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We are pumped to share one of our favorite stories from Shape here on POPSUGAR Fitness.

The new movie Oz: The Great and Powerful has me thinking about the famous phrase, "There's no place like home" and how it can apply to your exercise routine. Fact is, your house could be the best new fitness facility on the block if you know what to do. Your pillow, for example, is a great tool for proprioception training, and a kid's skateboard can be the ideal piece of equipment when it comes to trimming and toning your thighs. Try this routine and you'll see.

Directions
Two or three times a week, add one of the following protocols to your daily routine or complete the entire group as an independent workout. Perform each exercise in order without rest. Complete 1 to 3 circuits depending on your fitness level.

RELATED: Turn your DVD player into a major calorie-burner with these 15 boutique fitness classes available on video.

Magazine Workout
Old issues are keeping you in SHAPE (pun intended)! Turning the pages is a great way to build core strength, chisel your chest and arms, and serves as an excellent tool to prehab your forearms against carpel tunnel syndrome. 

1. Page-Turner: Begin in a traditional pushup position with the magazine directly under your face. Reach down with left hand and see how many pages you can turn in 30 seconds, making sure that the page is completely turned before you reach for another one. After 30 seconds, switch to right hand and see if you can turn back the same number of pages within 30 seconds.

2. Hand Walking: Begin in a traditional pushup position with the magazine positioned outside of right hand. Reach over the magazine with right hand, then left hand. Beginning with left hand, step hands back to starting position. Repeat this pattern as fast as possible for 30 seconds. 

3. Turn and Press: Begin in a traditional pushup position (beginners can lower both knees to the ground in modified pushup position) with the magazine directly under your face. Reach with left hand and fully turn one page. As soon as the page turns, complete a pushup. Repeat for 30 seconds turning with left hand. Break and repeat with right hand for an additional 30 seconds.

4. Roll and Crumble: Stand tall with feet shoulder-width apart, holding the magazine with the spine parallel to the floor and fingers curled over the side opposite the spine. Keeping arms fully extended, raise the magazine to chest level so arms are parallel to the ground. Begin walking fingers down toward the spine of the magazine, rolling it into a tight tube as you would a brown paper bag. Pause, stretch the magazine back to its original position. Repeat as many times as possible for 30 seconds.

See the pillow workout after the break!

We are pumped to share one of our favorite stories from Shape here on POPSUGAR Fitness.

Yoga is for everyone, athletes included. Yoga works on strength, flexibility, balance, agility, endurance, core, and overall strength, among other things. Any athlete could benefit hugely by adding yoga to her or his training regimen. Here’s more details on a few of the perks:

Strength: No amount of weight-lifting with free weights will give you the strength that consistently holding up your own body weight will.

Flexibility: Practicing yoga increases flexibility and ease of movement, therefore increasing range of motion. In particular, athletes in sports that require swinging action (tennis, golf, etc.) can benefit greatly. Flexibility in general also helps to prevent injury.

Balance: Balancing poses in yoga improve overall balance in everything you do, preventing falls and injury.  When you learn how to be soft and go with the flow, you can more easily bend and are less likely to break or fall over.

Endurance: The endurance that the ease of yoga gives you lends to endurance sports like running, triathlons, and Iron Mans. When you learn to tune into your body and mind, everything can be a meditation—sports included. Yoga also helps you learn how to pace yourself: slow and steady, in it for the long haul.

Core: Almost everything you do in yoga works on your core strength. Strong core equals a healthy back and a healthy body.

See which yoga poses work best for athletes after the break!

We are pumped to share one of our favorite stories from Shape here on POPSUGAR Fitness. This week Shape turned to registered dietitian Michelle Dudash for some help.

A recent British survey found that women abandon their lofty diet goals after only five weeks, two days, and 43 minutes. The reason we can’t stick to healthy eating? Almost 60 percent of women said food cravings made diets difficult, while "simply loving food" was an obstacle for 42 percent.

One of the biggest dieting mistakes I see is people labeling their favorite foods as off limits. Like a young women sticking with a bad boyfriend or a toddler grappling at mom’s fragile designer sunglasses, as humans, we tend to seek out the forbidden fruit. That’s why I encourage clients to work with their cravings, not against them.

I’ve found that there are three camps when it comes to dieters: handlers, beaters, and bingers. Imagine that you’re at a party and spot a plate of freshly baked, chocolate chip cookies. How would you deal with it?

Keep reading to see the different scenarios after the break!

We are pumped to share one of our favorite stories from Shape here on FitSugar.

It seems so simple: Eat right, exercise, get some rest, and you will lose weight. But maybe it’s not so simple. According to Jessica Bartfield, M.D., who specializes in nutrition and weight management at the Loyola Center for Metabolic Surgery & Bariatric Care, diets fail for four reasons:
1. Underestimating calories consumed
2. Overestimating activity and the calories burned
3. Poor timing of meals
4. Inadequate Sleep

Now learn the secrets to weight-loss success after the break!

