The surf legend's crucial exercises to achieve full-body strength for any athlete

Is your regular workout really working? We looked at some of the most popular in-the-gym moves, and found more effective ways to get you conditioned for real life.

How to show off your heart rate to the world

Is it true that impact stress in runners is greatest when the foot strikes the ground at the beginning of an exhalation? So if I always breathe out on my left side, I’ll increase my risk of injuring something on that side? I read this in a Runner's World article by Budd Coates and Claire Kowalchik.

Just hit the road to stay healthy? Not quite. If you're working a desk job, exercise may not be enough.

What if we're blaming the wrong people for doping? A new look into why athletes choose to dope raises serious questions about the fight against drugs in sport.

The first large-scale study has linked endurance training to irreversible heart damage. Should the report be giving you panic attacks?

I spend a lot of time traveling and competing in various sports. Should I be worried about developing a blood clot when flying home from a race?

CrossFit champ Samantha Briggs believes in resting as hard as you train and ditching the set exercise schedule. She shares her favorite training tips.

End summer right. Celebrate Labor Day with our make-your-own backyard pentathlon.

Mike Donoghue, the founder of Amphibious Medics, a private medical-staffing contractor for the nation’s largest events, including Tough Mudder and Spartan Race, offers his insider tips

Obstacle races are slowly supplanting 5ks as the Weekend Warrior’s activity of choice. But with so many choices how does one know which grueling crawl under barbed wire is the right one for them?

The pros share their secrets for tackling the sport’s most popular obstacles

The eight-week training plan for obstacle-course domination. PLUS: The Dos and Don'ts of race day gear

The obstacle racing phenom on how he stays fit to compete

Chris Sharma may be 32, but he’s still pushing the sport’s limits as a pioneer of deep-water soloing.

The Olympic decathlete on how to eat, train, and perform better

Five great exercises you can do in just 20 minutes

I spend a lot of time training and competing in various sports—cycling, running, and basketball—you name it. My wife and I would like to have a baby soon, so I would like to know if there are there any sports that could hurt my sperm count.

Jennifer Kessy and April Ross prepare for domination

A professional freediver is training athletes to get more oxygen with every breath

Two-time CrossFit champ Rich Froning doesn't subscribe to fussy diets or exercise schedules, but he's seen real results. He shares his best practices.

I work at the computer, at home. I considered modifying my desk to accommodate a treadmill, but after a reality check, I have no room or money for one. Are pedalers any good? If not, what is another option?

I like to compete in endurance events, like Ironman, but rarely do I place in the top 50 percent of my age group. Why am I so slow?

How you can reboot your circuit training routine by ditching the rest interval.

Pro surfing’s go-to trainer Paul Hiniker lays down 10 steps to get your body ready for anything this summer

Marco Sanchez demonstrates.

Marco Sanchez demonstrates.

Marco Sanchez demonstrates.

Marco Sanchez demonstrates.

I run a lot and feel like I’ve had back pain forever. I read about a new study that found bacterial infections cause 40 percent of chronic back pain. Does that study apply to athletes with back pain? Should I ask my doctor about getting tested for a bacterial infection?

The ultimate guide to finding your ideal race

Increase your hip flexibility and take your upper body and core strength to the next level

Whenever I have a tough task to complete at work, I feel like my after-work workout suffers. Can thinking hard hurt my physical performance? Does my brain use up more energy the harder I have to think?

Now that I’m 40, I feel like I don’t recover as quickly from workouts as I did when I was younger. Is there a scientific explanation for this? Or is it all in my head?

First, ditch the salt tablets. “The biggest misconception is that exercise-associated muscle cramping is due to dehydration or electrolyte imbalances,” says Martin Schwellnus, a professor of exercise science at the University of Cape Town, in South Africa, and one of the world’s leading researchers on the subject.

Is it possible to be strong without having big muscles, or to be huge but not very strong?

Move over EPO: Dynavision’s CoreControl cooling glove enhances performance with just a vacuum and ice

The extreme polar explorer on rock lifting, noodles, and scheduling conflicts

Would taking a shot from an EpiPen during my race give me an advantage?

I read that NFL players over hydrate before their games. Should I be doing the same thing before my marathon?

Should I take ibuprofen before or after hard training to limit pain?

I want to go water skiing on spring break. Got any tips on how to prepare so I can stay up for longer than a minute and don’t hurt myself?

I just finished my first marathon, and I’m ready for a rest. How long before I start losing the benefits of my peak fitness level?

What kind of damage do bumps do to your body? What can I do to strengthen beforehand and counteract the aftereffects?

