In a thousand-year-old Himalayan folk tale, a king and queen, followed by their attendants, trek into the mountains of northern India��to the shrine of Nanda Devi, the mountain goddess. But on the way, the goddess strikes the pilgrims down for their celebratory and inappropriate behavior, and they fall into small, glacial Roopkund Lake.��

In 1942, a British forest ranger��assigned to patrol the Indian Himalayas during the Second World War��came across the lake and found the skeletal remains of hundreds of people. News spread, and Roopkund Lake, in the present-day Indian state Uttarakhand,��was��rechristened��Skeleton Lake.��

Thus began a now 77-year-old mystery about who these humans were, what brought them to the isolated, often frozen lake, and how they died.

The Nanda Devi tale could help explain the bodies. The pilgrimage they attempted, the Nanda Devi Raj Jat, is a three-week journey still undertaken��today to worship the goddess. Some hypothesize that the bodies could be evidence of a fatal 19th-century military expedition, but when many women’s bodies were found in the lake, this idea fell out of favor. Based on evidence of compression fractures on a few of the humans’ skulls, the most common belief is��that a hailstorm sometime between 830 and 850 A.D. ��published Tuesday in Nature Communications, however, contradicts this��theory.��

In the study, researchers��radiocarbon-dated and genetically analyzed the skeletal remains of 38 bodies found in the lake to find out how old the bones are and the individuals’ ancestry. They also analyzed the stable isotopes in the samples to learn more about what they ate. What the researchers��found surprised them.��

“The assumption was that all the skeletons dated to around the eighth century, but it became clear that this is not what happened,” says Éadaoin Harney, the lead author of��the paper and a doctoral candidate at��Harvard University’s department of organismic and evolutionary biology.��The bodies in the lake, instead of dying in a single catastrophic event, range from a few hundred to a thousand years old.��

The authors also assumed that the individuals were all from the Indian subcontinent, as this is what . But once they had the��ancient DNA samples, “it was clear this was definitely not the case,” says Harney.��

Genetically, the remains��fall into three distinct��groups, ranging from 1,000-year-old populations from��South Asia��to 200-year-old populations from Greece and Crete, along with one individual from East Asia. Twenty-three of the bodies analyzed were from South Asia, whereas 14 were of Mediterranean origins.��Even those individuals from South Asia “have ancestry that’s really diverse,” says Harney. “It’s not a single population coming from somewhere within India.��Instead it’s people from all over the subcontinent.” ��

The results of the isotope analysis also show diverse diets within and among each subgroup, adding to the mystery.��

As for��how they died there and why, Harney says:��“The only hint that we have is that Roopkund Lake is located along the pilgrimage route��that may have been used for the last 1,000 years.” And yet, for Harney, it is difficult to imagine this as the sole reason for such a genetically and culturally diverse��set of people to die in��the same remote lake.��

“We’re still pretty puzzled,” she says,��and more research is needed to determine the exact nature of these deaths. A massive hailstorm still can’t be ruled out, but the scientists wonder if the hailstorm was the fatal blow or if it occured��after the people died.

And compared to other archeological sites, Roopkund is challenging to study. “It’s been subject to so much disturbance, both from the natural environment, like rockslides,” says Harney, and from hikers on the nearby trail going down to retrieve bones or look at the site.��

The study does highlight��the ways in which humans have traveled��to far-off places��for hundreds, if not thousands,��of years.��“We knew that there were long-distance connections,”��says Harney,��but the new knowledge demonstrates “how important migration and connections between different parts of the world have been throughout history.”

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Think the foam roller is too basic a tool to evolve? Think again. The HyperIce —part foam roller, part vibrator—is in a recovery category of its own.

Like other foam rollers on the market, the Vyper helps work out knots in tight muscles. Unlike other foam rollers, it comes with an internal vibrator that can be set to three different frequency levels. The Vyper runs on rechargeable lithium ion batteries that provide two hours of roll time per charge.��

Not convinced? Several pro athletes use it, including surfing legend Kelly Slater��and alpine ski racer Lindsey Vonn, who��. If the rehab tool passes muster with the greatest surfer of all time and an Olympic gold medalist, maybe it’s worth adding to your gym bag.

$199,

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The athlete with great running or lifting form but a terrible slouch is all too common. And it’s a problem. Practicing good posture can strengthen your core, protect against injuries, and make you a more powerful and efficient athlete.��But first, you need to know what to look for and how to fix it.

Posture Is More Important Than You Think

“The more well-balanced and developed the muscles are that dictate alignment, the further you can push the envelope,” says , an exercise physiologist at Miraval Resort and Spa in Tucson, Arizona. You’ll be better able to lift heavy objects, sprint or change directions explosively, and fully utilize your diaphragm for proper breathing if you’re not wasting energy on inefficient posture. “I’ve seen athletes who have made adjustments of just a millimeter or two at the spinal level, and it turns out to be the difference between being able to lift 300 pounds and being able to lift 350 pounds,” says Carl Paoli, professional gymnast, CrossFit coach, and author of , agrees.

There’s the scare tactic, too: poor posture causes muscles to tighten and work overtime. “For the 20-something athlete, [bad] posture is not a life or death issue—but in the context of a long life filled with athletic pursuit, it takes on additional gravitas,” says Wolf. “Voila, you have the beginnings of chronic pain.”

So yes, posture matters a lot. But there’s more to it than just heeding Mom’s advice to sit up straight.��

Beware the Turtle Head

“Very few people have their ear canals directly over the center of their shoulders,” Wolf says. “Most of us have ‘turtle head,’ with our heads way out in front of our shoulders.” This puts unnecessary strain on the back and neck, and leaves the spine in a weakened position, more vulnerable to injuries.

Fix this where you’re most at risk of slumping. If you spend hours in the car each day, pay attention to sitting upright and keeping your head over your shoulders while you drive. If you sit (or stand!) at a desk job from 9 to 5, take a break at least every 30 minutes to do one minute of forward and backward shoulder circles and chin retractions. “Keep your head level but try to move it backward relative to your shoulder—it’s like giving yourself a major double chin,” Wolf says.

Stand Straight (But Not Too Straight)

For the rest of your body, the best posture is standing tall with a slightly arched spine and pelvis untucked (or, in layman’s terms, butt sticking slightly out.) “Athletes are often told to keep a ‘flat back’ with their abs tight and a neutral, tucked in pelvis, but that only compresses the vertebrae and puts more stress on the lumbar discs,” says , orthopedic surgeon at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.

Likewise, the idea of pulling your shoulders back is an “incomplete and out-of-date biomechanical cue,” says Jill Miller, creator of and author of . “Your shoulders shouldn’t be behind you or in front of you; they should be at your sides in a natural position.”

Roll It Out

Beyond constant awareness and practice, the best way to help your body undo its ingrained bad postural habits is to keep muscles loose. One way to do this is with self-myofascial release (self-massage) techniques using a tennis ball, says personal trainer Justin Price, author of .