We are pumped to share one of our favorite stories from Shape here on FitSugar.

Since Hurricane Sandy, the team behind Shape.com has had a variety of temporary offices, and our latest outpost in Brooklyn is bare bones. We were thrilled with the arrival of bottled water and a minifridge on Monday, but after four weeks at our new location, we only just received a microwave today.

I've just about had all the almond butter and banana sandwiches I can handle, so after the arrival of our new fridge, I headed straight to Pinterest to find a few no-heat healthy lunches to get out of my rut. While the microwave will expand my options even further, I still plan to make the delicious recipes below and enjoy them chilled.

Vegan Hummus Spiral Wrap

This quick sandwich is packed with spinach, edamame, avocado, and carrots. What more could a girl ask for? Prevent lunchtime boredom without any extra effort by using different-flavored hummus throughout the week.

See more no-heat recipes after the break!

We are pumped to share one of our favorite stories from Shape here on FitSugar.

Q: Okay, I get it: I should sit less and stand more. But what about at mealtime — is it better to sit or stand while I eat?

A: You are correct that most people need to sit a lot less than they already do. And while we've been told to "move more," "stand while taking phone calls," "take the stairs instead of the elevator," and "stand up while you work at your desk," eating may be one of the few times it's better to take a load off.

Find out why you should always sit when eating after the break!

We are pumped to share one of our favorite stories from Shape here on FitSugar.

The word "cankle" was made popular in 2001 when Jason Alexander's character in the movie Shallow Hal used the term to criticize an overweight woman's lower leg saying, "It's like the calf merged with the foot, cut out the middleman."

30 Tips to Get Lean, Strong Legs Faster

Since the film was released, the term has been assimilated into our lexicon, making many women overly aware and insecure about this part of their bodies. And this increasing insecurity did not go unnoticed by plastic surgeons and personal trainers who claimed to be able to fix the problem. But can anything really eradicate the dreaded cankle? Here are three distinctively different types of cankles and what can and cannot be done for them.

Learn how to get rid of cankles after the break!

We are pumped to share one of our favorite stories from Shape here on FitSugar.

Do you have a minute? How about 15 minutes? If you do, then you have all the time you need to accomplish something really huge.

8 Ways to Become and Stay a Morning Exerciser

Take, for example, a friend of mine who recently gave birth to her fifth child and who also has a full time job. To say she's busy is the understatement of the century. But even for someone as busy as she is, achieving a lifelong goal isn't impossible. A long while back she had a great idea for a young adult novel, but she'd pushed her goal of writing it to the back burner because of all the other responsibilities she had in her life. She certainly didn't have time to write a book. But then I asked her this: Do you have time to write a page? Most young adult novels are less than 365 pages. If my friend were to write one page a day, she'd be done in less than a year.

Learn easy ways to manage big goals after the break!

We are pumped to share one of our fave stories from Shape here on FitSugar. This week Shape turns to nutritional consultant Mike Roussell, PhD, for some help!

Q: Why do I crave comfort food more in the winter?

A: Seasonal changes in food cravings are a good example of the tight link between food and our hormones and emotions. If you notice a marked changed in your levels of desire for homemade baked macaroni and cheese (my No. 1 comfort food) as the weather turns colder and darker, it could be due to seasonal affective disorder (SAD).

This condition is characterized by increased anxiety, oversleeping, lethargy, and problems concentrating. Since comfort foods are generally high in fat and carbs, they can increase serotonin production and thus feelings of wellbeing, making them a natural pick for anyone feeling low.

See your doctor, and if it turns out you do have SAD, try some of these treatments to deal with your wintertime blues instead of heading to the kitchen.

Learn how to treat SAD after the break!

We are pumped to share one of our fave stories from Shape here on FitSugar. This week Shape turns to nutritional consultant Mike Roussell, PhD, for some help!

Q: My dietitian told me to cut back on carbs, but I'm confused about what counts as a grain and which vegetables are starches.

Carbs Without Cause: 8 Foods Worse than White Bread

A: When restricting your carbs, start with the most carbohydrate-dense foods in your diet: foods with added sugar. Then work your way to reducing grains and pastas, then potatoes and corn, then the remaining starchy vegetables.

9 Low-Carb Snacks to Eat on the Go

The exchange system from the American Diabetes Association groups different foods by similar nutritional characteristics. According to their list, the following are grains:

• Wheat and whole-wheat flour
• Oatmeal
• Cornmeal
• Popcorn
• Brown rice
• Whole rye
• Whole-grain barley
• Wild rice
• Buckwheat
• Millet
• Quinoa

Find out which vegetables count as carbs after the break!