LONG AND STRONG

For too many men, hamstrings are hell. Badly tuned ones can lead to back pain, leg strains, and worse. So our thanks go out to the British researchers who discovered that men who add the glute-ham raise to their workouts suffer fewer hamstring strains than men who don’t perform the move. Here’s how to join the protected: Kneel on a stack of exercise mats and have a training partner press down on your lower legs. Lower your torso as far as you can, resisting gravity with your glutes and hamstrings. Catch yourself with your hands, then muscle back up to the starting position. (Push off with your hands if you need to.) Adding two or three sets of 10 repetitions to your workouts could stave off a world of trouble.