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Working with elite athletes can be challenging and time-consuming, say experienced PTs who have worked with this patient cohort, yet helping rehabilitate these finely tuned physical specimens is rewarding far beyond the marketing value they bring.

With simple stretching and light weightlifting you can avoid rotator cuff problems.

The shoulder is the most moveable joint in the body, so it's no wonder that it is one of the most commonly injured parts.

From rotator cuff tears to dislocation, there are a variety of shoulder injuries that people suffer on a daily basis. Some sports are more conducive to shoulder pains, such as swimming or any activity where you use a throwing motion.

He's been the science behind some of the greatest Olympic track and field athletes the U.S. has ever seen, but he doesn't boast.

He's treated some of the world's most famous athletes, such as Kobe Bryant and Pete Sampras, and still doesn't blow his own horn.

And he's raced some of the world's toughest endurance events, yet he remains modest.

But that doesn't stop others from bragging about the man behind Robert Forster Physical Therapy (www.forsterpt.com) and Phase IV (www.phase-iv.net).

Simple ice. For hard-core athletes, there's nothing like it to prepare an injury for pre-game battle and to relieve swollen tissues after everyone has left the field. But that hasn't stopped more than a dozen manufacturers from trying to recreate ice or redefine how it is used. Making a better ice pack or a better way to keep cold therapy where it's needed is at least a $50 million business in the U.S. alone. No wonder there seems to be a new cold therapy product around every corner.

"Mountain biking is a great way to incorporate all of your fitness into one activity," states Diana Kilby, an instructor at Spokeswomen mountain bike camp in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. "When you spend time in the gym, you work hard to develop cardio and muscle tone, and mountain biking uses every facet. Legs get used pedaling, upper body is worked out from handlebars, and the trail in front of you keeps your cardio up."

Robert Forster, Physical Therapist

Power is a function of strength with the element of time added. If strength is the ability of muscle to generate force then Power is the ability to develop force quickly. In triathlon the quicker your muscles generate force and apply it to the ground, pedals, or water the faster you will go.

I've got a confession to make. After being faithful to my running program for the past few years, I developed the runner's version of the seven-year itch. In a word, I was bored. Like a husband who knows the contours of his wife's body all too well, I had practically memorized every crack in my local sidewalks.

Don't get me wrong. For calorie burning and overall fitness, running still rules in my book. It's allowed me to maintain a healthy weight and not feel guilty about my occasional Fatburger runs. And I'm more hooked on my daily endorphin rush than on my morning jolt of caffeine.

"YOUR BODY'S changed since you were 20--but your workouts probably haven't," says Robert Forster, whose Santa Monica, Calif., physical-therapy office is overpopulated with maturing triathletes and gym rats. "Age-related decline hits sooner than you think."

I have horrible shin splints that make aerobic activities such as walking and running incredibly painful. Is there any warm-up I can do that might ease the pain?

CJ

It started with a pop. This was the sound of Harvey LeSure’s disk rupturing, and the beginning of months of excruciating pain in his back and running down his leg.

Soon the formerly athletic LeSure, a 57-year-old social worker from Bellevue, Wash., couldn’t walk more than a hundred yards. Two surgeries and lots of painkillers later, LeSure realized that he needed to find the cause of his problem—and do something to prevent it from happening again. He found yoga therapist Robin Rothenberg, who runs The Yoga Barn in Issaquah, Wash.