From a slight twinge to the agony of a slipped disc, YOUR BACK WILL LIKELY FAIL YOU in your lifetime. The solution: Strengthen the right muscles, learn how to rehab it, and know your treatment options.

Part One

Realign Your Back

Restore the healthy posture of your youth with these simple exercises.

More than 80 percent of American men will suffer at least one episode of disabling back pain in their lives. The culprit: A lifetime of sitting on their rears, says NCAA Division I baseball player turned pain specialist Patrick Mummy, president of San Diego's Symmetry clinic. Over the years your butt draws inward and your pelvis, which tilts forward naturally at about 10 degrees, levels out unnaturally. Your pelvis and your belly push out, your hip flexors tighten, and your lower back flattens. It all adds up to a slumped position Mummy calls the "suck and tuck." His custom program, drawn from exercises like those shown here, attempts to reverse the damage.

Click on the picture to access the exercises