At the end of the day, lie on your back with your head on a pillow and knees bent, and place a tennis ball under the muscles on one side of your glutes. Scoot around until you find a sore spot, then remain on that pressure point for five to ten seconds until it starts to release. Spend one to two minutes on either side of your glutes, then move the ball up between your shoulder blades and spine, and repeat.

Opening your chest can also be a quick fix for improving slumped over posture, says Wolf. If you have a foam roller or a yoga bolster handy, lie on it lengthwise, face-up, and “pretend you’re under arrest with your elbows and hands on the ground [at your sides],” he says.

Get Out of Your Chair

It’s not just your upper body that suffers when you slump forward. Over time, slouching negatively impacts the movement of your hips, pelvis and spine—a�Ի� it weakens the core abdominal and back muscles that play a role in balance and power.

The solution is to stop sitting so much. “It’s very difficult to maintain the proper curve in the lower back when you’re in a seated position, even if you’re doing your best to sit up straight,” O’Gara says.

If you are stuck in a chair for much of the day, consider a product like the , a small piece of plastic that tilts hips upright and realigns the spine when you sit on it. Or if you’re into activity trackers, consider the new , a small device you can wear under clothes or like a piece of jewelry. It not only counts your steps and alerts you when you’ve been sedentary for too long, it also vibrates when it senses you’ve slouched forward.

These products can be helpful in teaching the body what proper posture feels like, says Miller.��But don’t rely on them too heavily. “What you really want to do is train your body to maintain proper posture with or without equipment, so that it becomes second nature.” How? See all of our above advice. You’re welcome.

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Some people are heroes; others need saving. Eight-year-old Gabriel Lavan-Ying of Gainesville, Florida, has the soul of the former, but the body of the latter. He suffers from chronic inflammation, loose joints, skin that breaks open at the gentlest bumping, and his body is polka-dotted with black and blue hematomas—all symptoms of the connective tissue disorder . Eventually, he’ll have to get surgery to repair the delicate tissue of his aortic route.

“He doesn’t heal well or hold stitches, and we’ve learned that the hard way with his skin rupturing,”��says Gabriel’s mother, Tara. “So you can imagine what we’re looking at when he needs surgery on his heart.”

Even with his condition, Gabriel craves time adventuring outside, especially within state and national parks. At a fort in St. Augustine, —if he studied a handout, wrote an essay, spoke with rangers about their jobs, and completed various activities, Gabriel discovered, he could be part of the park system, too.��

“He got a certificate and a patch, and that was it, he was hooked,” Tara says. “So every time we went back to the fort, he would do it over again, although he got the same patch. He didn’t care. “

And now, despite Ehlers-Danlos, Gabriel wants to be a park ranger when he grows up.

“With that kind of hardship, being a ranger is certainly not ever going to be his reality,” Tara says. Most people suffering from EDS don’t start experiencing the worst symptoms until their 20s, but Gabriel has had EDS since infancy; his condition has progressed well beyond what’s normal for his age.

But after Florida representatives of Make-A-Wish learned about Gabriel’s condition this spring, Gabriel got his chance. On June 3, more than 100 Yosemite National Park employees worked with Gabriel and his family to help him .

The event was just as significant for Yosemite’s rangers as it was for Gabriel: Yosemite has planned events for people with illnesses previously, but park representatives said the park had neither worked with Make-A-Wish before nor created a means of becoming an honorary ranger before Gabriel dreamed up the possibility.

“We have had things like this in the past, but we’ve never had anything either this formal, this complex or this big,” said .

Park employees made Gabriel’s experience as official as possible. Chris Raines, the park’s education ranger; Ed Visnovske, the park’s law enforcement supervisor; and worked together to create a day jam-packed with challenging activities that would give him contact with every kind of ranger and make him feel like he earned his badge, but—thanks to input from Gabriel’s medical team—wouldn’t put him in harm’s way.

Gabriel arrived at the park with his twin sister Angelica, his baby brother Dominic, and his parents. He wore a child-size version of the ranger uniform, the hat covering his scarred forehead and the jacket large on a frame made small by an emergency stomach surgery. Though Gediman, Raines, Visnovske, and Westerlund met Gabriel amidst the click-clicks of perfectly positioned photographers and TV crews, the rangers and his mother all said Gabriel seemed completely invested and in the moment—to him, this was real.

The rangers put Gabriel through his paces right out of the gate. At 9 a.m. Gabriel went through yet another junior ranger program, complete with , which earned him a spot at the morning briefing table. While meeting various rangers, an “emergency call” came in about a forest fire in the park. Gabriel and two rangers quickly hopped into a fire truck and met 20 other fire rangers on the scene.

“They actually set a small ground fire,” Gediman says. “They gave him a hose and he actually put out the fire.”

A small group of rangers took Gabriel to lunch in the shadows of Yosemite Valley’s arching waterfalls and cliffs, where they conveyed to him in what it means to be a ranger: participating in preservation history and the importance of conserving natural resources.

But the park wouldn’t stay quiet for long. Gabriel’s Yosemite-assigned radio (“This is Ranger Gabriel, do you copy?”) soon buzzed with an even bigger emergency: Gabriel’s search and rescue skills were needed.

“We had a victim (read: a very safe ranger) that was in a litter that we lowered down a cliff,” Gediman says. “Gabriel took the victim to the ambulance and then he rode in the ambulance to the meadow” where a helicopter was waiting.

Proving his well-rounded worth, Gabriel was finally swept up by patrol car to a ceremony around 3 p.m. to celebrate his hard-earned victories. In front of family, new friends, and park visitors, Superindendent Don Neubacher and judge Michael Seng officially made Gabriel an honorary Yosemite park ranger.

“By the end of the day we were all just tired, but I mean, it was a special thing for me seeing that his high fives at the end of the day were stronger than in the morning,” Gediman says. “His mom tried to get him to drink water and relax but he just didn’t want to sit; he just wanted to go.”

For Tara, seeing her son power through his wish was a little nerve-wracking. “I kept asking him, ‘Do you need me to carry you, do you need a ranger to carry you?’ and he said, ‘No no no,’ because he didn’t want to look weak in front of the rangers,” she remembers. “I thought, well I’m gonna have to put his legs in cold water tonight to numb and cool some of this inflammation that’s bound to be going on.”

But carrying Gabriel through the Sequoias the following day was a small price to pay. “It was emotional,” Tara continues, “just how much work everyone put in to make it so special for him.”

Going through treatment is rough at any age, but for Gabriel, the prospect of becoming a ranger eased the pain. “For a lot of kids, a wish come true empowers them to continue to do their treatment,” says Josh deBerge, senior manager of national communications and public relations for Make-A-Wish.

If recent events are any indication, Gabriel’s wish experience will be a driving force for a while. The day after his ceremony, his family was driving to a rafting event when they saw a real rescue occurring within the park: a woman had been bitten by a snake.

