder than a set of hair clippers, making it the quietest here. While the 2.5-pound device initially felt heavy, the weight lent just the right amount of pressure to the massage without any extra effort. And like the Theragun, it syncs via Bluetooth with an app that, using data from Apple Health and Strava, delivers recommended warm-up, recovery, and body-maintenance routines. It gets smarter, too, with AI that learns your workout habits to deliver personalized massages.

4. Compex Fixx 1.0 Massager��($300)

Known for its muscle-stimulation devices, Compex entered the massage-gun game in 2019 with the Fixx 1.0. It’s a good lightweight option (1.7 pounds), with the power and percussion of more expensive models. The ergonomic handle is easy to hold, the device runs at three speeds, and it includes one attachment (two others are available for $30). The lowest setting primed my quads and calves, and the highest helped me avoid the dreaded next-day dead leg. But like the TimTam, the power button is on the handle, so it’s easy to switch off while using.

5.��Therabody Theragun Pro ($599)

The Theragun combines strong ­percussion and a dizzying array of customization options. It’s a great tool for serious athletes—just being free of those relentless calf knots could justify the price tag. The device was comfortable to hold and didn’t cause hand fatigue. The downside: it’s the loudest and heaviest of the group, at 2.9 pounds.

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Lower-back pain is miserable and all too common: roughly experience it at some point in their lives.��But widely accepted methods of coping with that discomfort, like avoiding exercise, might actually make things worse.

“Your body is designed around short-term survival instincts, so when you have pain, you try to avoid it,” says , a British Columbia–based physical therapist,��trainer, and cofounder of��. It might seem logical to avoid exercise-related discomfort by eliminating certain movements altogether. But this can propel you into a cycle of inactivity, leading to weaker muscles and more soreness and pain over time, he explains. To break the cycle, you have to train, even if it hurts a little—it’s one of the best things you can do for the lower back.

If you’ve sworn off deadlifts and bent-over rows, it’s time to get reacquainted. There are plenty of variations that can help you ease into these exercises��without aggravating your back. Below, Spinelli shares a weighted full-body routine��designed to build strength,��boost confidence, and help you progress��to other exercises over time.

Spinelli recommends doing this routine three times per week. Start with one set of each��of the following moves. As you get stronger and your��discomfort decreases, gradually increase the number of sets, capping it off at four. Shoot for six to twelve��reps in each set,��but choose your volume (and your weight) based on form: stop when you still have three to four good reps in the tank. As you get more comfortable with the exercises, you can experiment with stopping one or two reps short of failure.

The key to this workout is paying attention to your body. Try evaluating��your pain on a scale of one to ten, Spinelli recommends, and keep it below a three while you work out. If a certain exercise hurts, decrease��the range of motion, perform��fewer sets or reps, or reduce��the weight. If your pain worsens (to a level five or above), increases as you work through your reps, is heightened after your workout, or continues��after a 24-hour period, you should back off. If you’re rehabbing��an acute injury, check in with a physical therapist��before beginning this routine.

The Moves

Bird Dog

What it does: Gently builds control and strength��in the lower back by challenging��your trunk to resist rotation and arching at the lumbar��spine. Slowly moving your arms and legs between reps strengthens the glutes and rear shoulder muscles, which help lessen the load on your��lower back.

How to do it: Begin on all fours, with your hands directly under your shoulders and your knees under your hips. Brace your core, and lift your opposite arm and leg off the floor until they’re��straight and��level with your torso. Hold there briefly��(three to five seconds)��before returning your hand and knee to the floor. Repeat with the opposite arm and leg, keeping your hips and shoulders square. Maintain a neutral spine from the crown of your head to your tailbone; avoid sagging or arching your back. If this variation is too easy, do the move from a plank position.

Volume: One to four sets of six��to twelve��reps on��each side.

Deadbug

What it does: Strengthens the abdominals��with your pelvis tucked, which can help relieve lower-back stress.