Or will I be totally out of shape this spring?

The prosecutor in the Oscar Pistorius bail hearing claimed that the athlete was found with a box of steroids. How likely is it that PEDs could contribute to a murderous rampage?

The upstart climbing phenomenon reveals the secrets to his success

My buddies and I are training for a race together, and the other day we got on the topic of pre-sporting event sex. Some of the guys swear it can have a negative impact on race-day performance; I say it helps calm my nerves. Who’s right?

It’s not just the pros who can benefit from a few sessions with a sports psychologist. Here’s how you can, too.

My gym has one of those vibration machines that’s supposed to help you lose weight by standing on it. Do these things really work—and are they safe?

Decades of research into the compounds that make up snake venom has led to some startling discoveries

As climbing moves toward its shot at the Olympics, the stakes are rising for the next generation of athletes. Will the temptation to get an edge be too much for some of them to handle?

David Roth went to the Monster Energy Invitational, and he found a sport still trying to figure out how to make its place on the American sports landscape

When he competes in triathlons, nine-year-old Conner Green puts in extra work so that his seven-year-old brother Cayden Long can race with him. Cayden has cerebral palsy and can't walk on his own. In the swim portion, Connor pulls Cayden in a raft. In the running portion, he…

I’ve heard a lot about how exercise can help me live longer, but does it matter what type of exercise I do?

Do athletes have a higher pain tolerance?

If I want to drop pounds in the new year, should I focus more on cardio conditioning or strength training?

Outside, inside, gravity, space, time, whatever: this thing transcended every boundary

Probably not

I’ve read a lot of claims recently that exercise makes you smarter. But how, exactly, does it work?

I’ve been having trouble with Achilles tendinosis, so a friend mentioned that I should look into prolotherapy. What’s the difference between that and PRP, and is it worth it?

Is it therapy for a society deeply affected by the wars of our time, a renegade sport for rebels who can't stand rules and restrictions, or something else entirely?

Weekend gladiators are lining up in droves to risk hypothermia and electroshock in obstacle races by the millions and contributing to one of the fastest growing industries in our world

Pain is the name of the game at Tough Mudder, Spartan Race, and other big obstacle-course races

I’m usually not hungry right after I work out. Does exercise suppress appetite? If so, how does that affect weight loss?

Everything you need to improve your time on the course

I have trouble figuring out how I should be training during the holidays, when the weather’s dreary, the food’s plentiful, and I don’t have any races planned. But I don’t want to pull a Jan Ullrich. What should I do?

Chrissie Wellington. Photo: Triitalian/Flickr Triathlete Chrissie Wellington announced on her blog yesterday that she is retiring from Ironman triathlons. Wellington won the Ironman World Championship in 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2011. The 35-year-old…

I hike every Wednesday morning at 6:30 a.m. with two friends. They're very fast and charge right up the hill, whereas I'm much slower at that time of the morning. But in the afternoon, I'm much faster. Is there any physiological or scientific reason why one person is faster in the morning and another is faster in the afternoon? And is there any truth to "morning" people and "nighttime" people in terms of athletic performance?

Just about every time I work out, my face turns beet red. Sometimes it lasts long after I’ve stopped exercising, which makes running during my lunch break difficult. Why does this happen? And is there anything I can do about it?

Len Stanmore, 60, is currently in Antarctica, competing in one of the world's most grueling footraces. If he completes it, he'll not only be a one-time overweight retiree who got sick of the golf course, but also the first person to climb the Seven Summits, ski to both poles, and complete the 4 Deserts Grand Slam.

How does implanted saline and silicone behave under extreme conditions, whether at jet-cruising altitude or during a deep-sea dive?

I always get the post-workout chills, even when it’s warm outside. What causes them, and is there anything I can do to avoid it in future?

I heard alternating hot and cold water is just as effective as an ice bath at speeding up recovery, but way less painful. Is this true? How do I do it?

An Olympic sport at the turn of the 20th century tries to find its way back into the modern Games

Is it true that sleeping well two nights before an event is more important than sleeping well the night before?

I’ve been reading about how sitting at work all day can cause heart attacks and early death. But if I’m training 15 hours a week, should I still get a standing desk, or do I need to sit to recover faster?

Taking Fido along for a hike in the woods can be rewarding and fun, but you need to be prepared in the event of an unexpected emergency

I read that the human sleep cycles last 90 minutes, so people are more rested if they sleep in increments of 90 minutes—7.5 hours, for example, is better than eight. Is that true? And what about sleeping for 4.5 hours at night, then supplementing with a few 90-minute naps? Is that the same as sleeping for 7.5 hours?