Gabriel put on his ranger hat and was acknowledged by his ranger colleagues. “Even though it wasn’t his wish day, he was still included,” Tara says. “To him, it wasn’t a day, he’s an honorary park ranger,” she adds, “And that’s what he is, forever.

Photos courtesy of Yosemite National Park and Josh deBerge.

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Olympic village: The two-week home to world-class athletes and 10:30 p.m. root canals. That’s according to Paul Piccininni, dental director for the International Olympic Committee and a .

That’s right, the mouths of athletes are downright disgusting. Blame sugary sports drinks and gels—which generally speaking, may be worse for your teeth than Pepsi, says John M. Coke, D.D.S., professor of General Dentistry & Oral Medicine at the University of Alabama.

“The combination of high sugar and acid directly affects teeth enamel making it more vulnerable to decay. It also encourages acid producing bacteria to colonize, doubling the problem. This becomes a breeding ground for the bad bacteria, and can become a vicious circle of acid and decay,” he says.

Laugh as you may (“You could land the Space Shuttle on some athletes’ teeth,” Piccinni told the AP), but poor oral hygiene is no joking matter. Of 278 visitors to an Olympic dental clinic, more than half had cavities, 75 percent suffered from diseased gums, and a fourth said teeth woes negatively impacted their quality of life, according to a study published in .

Dirty teeth are also linked directly to poor nutrition and indirectly to more serious matters like cardiovascular disease, Coke says. The most acute implication though, is when an abscessed tooth leads to infection, Coke adds. Real-life proof: British rower Alan Campbell almost missed the ‘08 Games when an abscessed tooth morphed into an infection that spread to his shoulder, back, and knee, and required surgery before the Olympics.

Once Campbell started taking care of his pearly whites, he won bronze in London. “I’m not saying someone with perfect teeth is going to beat Usain Bolt,” Campbell told the AP. “But myself with good dental hygiene versus myself with bad dental hygiene: The version of me with good dental hygiene will be the one that comes out on top.”

The recipe for making sure Campbell’s plight doesn’t become your own? Rinse with water. While it’s no replacement for a toothbrush, a quick swish can help to neutralizes teeth-ruining acids and promote saliva, which naturally cleans your teeth. And when you’re back from your run, brush thoroughly. The long you let let what you eat and drink—especially that sugary stuff—sit in your mouth, the more likely it is that bacterial will grow.

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Officially, there is no recommended diet or magic food to protect against osteoarthritis, a condition that affects nearly 27 million Americans 25 and older. (Women and obese people seem to be most affected, but previous joint injuries and repetitive use from sports may also increase your risk.) However, a new study suggests that, for some people, drinking milk may indeed help delay progression of the disease.

Dairy consumption has long been recognized as an important factor in bone health, says study author and Harvard assistant professor Bing Lu, M.D.: “Milk contains many of the nutrients that are required daily, including calcium, phosphorus, and protein, and is voluntarily fortified with vitamin D.” Research has shown that drinking milk can reduce bone loss and lower the risk of bone fractures, so it made sense that it may also help reduce the loss of protective cartilage that connects our bones and joints—the main cause of osteoarthritis.

So Lu and his colleagues recruited more than 2,000 patients with knee osteoarthritis and monitored their dairy intake for four years. And they found that, for women at least, the more low-fat and fat-free milk they drank per week, the less their arthritis progressed.

Two caveats, though: Men did not reap the same benefits—their arthritis progressed the same, regardless of what they drank. And even for the women, only milk had a positive effect. Cheese consumption actually increased in disease progression, while yogurt consumption had no significant impact. (The saturated fat and sodium in processed cheese could be partially to blame, the authors speculate—so don’t go busting out that ice cream just yet.)

Still, low-fat or nonfat dairy is a healthy choice for plenty of other reasons, and most Americans don’t get their recommended three cups a day. This study may not conclusively prove that milk can save you from joint pain, says Lu, but it certainly won’t hurt.

Bottom line: There is some evidence to suggest that drinking milk may delay osteoarthritis, especially in women. But your best bets for protecting your joints are still pretty basic: Eat a balanced diet, maintain a healthy weight, and stay physically active—a�Ի� do your best to prevent further injuries, while you’re at it.��

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If you run, eventually you’re going to get hurt. We know that’s not what you want to hear, but the numbers don’t lie (even if they do vary). According to the latest research, between 30 to 80 percent of you will suffer some sort of running injury. With this statistic in mind, we reached out to Nicole Haas, a doctor of physical therapy and board certified orthopedic clinical specialist, and Dr. Jamie Mieras, sports medicine podiatrist at Boulder Valley Foot and Ankle Clinic in Boulder, Colorado, to help you cope when one of these issues strikes.

#1: Runner’s Knee

Kneecap pain is such a common injury with runners—accounting for almost 20 percent of all running injuries—that it’s been bestowed with the moniker “runner’s knee.” This general term describes hard-to-localize pain under or around the kneecap that feels worse on downhills and stairs. “The old research was that the kneecap was off-track. We now think it’s caused by muscular weaknesses that apply abnormal forces to the knee,” says Nicole Haas.

The Treatment:��Your first move is to reduce the inflammation with NSAIDs, rest, and ice. If you can exhibit some self-control, it’s okay to run on it as long as it doesn’t hurt, but skip the long runs and focus on rebuilding your form. Often, patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS) develops when you aren’t strong enough to keep yourself in proper biomechanical alignment. This puts undue stress on the patellar (kneecap), causing inflammation and irritation. “Focusing on and leg alignment (preventing the knee from collapsing inward) while strengthening the quads is crucial,” says Haas.

#2: IT Band Syndrome

Your iliotibial (IT) band runs along the outside of your hip down to your knee. When this thick tendon becomes inflamed, it causes pain on the outside of the knee that is especially noticeable when running downhill. “Weak hips, which can cause runners to have a knock-kneed gait, cause friction and irritation,” says Haas. Too much volume can also cause the IT band to be abnormally tight and pull at the point of attachment, causing pain. Surveys suggest that 12 to 14 percent of runners experienced IT band pain in the past year.

The Treatment:��One common short-term treatment is a corticosteroid injection. If the pain is due to decreased mobility of the IT band, foam rolling, massage, and stretching will help loosen up the tissue. Because biomechanics also play a role, strengthen your to help prevent the pain.

#3: Shin Splints (Tibial Stress Injury)

Shin splints are a vague and diffused pain on the front of the shin. The condition is usually caused by “too much, too fast” training, which doesn’t allow enough time for the tibia and surrounding musculature to properly heal between runs. The front of the tibia can be tender and inflamed, and this pain may decrease a few miles into your run. If left untreated for too long, shin splints can turn into a full-blown stress fracture. Women have a higher propensity for low bone density than men, increasing their odds of shin splints turning into a stress fracture .