How to do it: Lie on your back, with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. Press your lower back into the floor to fire up your abdominals. Then lift both knees until your shins are parallel to the floor. Extend both arms toward the ceiling. Keeping your lower back pressed into the floor, slowly lower one arm backward��and straighten the opposite leg. Only lower as��far as you can without allowing your lower back to lift��off the floor. Return to the starting position, making sure your knees don’t��creep toward your chest. Repeat with the opposite arm and leg. If pressing your lower back into the floor is uncomfortable,��allow��a small arch, but keep it consistent throughout the move. Gradually work your way��down to the floor as��you get stronger.

Volume: One to four sets of six��to twelve��reps on��each side.

Romanian Deadlift

What it does: Builds strength in the glutes and hamstrings. This variation offers similar��benefits to other deadlift variations, but it’s gentler on the back because you’re not pulling the weight off the floor with every rep. Starting this��exercise from the top helps you build strength without stressing your��lower back��and will help you eventually progress to traditional deadlifts.

How to do it: Stand in an athletic stance, with your feet hip-width apart, holding two kettlebells or dumbbells��in front of your thighs, with your palms facing your body��and your arms straight. Choose your weight according to your rep scheme. Start lighter than you think you need,��and work your way up.��To get into the starting position, consider moving your weights to a bench first��and then lifting them into position��rather than lifting them directly from the floor. This will help protect your back.

Bend your knees slightly, sit back into your hips, and hinge forward at the waist to slowly lower the weights. Let them��skim against your thighs, and stop when you feel a slight pull in your hamstrings. Choose your depth based on what feels approachable for your body. Return to a standing position, and squeeze your glutes at the top. Repeat. You should feel your glutes and hamstrings light up during this move.

Volume: One to four sets of six��to twelve��reps.

Three-Point Dumbbell Row

What it does: Strengthens the back, shoulders, and arms.��This variation on the more traditional bent-over row puts��less stress on the lower back, Spinelli explains, by using three points of contact to provide more support. This allows you to better isolate your middle and upper back muscles without loading your lower back.

How to do it: Start in a three-point stance, with your right��knee and hand on a bench. Your right��hand should be positioned directly under your right��shoulder, and your right��knee directly under the right��hip. Your left��leg should be extended, with your foot flat on the floor. Grip a dumbbell or kettlebell��in your left��hand, with your left��arm fully extended toward the floor. (Choose your weight according to your rep scheme, as explained above.) Keeping your chin tucked and your back flat, pull the weight toward your rib cage, keeping your arm tight against your body. Then��lower the weight with control until your arm is fully extended. Keep your core engaged and your spine neutral throughout the entire movement. Repeat.

Volume: One to four sets of six��to twelve��reps on��each side.

Goblet Stationary Lunge

What it does: Builds strength through the legs’ major muscle groups. Many other lunge variations involve moving your feet between reps, which places stress on your��back as you stabilize through various positions. Plus, for people with lower-back pain, holding weight in front of your body tends to be more comfortable than holding it behind your body or on your shoulders (as in back squats).

How to do it: Begin standing with your feet hip-width apart, holding a kettlebell or dumbbells��against your chest with both hands in a��goblet position. Slowly take a big step back with one foot, and lower your back knee to just an inch or two off the floor. Your legs should both be at 90-degree angles.��Make sure your front knee is directly above and laterally in line with your front ankle. Allow your weight to be more heavily distributed on��your front leg. Then��drive through the midfoot of your front foot, and push yourself back up to standing, with both legs extended. Without moving your feet, bend your front knee to drop into your next rep.

Volume: One to four sets of six��to twelve��reps on��each side.

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One in four Americans sit more than eight hours a day. All that hunching in front of a screen wreaks havoc on your middle and upper back. “When we lack mobility in the thoracic spine, it affects a whole host of things, like shoulder and neck movement and even breathing,” says Meghan Wieser, a Maryland-based physical therapist and certified CrossFit trainer. That means your lungs have less space to expand for deep breaths and you’re more prone to injury. Wie­ser recommends these exercises to address forward, backward, and rotational spinal movement. Do them two to three times a week to loosen up.

Child’s Pose Twist

What It Does: Improves rotational mobility.

