New mantra: ‘Exercise is medicine’

Former volleyball athlete Christina Houghtelling walks around the lobby of the Sports Medicine and Performance Center at the University of Colorado Boulder, eager to test a new black brace fitted around her right knee.

Doctors found a torn lateral meniscus in a “scope,” or arthroscopic surgery, of Houghtelling’s knee. They fitted her with the “unloading brace” to reduce stress around the knee and help the torn cartilage heal.

In a nearby room at the center, patients work on various moves with physical therapists. In yet another room, workers are putting the finishing touches on a “swim flume” pool, which…