The Treatment:��Rest, NSAIDs, and ice can help reduce the acute pain and inflammation, but the underlying issues are typically training errors or biomechanical abnormalities that place more strain on the tibia and tibialis than they can handle. So, get a coach and a proper biomechanical assessment. Flexibility could also be a factor: “Classically, we see people with very stiff ankle joints, and that pulls on the muscle,” says Haas. “That stiffness can result in compensatory movements and muscle use that can lead to aggravation of those muscles and eventually their attachment on the tibia.” Work on mobilizing the ankle by stretching the calf muscles and working with a physical therapist on mobilization movements. Primary strength work should focus on the , ankle-stabilization muscles, and calf muscles, with secondary work on the core and hips.

#4: Achilles Tendinitis

This continuous pain on the back of the lower leg occurs when the Achilles tendon, which connects your calf muscles to your heel, becomes inflamed and irritated. Sometimes caused by a poisoned arrow, Achilles tendinitis is more often the result of an increase in mileage, intensity, or hill workouts. Transitioning too quickly to a zero-drop shoe. Both will stress the tendon beyond its capacity, causing inflammation and pain.

The Treatment:��“The first thing has to be immobilization,” says Dr. Jamie Mieras. Stop the daily hill climbs and work on strengthening the calf muscles, which is the key to long-term treatment. —where the muscle is contracted as it lengthens—are widely regarded as the panacea.

#5: Plantar Fasciitis��

Pronounced “PLAN-ter fash-ee-EYE-tus,” this is a painful inflammation of the thick tissue that runs along the bottom of the foot. The pain is typically a dull ache adjacent to the heel (calcaneus), but it can be sharp first thing in the morning. “Plantar fasciitis results from overuse on mildly ‘off’ biomechanics, which is usually exacerbated by weak feet,” says Mieras. Because the tissue receives limited blood flow, this injury tends to linger.

The Treatment:��A shot of cortisone can be used in acute cases. Since this is an overuse inflammatory condition, ice it when it flairs. NSAIDs can also provide temporary relief. Mieras warns against pressure massage when it’s in the acute phase: “Rolling on a foot roller when it hurts will only inflame it more.” Upstream from the foot, tight calf muscles are thought to be a major cause, so consistently stretching them is key. If you’re having heel pain first thing in the morning, sleeping in a night splint can help keep the fascia elongated when it would normally overtighten. And reconsider your footwear. “Your biomechanics may benefit from more supportive shoes or adding rigid over-the-counter inserts to support the arch until the inflammation resolves,” says Mieras.

#6: Hamstring Strain

Three muscles on the back of your thigh are tasked with bending your knee, and the hamstrings are the tendons that attach these big, thick muscles to the bone. Injuries to the hamstrings are usually located at the attachment or involve tears or strains to the tendon. Although more common in athletes who sprint, endurance athletes can injure their hamstrings through chronic overuse or muscle imbalances.

The Treatment:��A tight hamstring is susceptible to being overstretched and strained. Make sure the posterior muscles (located on your backside) and tendons have the required range of motion and appropriate mobility. If you can’t touch your knees, let alone your toes, we’re talking to you. “Eccentric strengthening of the hamstring has been shown to help recover from a strain and will be beneficial regardless of where the pain is in the hamstring,” says Haas. Long-distance runners with weak glutes might overcompensate with their hamstrings. Activating and will reduce hamstring demand and irritation.

#7: Stress Fractures

One of the more serious running injuries, “[A stress fracture] is that nagging pain that people don’t want to admit to themselves,” says Meiras. The pain is caused by tiny cracks in the bone. Presenting in runners most often in the shins (tibias), feet (metatarsals), or heels (calcaneus), stress fractures are caused by an overload of repetitive stress—the impact of the ground from running.

The Treatment:��This pain will subside with rest and worsen with activity, so take some time off. You will need an X-ray to be sure it’s a fracture, and expect eight to 16 weeks of fun with crutches. Once it’s healed, research shows that weight-bearing exercises, like strength training, have a bone-strengthening effect. Enough stress helps your bones grow stronger, so plyometrics and even running will lessen your likelihood of suffering a future stress fracture—as long as you don’t overdo it. Long-term, Haas says, “Work with someone to analyze your biomechanics,” because poor form can increase ground-reaction forces and put more stress on your bones.

8. Ankle Sprain

An ankle sprain is an acute injury caused by a twisting or rolling movement that tears the ligaments surrounding the ankle. Whether it happens on the trail or after carelessly dropping off a curb, sprains are extremely painful and cause the ankle to become inflamed immediately.

The Treatment:��“Ankle sprains will tell you how you should treat them,” says Mieras. “If it hurts, don’t run on it.” The classic RICE treatment works well with this injury: Resting it allows it to heal. Icing it causes the blood vessels to constrict and prevents further leakage of blood and serum into the area. Compressing, or wrapping the ankle with an Ace bandage, manually pushes out the inflammation. Elevation allows gravity to help remove some of the swelling. Once you are past the acute phase (usually two weeks), research suggests strengthening the surrounding musculature and ��to improve ankle stability and avoid a repeat.

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HEART
One reason exercise gets more difficult with age: arteries lose elastin and begin to stiffen, which means blood doesn't move as efficiently and less oxygen reaches muscles. Earlier this year, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh grew stretchy blood vessels from cells taken out of young baboons. Lab-grown tissues could one day replace severely blocked arteries in people with heart disease—or the stiffening arteries of older athletes.

BONES
The simplest way to build strong bones? Try some good vibrations. In recent studies, mice that stood on a vibrating platform developed thicker, healthier bones—a�Ի� far less body fat—than unshimmied rodents. Researchers think the shaking causes stem cells in bone marrow to differentiate into bone tissue instead of fat. Fortunately, many gyms already have vibration platforms. Note: mild vibes are all it takes.

KNEES
One of the more vexing challenges of cartilage-replacement surgery is getting the new stuff to stay in place. A possible solution: magnets! In a recent Japanese study, scientists implanted microscopic magnets at the base of damaged rat knees, then injected cartilage cells that had been mixed with magnetized iron oxide. The magnetized cells glommed onto the site in 48 hours and began dividing and multiplying.

TENDONS
Ever since Tiger Woods admitted to using platelet-rich plasma, or PRP, last year to help heal his mangled knees, the therapy has become wildly popular for a range of problems. The treatment requires siphoning blood (yours), centrifuging it until it's a viscous goop packed with platelets (cell fragments involved in blood clotting) and growth factors (which cause cells to divide and multiply), and injecting it into sore tissue. In early tests, treated tendons became thicker and stronger—so much so that the International Olympic Committee banned the practice for uninjured athletes.

ANKLES
Sprains are among the most common sports injuries and can cause joints to become unstable and arthritic. In the past, surgeons would fuse a repeatedly injured ankle, but early reports suggest replacements—some made of metal and polyethylene—rotate and respond almost as well as the real thing.