Start on your hands and knees, shift your hips onto your heels, and rest your torso on your thighs. Keep one arm extended, with palm and forearm firmly planted. Bring the other hand to the small of your back with your palm up, or to the back of your neck with the palm down. Slowly rotate your upper body toward the bent arm, keeping everything still below your waist. Note how far you can twist, and back off if you feel cramping between the shoulder blades. Take three to five deep breaths on each side, rotating more with each exhale.

Backward Arch

What It Does: Improves thoracic extension (how far you can bend your spine backward).

Sit on a bench with your feet flat on the floor and your knees at hip height. Wrap your arms around your torso and, leading with your head and shoulders, arch back as far as you can. Stop when you ������’t drop any farther without bending into your lower back. Take a few deep breaths here.

Foam Roll

What It Does: Improves thoracic extension; loosens tight muscles.

Sit on the ground with your feet flat and your knees bent to 45 degrees. Lie down over the roller so that it’s perpendicular to your spine, under your shoulder blades. Interlace your hands at the back of your head and bring your elbows toward each other while lifting your hips. Slowly roll up to the base of your neck, then back down to below your shoulder blades. Breathe deeply and repeat several times.

Forward Arch

What It Does: Gently stretches the spine; improves thoracic flexion (the ability to bend your spine forward).

Start seated in a chair with your knees at 90 degrees, your feet flat on the floor, and your spine upright. Slowly roll your head and neck downward, vertebra by vertebra, until you ������’t drop any farther without moving your lower back or hips. You should feel tension, not pain. Hold this position for a couple of breaths.

Cat-Cow Flow

What It Does: Improves flexion and extension.

Start on your hands and knees. While inhaling, gently drop your belly toward the ground, lift your chest and chin, draw your shoulder blades together, and look upward. Then exhale and actively push the ground away, arching your back like a cat, drawing your belly button toward your spine, and creating space between your shoulder blades. Alternate between the two positions for 10 to 20 repetitions.

Want to incorporate yoga into your workout regimen and become a better athlete? Check out our ��online course on , where ���ϳԹ���+ members get full access to our library of more than 50 courses on adventure, sports, health, and nutrition.

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Whatever your sport of choice may be, a powerful back will help your performance. Back strength is especially important for activities like swimming and climbing, which involve pulling motions.��Plus, the muscle��groups along your spine��work to make more room for your lungs by elevating and expanding the rib cage. Even when you’re deskbound, better posture��helps you avoid lower-back, neck, and shoulder pain.

We asked Doug Lawder, a personal trainer of 27 years and the owner of in Santa Fe, and Carolyn Parker, a certified����instructor and the founder of the�� in Carbondale, Colorado, for the best exercises to strengthen the back. These simple��yet effective moves target its��three main muscle groups—the latissimi��dorsi, the trapezii, and the rhomboids (major and minor)—as well as many��smaller stabilizing muscles.

Complete this workout as a circuit, with a minute or two of rest between each exercise��and five minutes of rest between each set. For the first round, do each exercise for 30 to 60 seconds, using lighter weights and a moderate��range of motion��to warm up your joints and muscles. Then��do two to three more sets of 10 to 15 reps with a full range of motion and heavier weights. Focus on form and control rather than quantity of reps.��

For each exercise, keep your core engaged to protect your spine, and pay attention to your breathing. Exhale during the concentric muscle phase (when your muscles contract under load), and inhale during the eccentric phase (when your muscles elongate under load). For example, when doing a pull-up, breathe out when you pull up, and breathe in when you lower yourself.

The Moves

Pull-Up

What it does: Primarily strengthens the lats, as well as biceps, rhomboids, trapezii, forearms, the back of the shoulders��(your posterior deltoids), and the core.

How to do it: Grip a pull-up bar or gymnastic rings with your hands shoulder-width apart or slightly wider, palms facing away from your body��(this engages your��lats, whereas gripping with your palms toward your body��uses your biceps). Hang with straight arms, and squeeze your shoulder blades together��to��protect your��joints.��Slowly pull up until your chin is above the bar, or as high as you can go comfortably, pause for a beat, and slowly lower back to the starting position for one repetition. Keep your body as still as possible (no swinging) throughout the movement. For an easier variation, try an assisted pull-up:��do the exercise as just described, but girth-hitch a resistance band to the pull-up bar, and place a knee in the bottom loop to take some of the load off your arms. If that’s still too challenging, try an eccentric pull-up: stand on a chair, and grip the bar as previously described. Jump up until your chin is above the bar, then lower yourself as slowly as possible to emphasize��the eccentric phase of the pull-up.��

Reps: 10 to 15

Incline Pull-Up (Inverted Row)

What it does: Primarily strengthens the��traps and rhomboids (upper back), as well as the lats,��biceps, posterior deltoids, forearms, and the core.

