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" Human dolphin Michael Phelps won his 19th Olympic gold medal in tonight&amp;#039;s 4x100-meter men&amp;#039;s freestyle swimming relay \u2014 a new record for most gold medals won by a male swimmer. But if you caught the dramatic race on TV, in which the US finished just a stroke ahead of the defending gold medal team from France, you probably noticed something about Michael besides his superhuman speed in the pool. Michael&amp;#039;s upper body is dotted with circular bruises.     The bruises are a result of cupping, a treatment some athletes swear by to increase blood circulation. Cupping involves using tiny heated cups to apply suction-like pressure to the skin. Here&amp;#039;s a picture of Michael getting, um, cupped several weeks ago.            Thanks @arschmitty for my cupping today!!! #mpswim #mp &#128247; @chasekalisz A photo posted by Michael Phelps (@m_phelps00) on Sep 10, 2015 at 12:29pm PDT     A handful of other Olympic athletes practice cupping, and actresses such as Jennifer Aniston have experimented with it in the past. It&amp;#039;s worth noting that not everyone (i.e., doctors) believes cupping actually works, as it&amp;#039;s considered an alternative medicine rather than a science. But try telling that to the guy with 19 gold medals (and counting). "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.seventeen.com/life/news/a42141/michael-phelps-cupping/>