To View the pdf,

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Future of Human Performance

The future of human performance

EYES
Robovision is coming soon. In 2009, surgeons at Columbia University Medical Center in New York implanted an electronic retina in the eye of a blind woman, allowing her to “see” through a video camera mounted on eyeglasses. A microprocessor converted the digital feed to electronic signals and sent them to the retina, which stimulated neurons in her visual cortex to create mental images.

LUNGS
Time to become a better breather. In a 2010 study at Indiana University, cyclists puffed into a handheld machine that huffed back, providing respiratory resistance and strengthening the diaphragm. After six weeks, the riders required up to 4 percent less oxygen to pedal at a given pace. Respiratory-training devices of varying quality are already available and could soon show up at your local gym.

SKIN
Researchers at Stanford University have developed a microthin electronic hide made of pliable polymers and carbon. Nano-transistors embedded in the fabric and powered by stretchable solar-collection cells sense touch, as well as the presence of proteins that might indicate disease. The material will probably be used in clothing first but could someday replace damaged skin.

STOMACH
Fasted training—avoiding carbohydrates before and during a workout—is a sports-nutrition fad with solid scientific support. In a six-week study in January, cyclists who rode without eating converted fat to fuel much more efficiently than cyclists who ate before and during training. The fasted riders also maintained even blood-sugar levels during long rides, while cyclists accustomed to eating experienced abrupt drops in blood sugar when forced to go without. The benefits could be especially significant during races, when many athletes eat sparingly or not at all.

MUSCLES
Scientists at the University of Colorado may have found a fountain of youth for muscles. Typically, once you pass 30 your muscles are slower to repair themselves, so they don’t recover as well after workouts or gain strength as effectively during training. But when researchers injected stem cells from the muscles of healthy mice into mice with injured leg muscles, not only did the injuries heal rapidly but the muscles remained vigorous for the rest of the mice’s lives. The scientists are now hoping to test the procedure with humans.

To View the pdf,

.

BRAIN
One lesser-known benefit of training: it makes you smarter. How? Exercise boosts production of the poetically named neural protein noggin, which results in healthier stem cells in the brain. Without enough noggin, neural cells stop dividing and don’t create new tissue: your brain literally shrinks. Need more convincing? Scientists synthesized the stuff and injected it into the brains of mice, which subsequently aced rodent intelligence tests.

NERVES
Help may be on the way for athletes with spinal injuries. Scientists are working on a tiny wireless device that, when implanted in the brain, can send electrical impulses signaling movement directly to artificial limbs, bypassing damaged nervous systems. The gadget is being tested on monkeys, and a similar technology could someday allow paralyzed humans to regain control of their bodies.

MOUTH
You are what your parents (and grandparents) ate, according to epigenetics, the newest branch of gene research. Diet turns certain genes on or off and changes how others express proteins, affecting metabolism and muscle function—instructions that can be transmitted to offspring. When male mice were fattened on high-calorie chow, they sired pups predisposed to obesity. Similarly, when pregnant mice were underfed, their offspring were born with metabolic abnormalities that, a generation later, appeared in their children’s babies.

To View the pdf,
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Three decades ago, endurance training consisted of pretty much one workout: all-out, all the time. Then fitness went mainstream, CEOs started wearing spandex, and “sports scientist” became a legitimate career goal. The result? Periodization, VO₂ max, functional strength, and more. Herewith, a highly concentrated dose of ���ϳԹ��� training advice distilled from 30 years of health-and-fitness expertise.

Get a Routine��
Embrace daily rituals, whether it's making coffee just so or walking the dog. Routines can lower blood pressure and slow heart rate.

Learn from Other Athletes��
“The Kenyan runners who always win marathons never jog,” says pro soccer player LANDON DONOVAN. So Donovan trains at 80 percent of his maximum heart rate until he's exhausted, teaching his body “recovery endurance” through a sequence of sprints and rests. Over time, you'll still need to give your body a break to optimize gains (see Train with a Plan, below), but this ability to push yourself to the brink of collapse and recover quickly is essential for top aerobic athletes.

Turn Big Challenges into Small Goals��
“Think only about the present and focus on micro-goals,” says ultramarathoner DEAN KARNAZES. “Just make it to that stop sign up ahead; OK, now make it to the tree up the street; and so on.”

Find Your Lactate Threshold��
What's that? LT is the point at which lactic acid accumulates in your blood faster than your body can process it—causing a drop in performance (read: pain). Training below your LT builds aerobic capacity. Training above it builds speed. How to determine your LT:

1. Warm up, 10 minutes.
2. With a heart-rate monitor on, run or cycle on a flat course as fast as you can for 30 minutes.
3. Your LT is your average heart rate for that period.

Protect Your Knees
By doing nothing. A lot of blown ACLs could be avoided by simply staying down and resting after a fall. A stretched ACL is easily torn
on subsequent falls.

To Get Faster, You Must Push Yourself��
“A runner churning out seven-minute miles will never know how quickly his arms and legs have to move to run a six-minute mile. You can't practice by running slow.” —MARK VERSTEGEN, Athletes' Performance founder, author of the Core Performance series

Train with a Plan
Here's how to reach peak shape for any sport with one 12-week program.
FIRST MONTH: Complete a full-body weight-lifting circuit twice weekly. Do your cardio workouts on three other days, going long once. Each week, increase the duration of the long day's workout by 10 percent. During the fourth week, cut the workout load by 50 percent.
SECOND MONTH: Follow the first month's plan, but cut back to lifting once a week and add another day of cardio. During the eighth week, which is for recovery, cut everything in half.
THIRD MONTH: Stop lifting and use that day for cross-training. Ramp up speed by completing one cardio day each week with intervals at your intended race pace. Your long cardio day remains the same for the first two weeks, and for weeks 11 and 12 you cut its duration in half. During week 12, taper by doing only 50 percent of week 11's work.

Cheat Sheet��
Lift. Lower weights slowly. It helps train your muscles to absorb shock and control your descent in real-world action.
Hydrate. For workouts lasting one hour or less, drink only water. For longer outings, bring a sports drink with carbs.
Relax. Don't try to make up for missed workouts by doing two long days back to back. If you miss a day, just let it go.

Maintain Base Fitness
“Never get so out of shape that getting back into shape would be a monumental effort,” says alpinist CONRAD ANKER. “I do two things every year: climb El Capitan and do a marathon-length run. They give me goals, and I train accordingly.”

Have Fun
“A competition is just to show off how hard you've been playing,” says freestyle kayaking champ ERIC JACKSON, who credits the fun factor for his success.

Schedule Recovery Time��
You're not slacking off; you're recovering. Take two days off each week, an easy week every month, and a month of active rest—like surfing or riding a cruiser—per year.

Cross-Train with the Right Sport��
Runners: Cycling maintains leg strength and cardio fitness while giving you a break from impact on your joints.
Cyclists: Running and rowing develop strength in the torso, quads, and glutes.
Climbers: Calisthenics use body-weight resistance to build strength without adding bulk.
Swimmers: Rowing builds key strength in the shoulders, arms, legs, and torso.
Kayakers: Swimming works the arms, shoulders, and torso, improving power and range of motion.