How to do it: Set up a bar or gymnastic rings at around waist height (position them lower to increase the challenge). Sit��underneath the bar or rings, and grip them with your hands shoulder-width apart or slightly wider, palms facing away. Extend your feet in front of you, and lift your body into a rigid plank,��resting on your heels. Hang with straight arms, and��engage your shoulders so your back does not sag or round.��You can also keep your feet flat and knees bent to 90 degrees for an easier variation. This is your starting position. From here, bend your elbows, retract your shoulder blades, and pull your chest to the bar. Pause, then slowly lower to the starting position for one repetition.

Reps: 10 to 15

Single-Arm Bent-Over Row

What it does: Strengthens the lats and rhomboids.

How to do it: Hold a dumbbell in your right hand, palm facing in. Place your left hand on a bench or box for support. Keep both feet on the ground, staggered, with your left��foot slightly forward. Hinge forward at the torso, maintain a flat back, and pull up the weight toward your armpit, keeping your elbow tight to your body and tracking backward. Pause,��then reverse the movement for one repetition. Complete all reps on one side before switching to the other side.

Reps: 10 to 15

Romanian Deadlift

What it does: Strengthens the lower back and hamstrings, as well as the trapezii��and abs.

How to do it: Hold a barbell, kettlebell, or dumbbells in front of you with both hands. (You can do this exercise unweighted as well.) Stand��with your feet shoulder-width apart or slightly wider��and a slight bend in your knees. Keep your shoulders rolled back and your core engaged to protect your spine. Hinge forward at the waist and stick your butt backward, maintaining a flat spine throughout the movement, until your torso is parallel to the floor (or as far as your flexibility will allow) without rounding your back or shoulders. Keep the weight close to your shins. Engage your hamstrings, glutes, and lower back to extend at the hips and reverse the movement for one repetition.

Reps: 10

Superman

What it does: Strengthens the erector spinae muscles that run parallel to the spine and support it, improving posture��and preventing or relieving��.

How to do it: Lie facedown on a mat, with your legs together and your arms extended overhead. Engage your lower back, then lift your legs and torso as high as you comfortably can in a reverse backbend. Hold this position for five seconds—remember to breathe—then slowly lower your arms and legs back to the ground for one repetition.

Reps: 10 to 15

Bird Dog

What it does: Strengthens the lower back,��abdominals, and��glutes, and also works balance.

How to do it: Start in a tabletop position, with your hands below your shoulders, your knees below your hips, and your spine in a neutral position. Slowly extend your left��leg and right arm until they are parallel to the ground, being��mindful not to curve your spine or rotate your hips. Hold this position for ten��seconds, then slowly return to the starting position for one repetition. Repeat with the opposite arm and leg.

Reps: 10 to 15 on each side

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In this episode of��Moves, fitness instructor Doug Lawder from Railyard Fitness in Santa Fe��walks us through six��moves for a stronger back.

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At first glance, the SmartMat might seem counterintuitive. Yoga and smartphones aren’t two words that usually go together, and the ancient Hindu practice is typically about unplugging from our ever-distracting world. But that’s not to say technology ������’t play a role during detox.��

Even though it’s the same size as a traditional yoga mat, the SmartMat is much more than a foamy cushion. With built-in sensors that interact with an iOS or Android app, it provides real-time verbal feedback on workouts through your device. The app also scores you on your poses. The mat runs on a rechargeable battery that lasts for six hours and that can withstand heat up to 110 degrees Fahrenheit—or just north of a typical Bikram class.

If you find yourself wanting to use the gadget as an old-school pad, you can turn off��SmartMat’s phone app at any time.��

$447 (pre-order $297),

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