Dara Torres

Dara Torres is the first American swimmer to compete in five Olympic Games. She is also the oldest female swimmer in Olympian history. The Meridian Flexibility System, also referred to as Resistance Flexibility and Strength Training (RFST), is a new stretching technique that not only makes bodies like Torres' more limber but also stronger. The concept is really simple: resist when you stretch," Cat Fitzgerald, a certified RFST trainer and director of Hara Health in Coral Gables, Fla., told Ivanhoe.

Lee Kaplan, M.D., chief of the Division of Sports Medicine at the University of Miami, says RFST may especially benefit older individuals, who have decreased water concentration in their soft tissues. "Tendons and cartilage can become more brittle, and when they become more brittle, they are more susceptible to injury." Older bodies take longer to bounce back, but RFST may speed recovery time. Dr. Kaplan warns, however, not to overdo it.

RFST was developed by Bob Cooley, who in 1978 was hit by an automobile driving at more than 70 mph. After traditional therapies failed to rehabilitate his body, Cooley turned to stretching. He came up with 16 stretches -- eight targeting the upper body and eight targeting the lower body. Cooley soon realized each move equated with meridians of traditional Chinese medicine that run throughout our bodies.