Mix It Up
“Strength and endurance are of equal importance, so if you only have limited time, do a little of both.” —MARK ALLEN, six-time Kona Ironman champ

You Need More Than Calcium
Bones weaken if you do only low-impact activities. Strengthen your skeleton by mixing in high-impact workouts like running, jumping rope, or playing ball sports.

Work Your Core
A weak trunk can cause chronic back pain and other torso problems. The prevention: crunches and planks (brace yourself on forearms and toes, body rigid like a plank).

Build Functional Strength
“When you sit down on an exercise machine, with your back against a chair, you tend to shut down the rest of your body,” warns LAIRD HAMILTON. “You want strength that you can actually control and apply.” It's called functional strength, and it dictates the way you should lift weights. Here's our complete workout. Do Group 1 once a week. Two days later, do Group 2. Concentrate on smooth, controlled lifts throughout.��

Group 1 (10–12 reps)
(a) Dumbbell flies lying on a stability ball
(b) Barbell squats
(c) Wide-grip pull-ups
(d) Medicine-ball chops
(e) Standing dumbbell pullovers
(f) Dumbbell lunges
(g) Standing bent-over rows with hand on
a stability ball
(h) Upright barbell rows

Group 2 (25 reps)
(a) Stability-ball push-ups
(b) Stability-ball crunches

Don't Overdo It
Unless you're winning prize money, allow six months between marathons or Ironman triathlons.

Listen to Your Heart
It will help you avoid overtraining during intervals. Use a two-to-one work-to-recovery ratio. Let's say your intervals last two minutes each. After the first one, recover for one minute and check your heart rate. The first time your heart rate fails to drop to this number on subsequent intervals, you're done.

Stretching Is No Joke
OK, the scorpion pose is a joke. But daily yoga or stretching improves flexibility and muscle endurance.

From the Vault The Life & Times of ���ϳԹ���
On Second Thought…
Wow. As much as the exceedingly wise counsel here makes us feel all warm and fuzzy inside, we've also spouted some really bad health-and-fitness advice over the years. For example, the time we tendered this moronic little gem: “Exercising above 85 percent of your maximum heart rate yields little or no additional cardiovascular benefit” (7/86). D'oh! But wait, it gets much, much worse. Somewhere among the six cigarette ads in our June '83 Best of Summer issue, you'll find this: “Tanning shouldn't inspire guilt…. Relax. Enjoy the heat. You're going to look great.” But don't forget your “tanning product”: “Choose a label showing someone with a tan you especially like, then buy that one.” OK! And those strange new “SPF” numbers on some bottles? “Some mathematically inclined people pay attention to them.” But in our defense, way back in the fall of '79, we had the good sense to hold up for ridicule Chicago physician Allan Charles, who opined that jogging could make a woman's insides fall out. “Their pelvic muscles are too weak,” said the good doctor. “They're perforated by the vagina.”

Don't Blame Food��
“Thinking that carbs make you fat is wrong,” says CHRIS CARMICHAEL, founder and head coach of Carmichael Training Systems. “You're fat because you're not exercising. To simply blame a food type for being fat is bullshit.”

Keep Your Head in the Game
Mental fitness can be just as important as the physical sort. Surfer KELLY SLATER says his record seventh world title was due largely to the personal growth he achieved from healing strained family relationships. “I'm relaxed as I've ever been,” he said prior to winning.

Hit the Sack��
Skimping on sleep triggers a decrease in human growth hormone (HGH), which can cause muscles to wither and fat to build up. It's crucial for everyone to get a full eight hours of sleep each night, and you can use an afternoon nap to reach that eight-hour goal.

Understand What Motivates You
“I don't know if it's so much winning but the fear of losing,” LANCE ARMSTRONG famously said before winning the Tour de France in 2003. “I don't like to lose. I just despise it.”

Boost Immunity
How? ��

1. Exercise five days a week.
2. Get antioxidants from whole foods, not supplements.
3. Wash hands frequently and thoroughly.
4. Get a flu shot.

Listen to Your Mother��
Straighten up. Balance, coordination, and flexibility all begin with good posture. When standing erect, you should be able to draw a line from your ear to your heel, with the line bisecting your shoulder, passing through your hip, and grazing the back of your knee.

Stock Your Travel Kit
Keep this in your Dopp kit, and hope you don't need it:
IBUPROFEN and aspirin for sore muscles.
ACETAMINOPHEN (Tylenol) for pain from viral illnesses (colds, flu) and injuries involving bleeding.
COLD TABLETS containing pseudoephedrine to clear up sinus congestion without causing drowsiness.
ANTIBACTERIAL SOAP and hydrogen peroxide for cleaning wounds.
SHOT GLASS, in case none of the above works.

Have More Friends!
“Energy makes people beautiful,” says JACK LALANNE. “You don't want to be close to someone who's dead and crapped out all the time, who's bitching that it's a lousy fucking world and 'Christ, my ulcers are killing me.'”

Stay Trim

1. Lift weights to build muscle. This raises your resting metabolic rate, the energy you burn to keep your body (and muscles) alive.
2. Eat often, approximately every three hours. Eating frequent, small meals is linked with lower body-fat percentage.
3. Avoid calorie-dense foods, like sweets and dried fruits. Eat more foods with high levels of water and fiber, like raw vegetables and whole grains.

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The stats aren’t pretty. More than 80 percent of us will have back pain at some point in our lives, and it’s the second most common reason we see a doctor (numero uno: headaches). Nonetheless, most athletes know as much about the inside of the human back as they do about the innards of a heart-rate monitor—and doctors are often in a similar state of ignorance. Whereas knee problems can be quickly diagnosed with an MRI and often solved with routine surgery, lower-back pain involves so many variables and moving parts—tendons, muscles, and multiple joints—that pinpointing the problem can be similar to reading tea leaves. Without a proper diagnosis, the infamous but ambiguous “bad back” plagues many to the grave; surgery, meanwhile, is a last resort that can’t solve every problem. Depressed yet? Don’t be: There’s plenty of information out there to make sure you never start resembling Quasimodo. Even better, we’ve done the homework for you. After talking to dozens of back specialists and combing through the latest research, we’ve devised a back-specific exercise-and-treatment plan that will keep you upright and in the game forever. Taking apart your heart-rate monitor is up to you.

Get a Diagnosis

Understanding what causes a sore lower back is the first step toward recovery—and prevention. Here are the most common injuries.

Human Back

L-Dopa

1. Lumbar Strain

WHAT IT IS: An unfortunately vague diagnosis that accounts for about 90 percent of all lower-back injuries. It’s caused by a pull or tweak of any of the muscles, ligaments, connective tissue, joint capsules, or cartilage in your lower back. HOW IT HAPPENS: Lift something heavy without bending your knees, land awkwardly, wake up with a random soreness—all are probably strains or sprains. WHAT IT FEELS LIKE: A hard-to-pinpoint ache or stiffness that can radiate into your rear end. PROGNOSIS: With proper rest and low-impact exercise, most cases remedy themselves within three months. The bad news: It often recurs.

2. Herniated Disc

WHAT IT IS: A tear in the outer fibers of a disc, the shock-absorbing pad between the vertebrae, which may cause the disc’s jellylike nucleus to push through the fibers. Also called a slipped or ruptured disc. HOW IT HAPPENS: Causes can be similar to those of a strain or sprain. Discs also lose fluidity with age. WHAT IT FEELS LIKE: If minor, you’ll feel the type of ache associated with a lumbar strain. The discomfort becomes worse if the slipped disc presses against a nerve; even more acute if the disc rubs against the sciatic nerve, causing shooting pain (called sciatica) and possible numbness in one leg. PROGNOSIS: More than 95 percent of people recover through rest and therapy. Steroid injections, which control pain and swelling for several months, are a common treatment for the hardest to cure.

3. Compression Fracture

WHAT IT IS: A break in the bone structure of the vertebra. It’s most common in the vertebrae about two-thirds of the way down your back. HOW IT HAPPENS: A sudden impact coupled with flexing your back—think of lurching forward when smacking hard on the landing of a big jump on a bike or skis. WHAT IT FEELS LIKE: Intense pain directly on the spine where the fracture has occurred. PROGNOSIS: You’ll typically wear a back brace for upwards of six weeks while the fracture heals.

4. Spondylolysis

WHAT IT IS: Something as bad as it sounds, unfortunately: a crack in the solid part of the vertebra. Like a herniation, it occurs at the base of the spine. Worse still is isthmic spondylolisthesis, a crack that forces a vertebra to slip over the one below it. HOW IT HAPPENS: Some 4 to 8 percent of people are born with the defect. It can develop into isthmic spondylolisthesis, which can occur during growth spurts or as a result of repetitive exercise, like a stress fracture. WHAT IT FEELS LIKE: Either one can cause pain that’s no different from the typical strain or sprain; amazingly, in some cases there are no symptoms at all. PROGNOSIS: Taking a break from pain-causing activities and doing core-strengthening exercises is usually sufficient, though surgery may be required.

Use the Prevent Defense

Your core means your abs, right? Wrong, says Mark Verstegen, author of the new Core Performance book series (Rodale) and founder of the Athletes’ Performance institutes, where pros like Detroit Pistons guard Chauncey Billups get training help. According to Verstegen, your core means muscles throughout your torso, hips, and shoulders, which are literally the backbone for daily and athletic movements. Follow this two-part workout he created to maintain a strong and stable back. Do the Mobility/Stability Circuit first, then transition immediately to the Strength Circuit (perform the workout two or three times per week).

MOBILITY/STABILITY CIRCUIT: Perform each of the five exercises in succession, then repeat the cycle for two complete sets.

1 DIAGONAL ARM LIFT

In modified push-up position (resting on forearms and feet slightly wider than shoulder width apart), extend right arm toward 2 o’clock without moving your torso. Hold for two seconds, then switch, extending left arm toward 10 o’clock. 6 reps each arm

2 MINIBAND HIP ROTATIONS

Stand in athletic position with a taut miniband just above your knees. Stretch the band by rotating your right knee inward and then outward. Don’t move your pelvis or foot position. Switch after completing all repetitions with right leg. 12 reps each side

3 BACKWARD LUNGE

Step backward with right leg into a lunge, then raise your right arm straight overhead. Then side-bend to the left. Return to standing, switch legs, and repeat. Make sure your front knee does not move beyond your toes during the lunge. 6 reps each side

4 MARCHING GLUTE BRIDGE

Lying face up with arms at sides, knees bent, and heels on ground, raise hips until they are in line with your shoulders and knees. Bring your right knee to your chest; don’t dip your hips. Return foot to ground; switch legs, repeat. 6 reps each side

5 QUADRUPED POSTERIOR ROCKING

On hands and knees, with hands under shoulders and knees under hips, push hips back as far as you can, stopping just before your pelvis starts to rotate under. Hold for two seconds and repeat. 6 reps

STRENGTH CIRCUIT: Complete two cycles, performing all three exercises in succession.

1 LATERAL-SLIDE SQUATStand with your left foot on a Valslide () or other material that will slide, such as a towel on a hardwood floor. Squat with your left leg to 90 degrees while sliding your right leg away from your body. Make sure your squatting knee doesn’t go in front of your foot. Return to standing. Complete all repetitions, then switch legs. 10 reps each side

2 STABILITY CABLE CHOP

Holding a triceps pull-down rope with both hands (left arm extended, right arm in front of your chest) and left leg forward in a scissor stance, pull the cable by flexing your left arm to your left shoulder while extending your right arm away from your body. Then extend your left arm down and across your body without rotating your torso. Switch arms, repeat. 10 reps each side

3 ROMANIAN DEAD LIFT

Standing on left foot while holding dumbbells by your sides, pivot over so that dumbbells lower to the floor as right leg rises to parallel with the floor. Make sure your leg and upper body move as one stiff board, with your back never rounding. Switch legs, repeat. 10 reps each side

Work Smarter

Corporate suits may pretend otherwise, but evolution didn't prepare us for sitting in front of a computer ten hours a day. Your spine faces its highest daily load when you're sitting, and if you're slumped over filling out countless TPS reports, that pressure nearly doubles. Follow these guidelines to save your back without quitting your job.

1. CHAIR Recline 10-20 degrees beyond vertical to relieve pressure on discs. Your chair should also provide support from your lower back up to your shoulder blades. For additional support, use a rolled-up towel behind your lower back. Swiss balls are OK for short periods, as they encourage good posture and strengthen torso muscles, but over long intervals they tend to cause slouching—with no support.

2. HIPS/FEET Distribute weight on as much of your body as possible. Your hips should be slightly higher than your knees, your butt as far back as possible, and your feet flat on the floor. Use a footrest if you can’t achieve the proper position due to chair or desk height.

3. HANDS Avoid reaching for your keyboard or mouse. You should be able to place your hands comfortably in your lap and then raise them a few inches to reach both keyboard and mouse.

4. MONITOR The top of your monitor should be at eye level. Make sure you can read the screen easily and that it’s not backlit.

5. UPPER BODY You should be reclining with your head, neck, and shoulders in line with your torso and relaxed—beware of too-high armrests that keep your shoulders shrugged.

Row This Way

If you use an erg, or rowing machine, you already know it delivers one of the most grueling workouts you can get on a piece of stationary exercise equipment. But a study published in The American Journal of Sports Medicine in 2002 found a correlation between rowing an erg for more than 30 minutes and back injury. Dr. Timothy Hosea, the team physician for the U.S. Rowing Team, says to follow these rules for a safe and effective workout.

1. Maintain proper technique (back straight, abs engaged)
2. Stick to a high-stroke, low-resistance workout (22-24 strokes/minute)
3. Get off and stretch if rowing for more than 20 minutes

Build a Better Back

For some injuries, the only remedy is spinal-fusion surgery, which alleviates pain but decreases flexibility—a result of cementing two vertebrae together. Until now. New artificial discs and other products may enable today’s patients to enter limbo competitions. In October 2004, Charité became the first artificial disc approved by the FDA; ProDisc-L was given the green light last August. “It’s definitely the most exciting area in terms of spine surgery today,” says Dr. Richard Guyer, president of the North American Spine Society.

Chill Out

Our aching Lab Rat tests the world's most expensive ice pack

Game Ready

Game Ready Control Unit

Podcast Version:

Winter arrived, and its bitter winds bore multiple injuries: Turned my ankle in a late-season soccer game, bashed my knee against a rock during a backcountry ski tour, tweaked my back on a trail run. Then came my high-speed yard sale on a beginner’s run in Colorado, during which I cantilevered facefirst into the slope with such force it broke my goggles, wrenched my right shoulder, and whiplashed my body into what contortionists call a “scorpion” a highly unnatural backbend in which your feet wrap over your head and touch the ground.

��

Staying upright much less fit was becoming a daily war of attrition. Since I was spending so much time nursing sprains and strains, I invested in my own personal rehab wonder. A 26-year-old Swedish masseuse named Brigitta? Alas, no. I got a Game Ready.

Game Ready () is a portable device about the size of a toaster oven. It pumps ice water and air through a variety of articulated cuffs that fit over injured body parts ankles, knees, back, shoulders, etc. In essence, it’s a high-tech update on RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation), offering a few distinct advantages over a bag of frozen peas. Game Ready’s cuffs Velcro snugly over odd-shaped body parts; they inflate like a blood-pressure sleeve to combine compression with penetrating cold; and they don’t turn warm and mushy after 20 minutes.

Originally developed by NASA to help cool space suits, the technology migrated into therapeutic application in 1998 for treatment of acute injuries. Since then, it’s become a staple in training rooms, physical-therapy clinics, and, more recently, private homes. (But it requires serious soreness to warrant your own personal unit expect to pay about $2,500, depending on the joint wraps needed.)

Trainers and therapists have long appreciated the value of cold for treating injuries, since it’s the swelling that contributes most to pain, slow recovery, and scar tissue. “A common denominator in almost all outdoor-sports injuries is joint swelling,” says Jeremy Rodgers, 33, a certified athletic trainer at the Colorado Sports Chiropractic Center, in Louisville, Colorado. “From a rehab standpoint, if you can control that swelling, that’s the number-one predictor of a good outcome.”

It was a no-brainer to use Game Ready on my ski-wrecked shoulder. But I soon discovered another blessed application: routine workout recovery, especially for my lower back, which, since I’m a slouching desk dork most of the week, was agitated after almost every run. The therapeutic potency of cold and compression worked miracles my back was usually pain-free by the next day. My shoulder took a week to recover, but that was a lot better than three weeks. And no visits to my local rehab clinic required; I could ice several times a day while watching HBO from the couch. I even asked the Game Ready folks if they were going to make a full-body suit, which made them laugh momentarily.

Find Your Fix

If you suffer from chronic back pain, you're probably willing to try anything for a cure. But in the growing field of alternative medicine, you'll likely struggle when distinguishing sound advice from snake oil. Instead, let Daniel Cherkin be your guide. The 57-year-old associate director for research at Seattle's Group Health Center for Health Stud

1. Therapeutic MassageMassage relaxes muscles and other soft tissues and increases blood flow and oxygen in affected areas, thus encouraging healing and recovery.
HAS IT WORKED? Cherkin led a randomized trial, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine in 2001, that found therapeutic massage effectively treated lower-back pain over the course of a year. Group Health subsequently included massage under its covered benefits for chronic back pain.
FIND THE RIGHT SHOP: In addition to becoming certified, therapists can enroll in courses that teach hundreds of specialized techniques. For the lower back, seek out those who have trained in neuromuscular and myofascial modalities. Consult the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork’s online directory at .

2. Acupuncture

This traditional Chinese treatment has become mainstream in the U.S., with more than two million patients annually. Thin metallic needles are inserted just below the skin to release blockages in energy flow (called qi) and return the body to a balanced state. Acupuncturists may twirl the needles or apply heat or a slight electric current during the treatment.
HAS IT WORKED? Studies called for by the National Institutes of Health have shown acupuncture to be effective in curbing postoperative pain and nausea, as well as fighting the effects of arthritic knees. In the same study in which Cherkin found massage to help curb lower-back pain, he found acupuncture to be only slightly less effective.
FIND THE RIGHT SHOP: Forty-two states regulate acupuncture through the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine; search for a certified practitioner at .

3. Chiropractic Manipulation

Fans and skeptics alternately laud and lampoon this treatment. The most common practice is an “adjustment,” wherein the practitioner gives a quick, controlled force to a particular joint in your spine. The manipulation is sometimes punctuated by an audible “pop,” which is the sound of the joint repositioning. This adjustment is believed to fix the spinal misalignment causing pain.
HAS IT WORKED? Even with numerous studies, the jury is still out. A randomized trial in 2002 found it to be as effective as conventional medicine. In Cherkin’s own research, published in The New England Journal of Medicine in 1998, he found it to be “only marginally better than the minimal intervention of an educational booklet.”
FIND THE RIGHT SHOP: Chiropractors complete a four-year classroom-and-clinical program and take state or national exams. Look for licenses and a degree from an accredited chiropractic college.

4. Yoga

Anyone who can do a cobra pose can’t have back pain. Yoga incorporates controlled breathing while putting your body through a series of stretches and poses, in order to promote strength and flexibility.
HAS IT WORKED? Cherkin’s colleague Karen Sherman led a study (published in the Annals of Internal Medicine in 2005) that found yoga to be effective in not only improving back-related function but reducing chronic pain over the course of a 26-week period.
FIND THE RIGHT SHOP: Without one certifying body, you’re limited to asking instructors how long they’ve been teaching and what they’ve done to update their methods. Talk to current students to see if a teacher is right for you.

5. Alexander Technique

Developed by an Aussie Shakespearean actor (really), it’s a hands-on technique for improving posture, coordination, and movement. During one-on-one lessons, a teacher guides you in various positions and movements, focusing primarily on the relationship between the head, neck, and torso. It takes about 30 classes to pick up.
HAS IT WORKED? Long embraced in performance circles—it’s a required course in Juilliard’s dance and drama programs—Alexander Technique was accepted as a component in most of Switzerland’s national-health-care packages to combat chronic pain. Cherkin has not studied it.
FIND THE RIGHT SHOP: More than 700 teachers are registered with the American Society for the Alexander Technique (); all have completed at least 1,600 hours of training over a minimum of three years. Beware of “bodyworkers” who have not completed such detailed training.

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